The Lab

by Allison Conway

This "silent" graphic novel follows a nameless subject trapped in a nightmarish test facility, raising unsettling questions of exploitation and oppression.

The Lab is a wordless visual journey into the grim machinery of exploitation. Its nameless protagonist is held in solitary captivity, alternately poked, prodded, starved, drugged, and worse. Brief glimpses of other test subjects, undergoing their own ordeals, are few and far between. But is all this abuse and isolation purely arbitrary? Or is there a purpose?

Painstakingly and evocatively rendered, Allison Conway's debut graphic novel explores the spectrum between lifeless gray and vivid color. It asks uncomfortable questions about the treatment we tolerate and the injustices underlying our modern world.

Genres: Graphic Novels, Comics, Science Fiction, Graphic Novels Comics, Dystopia

176 pages, Paperback

Published March 31, 2020

Reviews

[Jon Nakapalau · Rating 5 out of 5]

Powerful wordless GN that makes you think about conformity and perception are linked. We have all felt (at some time) that we may be part of an 'experiment' that has not gone quite right; that we are the 'test subjects' of some grand interpretation of life - that remains tantalizing elusive. This GN captures this feeling very well.

[Carol Tilley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Conceptually good and well executed, but not the story I needed right now. Quite unsettling.

[Nick Topakas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this in 4 minutes at the library.

Without using a single word, this graphic novel humanises the experiences that animals in testing labs so often go through.
And the ending, being the happiest result possible, leaves us feeling sombre about the brutal reality of these disgusting processes.

If you like this, you’ll probably like the music video Black Crow by Angus and Julia Stone - it goes for about as long as it takes to read this book.

[Sonora Taylor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting visual tale.

[Jonathan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was thoroughly provoked by this book. I didn't know what to expect but I was reminded of rabbits in cosmetic testing labs. Neither knew what their captors intent was, or why they were captive. I chose to read this book because, as a librarian, I'm constantly defending graphic novels as 'real books' to patrons' parents and whatnot in my youth department. This is as much an evocative story as any 100k word Stephen King novel. I'm sad now, I need to go find something happy to read.

[Elina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Aesthetic: 5/5
Känsloväckande: 4/5
I helhet: 3/5

Hemsk. Inte dålig alls, bara hemsk. Jag kände mig väldigt ensam av denna, och det var säkert illustratörens mål, att väcka dessa känslor, och hon gjorde det på ett bra sätt. Den var även väldigt fin rent illustrativt, jag tycker om färgerna, allt bidrog till denna hopplösa känsla trots att det ändå var "glada färger" inblandat.

Den stora frågan är om det finns en mening med detta. "The lab is a wordless visual Journey into the gram machinery of exploitation. It's nameless protagonist is held in solitary captivity, alternately poked, prodded, served, drugged and worse. Brief glimpses of other subjects, undergoing their own ordeals, are few and far between. But is all this abuse and isolation purely arbitrary? Or is there a purpose?"

"It asks uncomfortable questions about the treatment we tolerate and the injustices underlying our modern world."

[Joseph B · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Lab is a silent graphic novel, without a single word written within its story. Instead, it practices the age old adage of show not tell. Allison Conway's art style is a bit abstract but speak volumes. A lone figure is subjected to countless tests in a lab. They never see their captors, nor know their intents. Instead, are just taking every day as it comes. Enduring whatever is thrown at them. The Lab is one of those experiences that people will glean different things from; and there's beauty in that. 4 1/2 out of 5 stars.

Note: I will forewarn you against reading this if you are not a fan of silent comics. It will positively not be your cup of tea. But if you are willing to give something different a try; pick up The Lab.

[Edward Champion · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a heartbreaking and wordless graphic novel that you may not be ready for right now. It is unsettling because it is so close to the terrible existence that every American is having right now: left to rot, tinkered by some amorphous mechanical force, left to suffer. But it is nevertheless one of the best graphic novels published this year. The use of grays and purples, buoyed by the bright colors of industry, is perfectly disturbing. I misted up at the end of this, recognizing the everyman of our unnamed hero. They tinker with our bodies. They interfere with our ability to see. Yet somehow we find some strength despite capitalistic evils.

[el · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bit more of an abstract storyline that left me with unanswered questions. The novel does a significant amount of world-building pretty effortlessly, but gives little world-defining- it goes from machines to grass; the nameless, practically shapeless main character is violated with colorful treatments... to what end? It's like meeting Neo in M1, watching him fight, then fly into the sky for two movies without defining the rabbit hole or where it leads at the end of M3. I enjoyed this, but it was a lackadaisical ending.

[Josh 谢翊杰 · Rating 4 out of 5]

For no words, this book spoke volumes. In good writing, authors show, not tell. This showed the trauma of being a test subject. Somethings work, others done, but the subject is left with the after effects and has to live with them. I get that in order to find out what works, you have to try many failed attempts, but they come at a cost for someone. It may be for the greater good, but for the person/people who had to suffer on the way to the success, they should be considered, acknowledged, appreciated and compensated.

[Catherine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow! For a book with no words, this graphic novel speaks volumes. The illustrations are amazing and certainly convey the loneliness, agony, despair, and hopelessness of the protagonist. As far as the message of this book, take your pick. From the horrors of lab testing to environmental atrocities to the treatment of prisoners, this story covers a multitude of societal brutalities.

This graphical novel evoked in me strong feelings of terror, depression, anxiety, and foreboding. I was quite relieved when I came to the end and experienced a tenuous sense of hope.

[David Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Heartbreaking, completely wordless story about the miserable existence of a lab test subject. The saddest thing about it is that this sort of stuff happens in real life to so many actual lab animals. Since it's completely visual, it makes for an exceedingly fast read. I read the whole thing in maybe 15 minutes.

[Ricardo Nuno Silva · Rating 2 out of 5]

A wordless tale full of dread, suffering and oppression.
An endless succession of pages of gloominess and despair, focused on an anonymous character subjected to a carnival of tests, bordering a torture ritual.
Although being a quick "read", even the end leaves one scratching the head.
I'd pass this one.

[Centauri · Rating 4 out of 5]

SPOILER
Words were not needed to get across the message of how experimentation is a painful and inhumane process lacking emotion. By the end of the story, I was asking myself "what was the purpose of all that suffering" and it dawned on me that was the whole point. Suffering ends with freedom, but sadly, a lot of the time freedom is death.
Visual Metaphor

[Linda Klein · Rating 4 out of 5]

Grim wordless exploration of the horrors of being a lab specimen. With an ambiguous ending, I can only hope the main character found a life out there after escaping the lab. Really gruesome and troubling, and if anyone were on the fence about animal testing, they need this book.

[Amandine Maghm · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pas besoin de mots pour ce roman graphique. Les sons nous parviennent même aux oreilles !
Le dénouement m’a un peu surprise d’où la note mais le travail et le style de cette artiste New Yorkaise sont impressionnants.
Attention histoire très très sombre.
Je recommande toutefois.

[StrictlySequential · Rating 2 out of 5]

She does wordlessness and selective coloring well but this is just a long and tedious torture session of a humanoid that has no story otherwise. All of the protracted tests run on it were too weird to relate to what she might be addressing in our world.

[Amy Lou · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars
I honestly really loved this. The art style really worked for me, and I loved the concept. It was extremely quick to go through, so I might go back through it; maybe it was right place right time, but I'm glad I picked this up!

[alejandro galvez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cool.

Experimental type book. I didn't understand it all but I picked up a bit of what the author was trying to convey. I am sure its open to interpretation to each reader. We all will have different opinions. But its solid.

[Brady Dale · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ooph.
Ooph. Ooph. Ooph.

It's about pain.

[Matt · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm weirdly unmoved.
Sure, experimenting without consent is unethical but... its hard to sympathize. "That sucks little dude"

[Online Stig · Rating 4 out of 5]

slutet va lite slött men väldigt berörande fram tills dess.

[no elle · Rating 4 out of 5]

prison is evil!

[Lindsey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wordless but with a message.

[Gail · Rating 3 out of 5]

No words.
Disturbing and depressing.

[Maria Kosta · Rating 5 out of 5]

Almost cried flipping through this. I think every time I do again it'll bring up something new for me. Very powerful-- Allison says so much without a single word.

[Lanesha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thought-provoking

[Fawndolyn Valentine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Completely heartbreaking. 🖤

[Emmett · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s like a wordless Black Mirror episode in graphic novel form.

[Annie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not for kids-it's pretty depressing.