Skinned

by Jeremy Holt, Tim Daniel, Josh Gowdy (Illustrator)

In a future obsessed with virtual reality and fantasy, two star-crossed lovers will do whatever it takes to bring down the OccupEye system and free cView City from its virtual prison.

iRIS is the perfect marriage of artificial intelligence and virtual reality, serving as the backbone for enhanced-reality contact lenses that provide users with an antidote to reality's many maladies. From pop culture–inspired fantasies to manifestations of their own imagination, users can see the world precisely as they wish.

Citizens of cView City are fitted with a pair of these ubiquitous lenses at birth as a means of ensuring societal tranquility. But when Aldair—a teenage programming heiress—gets a glimpse of life with her own eyes, the world she once knew will never be the same again.

Genres: Graphic Novels, Science Fiction, Comics

128 pages, Hardcover

Published November 14, 2017

About the author

Jeremy Holt is a non-binary author whose works include Gatsby, Made in Korea, Virtually Yours, Before Houdini, After Houdini, and Skip to the End.

An original art page from After Houdini was acquired by The Houdini Museum of NYC, where it now hangs in its permanent collection. And Skip to the End was one of three works of fiction that The New York Times included in an in-depth expose titled Kurt Cobain: What to Read and Watch, 25 Years After the Nirvana Leader’s Death.

They have received high praise from Brian K. Vaughan (Y the Last Man, Saga, Paper Girls) and NYT crossword constructor David Kwong. Originally from no place in particular, they’ve lived in Italy, Singapore, England, Norway, Texas, Vermont, and Brooklyn, before settling in Kingston, New York.

Reviews

[MAYA QUARTZ · Rating 2 out of 5]

Although this graphic novel displays amazing artwork and exploration of some very interesting themes, it falls short in it's narrative. The storyline is confusing and choppy, and I found myself much more taken in by the detailed pages than the characters or plot. The novel read like a rush to the Happily Ever finish line with a few small "gotcha!" bumps along the way. Also, the "star-crossed lovers" trope is a lot harder to buy into when the protagonists have barely spent more than a handful of lines together- at least Romeo and Juliet squeezed in a few monologues before falling in love!
There is a lot of potential here for something good, but at the end of the day I was expecting something a little more "Ready Player One" and feel like I got something more akin to "Mansquito".

[Christen · Rating 3 out of 5]

What the heck did I just read? No disrespect to the writers but, this story was a mind melt. I can understand other people's frustration with the characters constantly having their looks and the environment around them changing but, it certainly does not deserve the low reviews. Looking past that it is a story about fighting and taking down the system with a mix of romance. Who wouldn't enjoy that and root for the characters?

[Michael · Rating 1 out of 5]

Although the overall concept is interesting, utterly transparent characters and a thin plot make this a disappointing book. The art has some appeal, as a showcase for drawing different styles, but the characters can be difficult to distinguish from each other, a flaw only exacerbated by the frequent switching of "skins."

[Jenika Ioffreda · Rating 1 out of 5]

Very cool drawings and the idea of changing settings and costumes every 2-3 panels was quite interesting... the problem was after a while I couldn't follow the story anymore: I had no idea who was doing what, I had trouble recognising the characters and this took me away from the story completely. After a while I stopped reading altogether.

[Tom · Rating 2 out of 5]

Some shallow characters fight over a city that has some technology that allows people to see what they want to see. Sort of. And...it's not very good. I didn't care what happened to anybody, so, yeah.And I have absolutely no idea what the end of the book meant.

[KattDee · Rating 1 out of 5]

The art was amazing in this graphic novel. I really wanted to love it. I just felt like it was a very weak. I did not enjoy it at all. I almost DNFed it, and thought to myself...NO its a graphic novel, just finish it.

[Brandy · Rating 1 out of 5]

Huh? That’s exactly what I said when I started reading the book. The storyline was very hard to follow and just plain out didn’t make sense. Toward the end I started to piece together what was going on but I still think it could have been better. Won’t be reading this one again.

[Robert Kimberlin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I LOVED THE ART AND THE STORY WAS PRETTY DECENT. THE ONLY REALLY PROBLEM OF THE COMIC WAS THE FACT THAT GOING FROM PANEL TO PANEL WITH THE GUIDED VIEW, I HAD TO ENLARGE THE PAGE TO READ THE CAPTIONS AND DIALOGUE. I LOVED ALL OF THE CHARACTERS, BY THE WAY.

[B · Rating 2 out of 5]

Like all sci fi it didnt make sense but it was still a good story.

[Emily Perkovich · Rating 4 out of 5]

Artwork 10/10, story 8/10, execution—lacking.

[Adrienne · Rating 2 out of 5]

Wut

[Michael Knolla · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting concept. Execution left me lukewarm at most.

[Jon Nakapalau · Rating 5 out of 5]

In a world where you can be anyone you want to be and live in any world you want to it may seem as if it is the new Eden. But when AI and virtual reality charge you your concept of individuality to participate it is only a matter of time before something has to give. A combination of The Matrix and They Live - a very unique dystopian vision of a possible future.