Polis

The Protopias Collection

by Mark Russell, Marco Lesko (Colorist), Laci (Artist)

In this double-sized debut issue, Eisner and Ringo Award-winning writer Mark Russell (Not All Robots, Dark Age) and illustrator Laci (Trojan, Death Ratio’d) spin the tale of Miragua, a floating city populated by refugees that has become a beacon of hope in a world beset by climate disaster and civil war. Follow Florida teen Natalie as she emigrates from the only home she’s ever known in search of a better life aboard Miragua. Features a foreword by renowned futurist Ari Wallach (PBS’s A Brief History of the Future) and supplemental material laying out the science behind the story, showing how this world could come to be.

Genres: Comics

Kindle Edition

Published April 2, 2025

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads data base.

For the comic writer, see Mark Russell

Reviews

[Jacob Betts · Rating 4 out of 5]

I ladies the concept of an anthology exploring Protopias, and this debut issue is quite promising.

While I like the idea of all of the back matter in the book, I was slightly taken aback by the use of Generative AI for the artwork, especially coming from a studio called AWA (Artists, Writers, & Artisans).

I am looking forward to future entries into The Protopias Collection.

[Erin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like how it’s not all doom.

[Wm · Rating 2 out of 5]

I will read anything Russell writes, his Red Sonja #1 epic and his Cereal universe were that good. The writing here is hopeful and idealistic without being painfully sincere or otherwise cringe, which is quite a trick to pull off.

Had I known genAI "artists" were amongst the team – wasting fresh water and at least tacitly admitting they don't personally generate worthwhile original ideas (dumbfounding on a planet with ~8bn users' activity and ~6000yr surviving records – I would not have bought this book.

Hey, I've got an idea! Let's tell a story about saving people from the climate emergency by using a significant climate emergency-accelerating* technology! We'll figure it out later!

*GenAI uses ~30 times more energy than traditional search, says Sasha Luccioni, a researcher who Time magazine included on its 2024 list of the 100 most influential people in AI.

[Colin Post · Rating 2 out of 5]

I like the idea of this book and the overall series, but the story is lacking here. The characters aren’t well developed at all, the plot doesn’t build on the core idea of floating cities in any compelling way, and the writing is rather wooden. All uncharacteristic of Mark Russell.

[Anna Frohling · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book has a section of concept art about saving the environment that's made with AI. This take up quite a chunk of the book

[Josh Newhouse · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read. And hopeful…