The Longest Day of the Future

by Lucas Varela

In a futuristic city, two mega-companies share power, while indulging in a thankless war to eliminate the other, by any means necessary. The crash of an extraterrestrial flying saucer will, perhaps, change that. This masterfully crafted, witty and irreverent graphic novel is Argentine cartoonist and graphic designer Lucas Varela's debut.

Genres: Graphic Novels, Comics, Science Fiction, Fiction, Graphic Novels Comics, Comic Book, Adult

112 pages, Hardcover

First published April 15, 2015

Reviews

[disco · Rating 4 out of 5]

Like most Sci Fi I started off lost but once I figured it out it was GREAT! Keep at it and you will be pleasantly surprised. Super unique, kind of grotesque, and a perfect amount of karma.

[Joni · Rating 4 out of 5]

Impactante cómic mudo de Lucas Varela. Ciento veinte páginas que sin decir nada dicen mucho. En un futuro donde humanos y robots conviven por igual, se presentan dos grandes corporaciones que buscan destruirse entre sí. Hay sin embargo un vuelo poético en la obra, capaz de conmover a un robot por el vuelo de una mosca. Al no tener textos se vuele en minutos, en contraste de los años que le llevó a Lucas este trabajo. Del dibujo se puede decir que la narración secuencial es perfecta, hay que mantener más de cien páginas de sucesión que se entienden y saben atrapar al lector. La puesta en escena del mundo presentado es excelente, una recreación de los fondos y las dos facciones muy creíbles. Un gran ejemplo que sin palabras igual se puede contar una historia redonda de varios matices con referencias al consumismo, el ser como víctima y herramienta sin importar el bando. Por suerte es tan corto que invita a una relectura sea para una mejor comprensión o para deleitarse con los detalles del dibujo.

[Rodolfo Santullo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Y esto es una Obra Maestra -así, con mayúsculas- una que califica sin dudar dentro del material imprescindible editado recientemente en Argentina (o editado en cualquier momento en cualquier parte del mundo). El arsenal de recursos narrativos que desparrama Varela en esta novela gráfica es simplemente avasallador. Tanto para contar su historia -una brutal sátira al consumismo podríamos decir, aunque esto es simplificarla- como para narrarla visualmente en formato mudo -apenas acompañado por oportunas onomatopeyas- Varela echa mano de todo lo que puede: pautas reconocibles de la ciencia ficción, momentos de humor dignos del golpe y porrazo, crueldades varias, momentos tiernos, todo, absolutamente todo lo que uno pueda imaginar. Tenemos dos empresas que acaparan el consumo en este futuro distópico y bastante crudo. En una, trabaja un oficinista. En la otra, se diseña un robot muy especial. Ambos -por coerción u orden inevitable- tendrán la tarea de destruir a la competencia. Y en el medio, cae un alienígena con un maletín muy raro y de capacidades inimaginables. Si Lucas Varela había demostrado ya ser uno de esos artistas a seguir, acá es un estallido de pura imaginación para la que no alcanzan las palabras. Tan es así, que demuestra poder prescindir de ellas y ser igual, y de todas formas, el mejor de los narradores.

[Jesús · Rating 4 out of 5]

A “silent” comic that blends sci-fi dystopian slapstick with corporate warfare. It’s a bit like Chaplin’s Modern Times, a bit like Prohias’s Spy vs. Spy, and a bit like Groening’s Futurama. It’s funny, frightening, and eerily familiar. Great stuff.

[Gastón · Rating 5 out of 5]

Un futuro de hiper-consumismo e hiper-vigilancia donde dos bandos se disputan, mediante una suerte de guerra, el "mercado", que en este caso el mercado es la vida de los personajes. Trabajar para una marca, vivir para esa marca y consumir cosas de esa marca, el futuro donde la corporación es la que hace política, la que crea países, la que borra el límite -o lo hace difuso- entre la defensa por los ideales y los bienes de consumo. ¿Se defiende a la marca o esta nos defiende a nosotros? ¿Vivimos para consumir lo que nos dan los de arriba o los de arriba consumen nuestras vidas? Este comic se entiende como una crítica a la lógica del mercado más voraz, sin perder la belleza y el estilo. "El día más largo del futuro" funciona como ejercicio para pensar lo que nos va a esclavizar, si serán las corporaciones y sus marcas, si será la guerra y la defensa por el consumo o si veremos a las corporaciones como vemos hoy a los políticos. Con guiños a Mononoke Hime, Star Wars, Batman, Bioshock e, incluso, Fallout, este comic, sin un solo globo de diálogo, dice mucho más que miles de letras.

[Dávid Novotný · Rating 4 out of 5]

Comics without words. In the future, where two 'lords' are trying to destroy each other, with help of their servants. Funny, cynical, also little sad, and full of cartoonish violence. Art is unique, and very nice, but I can understand that will probably not suite everybody. Pastel color palette, with prevailing blue, red and orange tones helps creates atmosphere and makes you remember the book long after you are done with it. As whole story is told without single sentence, it is something you can return to, to look for new things and interpretations.

[Derek Royal · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun and wonderfully told story. And as we discussed on a recent episode of The Comics Alternative podcast, this would make an interesting animated film, and as one, it'd have the feel of a Pixar-meets-Cohen-brothers sort of thing.

[Dal · Rating 4 out of 5]

Increíble y confuso a la vez. Es rarísimo lo que logra el autor sin escribir una sola palabra

[Jack Vinson · Rating 5 out of 5]

No words and a fast read. But what a wacky story and it all happens on a single day?

The author description did have words, and it was just as funny.

[Juan Manuel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Esta historieta no tiene una sola línea de dialogo, y es algo que se extraña. El dibujo es limpio, claro y muestra imágenes interesantes. Obviamente su "lectura" es más que rápida. Lucas Varela construye un mundo futurista y distopico, en el cual existen los robots y los extraterrestres. El universo de la historieta es un universo interesante para ser explorado pero la historia se queda corta. No nos da todas las explicaciones que quisiéramos, es apenas una historia mínima en ese universo de papel. Ojalá Lucas Varela construya más historias de este mundo y ojalá agregué algunos, aunque sean pocos, globos de dialogo.

[Matt Graupman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ooo la la, this book is GORGEOUS! Lucas Varela's virtually wordless debut graphic novel, "The Longest Day Of The Future," is SO beautiful but that beauty is the sugar coating on a pretty bitter takedown of greed, unfettered capitalism, and selfish ambition. It's like one of those pop songs that has a really upbeat melody but the lyrics are super-depressing. Of course I loved it!

Told in a series of interconnecting vignettes, Varela's protagonists (if you can even call them that) are from two global corporations - one red and one blue - that are competing against one another for dominance of their "Jetsons"-style futuristic world. Murderous robots, double agents, assassination plots, and television propaganda are all handled very humorously but, considering our current political climate, they're not that far from being plausible. Visually, the art has a very European flavor and the flat, repetitive coloring is perfect for such a contentious, dystopian environment. At a glance, "The Longest Day Of The Future" could be mistaken for a light children's book but it's really working on several - more mature - levels.

It's easy to get focused on comics being made by mostly North American creators; obviously, they're the most readily available. But I'd love to see publishers bring more foreign comics to the attention of American audiences. Relying on his precise drawings to tell the bulk of the story, Valera's book didn't need much of a translation but its message is relevant no matter where you're from.

[Alex Memus · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's like a darker version of Adventure Time. Precise drawings by Lucas gave me a feel of Maximov's animations. All the plot lines are tied together, which is cool. And the critique of politics and consumerism is smart.

Re-read 2021:
Lucas’s art feels like Mœbius and Jason had a baby (and it’s a compliment). The story is nice, though too simple to give it 5 stars.

[Nicole · Rating 4 out of 5]

This graphic novel is Chris Wares meets Terry Gilliam. It details a day in a dystopian society in which dueling corpocracies reign. The concept reminds me gently of David Mitchell's Sonmi-451 portion of Cloud Atlas and fragments of Wall-E, with its relentless focus on company identity. Also the people look funny.

[Juan Fuentes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Impresionante distopía tecnológica donde el enfrentamiento entre dos grandes corporaciones se verá afectado por la llegada de un extraterrestre con una curiosa maleta. Tres personas comunes atrapadas en un mundo sin esperanza.

[Marina Condo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excelente comic SIN textos. Sale reseña en el canal.

[Pavel Pravda · Rating 5 out of 5]

English version below
CZ
Grafická novela Nejdelší den zítřka (The Longest Day of the Future, Najdłuższy dzień przyszłości) je sci-fi groteska z disoptického světa, ve kterém soupeří o celkovou nadvládu dva potravinoví giganti. Jako kdyby spolu vedli válku McDonald's a KFC a neštítili se praktik jako jsou sabotáže a atentáty. V tomto světě sledujeme několik osob, jejichž cesty se vzájemně proplétají. Autorem knihy je argentinský ilustrátor Lucas Varela. Jeho kresba je na první pohled jednoduchá, ale je plná detailů a je prostě zábavná. Svět který zde nakreslil je přesně takový, jaký byste čekali od sci-fi grotesky - je plný robotů, technických udělátek a černého humoru.
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EN
Graphic nowell The Longest Day of the Future (Najdłuższy dzień przyszłości) is sci-fi grotesque from disoptic world where two food gigants fight for overall domination. Like if companies like McDonald's a KFC were in war by using practices such as sabotage and assassinations. In this world we observe several beings whose journeys intertwine. Author of this book is Lucas Varela - illustrator from Argentina. His art is simple on first look but it’s full of details and it’s just nice and funny. The world that he drew is exactly what you can expect from sci-fi grotesque - it’s full of robots, technical gadgets and and black humour.

[James De Leon · Rating 4 out of 5]

A quiet dystopia that says plenty with barely a word.

Really enjoyed this one. It’s a short, wordless story set in a kind of futuristic city where two giant corporations dominate everything. As a result, the city is split in half with citizens supporting one corporation vs the other. The dynamic changes abruptly when an unexpected visitor shakes up their world and the people living in it.

Lucas Varela's art is super readable and easy to follow, which is obviously very important for this kind of story. That’s not to say it isn’t detailed - it definitely is when it needs to be and it’s expressive in all the right moments. There’s a nice rhythm to the way it moves between quiet observation and bursts of energy.

I read 3 wordless/mostly wordless stories today and this one takes the cake. I liked it enough that I immediately went looking for more of this author’s work, and I’m really looking forward to diving into whatever else he's done.

[Przemysław Skoczyński · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Najdłuższy dzień przyszłości" to świetna i bardzo sugestywna rzecz, prezentująca nieciekawą wizję przyszłości, w której wielkie korporacje walczą o wpływy wszelkimi środkami, a między nimi jest nic nieznaczący człowiek ze swoim zagubieniem i marzeniem powrotu do rzeczy najprostszych. Styl graficzny Vareli jest przejrzysty i przyjemny dla oka, a to wielka sztuka, by bez użycia słów przedstawić historię w sposób komunikatywny. Myślę, że miłośnicy twórczości Jasona czy Jimiego Woodringa powinni być usatysfakcjonowani.

[Lindsay · Rating 4 out of 5]

I can't pretend that I understood the whole thing--it's a wordless graphic novel. On one hand, comprehension may have been helped by a written narrative, but then on the other hand, the fact it had no words made it all the more creepy. It may be more towards 3.5 stars, but it was weird enough to round up. I'd definitely check out more from this creator.

[Brandon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Completely pantomime with a mix of dystopian sci-fi megacorporations and slapstick and laser battles. Some neat uses of action going through panels, great use of storytelling between the two different "sides" of the conflict, uniquely funny and sweet while still having cool futuristic action bullshit I know and love. It takes a bunch of wacky turns while never feeling too out there.

[Sonic · Rating 5 out of 5]

(((









)))

[Comicardos · Rating 5 out of 5]

Historieta muda excelente con un estilo muy característico del autor.

[Al Capwned · Rating 4 out of 5]

Crazy future capitalism and slapstick silliness in this silent comic book. I wish I could come up with stories like that.

[Cole Schoolland · Rating 5 out of 5]

Varela rises to the occasion to establish world and tell a wonderful story without any words at all. His artwork is simple and cartoonish but highly expressive. Emotion and intent can be easily seen in each pain.

The story takes place in a future dominated by two rival corporations. All of society is split right dow the middle. You are either living, working, and consuming the red pig or the blue bunny. There is no middle-ground in Varela's future.

At the top of these organizations are bosses with their sidekicks, henchmen, scientists, and on down to the plebes.

When an alien ship with unknown powers crashes, its advanced technology is captured by Blue Bunny. Blue Bunny blackmails one of their own, disguising him as a Red Pig, to use this technology to kill the head of Red Pig. At the same time, one of Red Pig's scientists sends his killer robot, who is actually quite compassionate) to do the same. Chaos ensues.

No one is left unchanged by the sequence of events that follows. Some find love. Others die. In the end has anything really changed?

[Halina Hetman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Прекрасний німий мальопис зі складним сюжетом, який при цьому зрозумілий без жодного слова (як вам таке, Mitchum та Butterfly Gate?).
Біполярний антиутопічний світ де править протистояння двох великих корпорацій. Тут і промисловий шпіонаж, і придушені громадянські протести, і кров, що ллється знов, - все яскраво і весело.
Сюжети, які Lucas Varela придумує наодинці та реалізує графічно, аж ніяк не гірші тих, що він малює в співпраці з іншими авторами, як-от в Human.

[Tony · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked this up initially because I really liked the clean style of the artwork, and then I was intrigued by its wordlessness. It's such a challenge to tell an effective story with pictures along, and I got sucked into seeing where this would go. It's a surrealist satire set in a futuristic city whose citizens live in thrall to two fast food corporations (one has a pig logo, one has a rabbit logo) who are engaged in an endless loop of corporate espionage and sabotage. Into this setting crashes a UFO containing an extra-dimensional briefcase (nod to Kiss Me Deadly), which becomes just another tool in the corporate war. There's plenty subtext for those that wish to unpack all the implied commentary on our own world, but it's equally enjoyable as a kind of fever-dream of imagination and art. Recommended for those that like their comix to be heavier on theme than story.

[olivia reese ♡ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty cool, didn’t understand 1 thing that was going on. Super lost. But I loved the art! And like I sort of got it maybe 15%? Has no words. Didn’t really bother me but one of the first graphic novels I’ve read and it was cute in the art but I was super lost. Anyways I would still recommend it you wanna try! Quick read :) kinda fun! I think it’s meant to be Spanish too, which means having no words is really cool because I don’t speak Spanish and I could still read it! :)

[Oxalis · Rating 3 out of 5]

A bizarre and unsettling tale that could easily be our future one day. While this isn't my favorite art style, the message is the bigger takeaway here. The fact that the robot displayed more humanity than the humans who acted like robots did not escape me. After reading, the only question that remained was: why did the birds have teeth?

[Chema Santos · Rating 4 out of 5]

Un tour de force impresionante. Un cómic mudo lleno de mensajes.

[Chris Baldie · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are few books that will so elegantly show how a story can be told with little-to-no dialogue. A visual delight and one I often look at when I'm getting a bit 'wordy' with my scripts.