Afternoon at McBurger's

by Ana Galvañ, Jamie Richards (Translator)

The "Once Party" menu, for ages 11 and up, can only be ordered once (of course). But there's a catch: not everyone who does gets the special prize. Those who do, go to a room where they can view five minutes of one of three moments in their future. Galvan manages to create a vivid world that is both a recognizable and alien depiction of adolescence. There are mean girls, and fast food, and BFFs with crappy older brothers, as well as familiar hints of 1990s design and fashion. Yet, it's also rife with futuristic flourishes like little robotic eggs that walk and talk, like anthropomorphic Alexas.

At its heart, however, Afternoon at McBurger's is a timeless story about friendship and innocence and the discoveries of adolescence (both good and bad), with layers to be revealed only through multiple readings. And Galvan's visual style, anchored by a mastery of pastel and primary colors, will make you want to do so immediately.

Genres: Graphic Novels, Comics, Graphic Novels Comics, Fiction, Graphic Novels Manga, Science Fiction, Coming Of Age

64 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2020

About the author

Ana Galvañ is a comic book writer and illustrator from Murcia, Spain. After studying Art in Valencia, she moved to Madrid, where she works from her own studio for publishers and advertising agencies. One of her strengths is poster and campaign design for events, and her comic book stories have been published by Fantagraphics, Nobrow, Ultrarradio, Vertigo DC, Off Life, Autsáider, Apa-Apa and Fosfatina, among others. She recently published Pulse enter para continuar (Apa, 2018), a compilation of five stories that combines science fiction and fantasy. She was also curator of the cycle of exhibitions at CentroCentro, “The Comic Strip City”, featuring unpublished mural illustrations about Madrid, and coordinated the anthology Teen Wolf.

Reviews

[Dave Schaafsma · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not as surreal as her earlier collection of comics stories, Press Enter to Continue, but it also has a futuristic theme involving a "Once" Festival at McBurger's, where you only get to be 11 once. where your in your "happy meal" you can see if you've won a 5-minute glimpse into your future. But what does the future hold for these girls? A little wistful, not surprisingly.

The light and breezy cotton candy colors are the same as with the first book, with a bright contrast to the weird, off-kilter experimental narrative approach. Oh, and there are these little eggs called I-Me that seem to be the rage, kind of like talking egg Siris or Alexas.

The alt-comix feel may be a little cool and distant, but underneath it all is a tale of three girls, friends.

[jenny · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was too abstract for me to enjoy. The aesthetic was cool but I have no idea what happened, and no attachment to the characters.

[Liv · Rating 4 out of 5]

Did I understand what was going on? Not fully. Did I love it? Kind of. I love worlds like this where you have to look at it all over again from different angles to understand the full picture.

[Bill Hsu · Rating 3 out of 5]

Like Galvañ's earlier collection, this starts out as a deceptively innocent tale of teenage girls, then just veers off the cliff into darkness. As inventive, open-ended, and fascinating as the earlier book. I'm ready for the next one. Now, please.

[Δημήτρης Μπ · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Afternoon At McBurger's" is a science fiction story taking place in a world where every person, once they turn eleven, can be selected and have the chance to take a five-minute glimpse into their future. The premise of this story's world is smart and it's presented in a psychedelic kind of way, and at the same time the heart of the story is the deep friendship between three girls. However, it's very short and not very detailed - it doesn't take more than half an hour to finish the story. In the end you have this feeling that you need a lot more information about the protagonists, their lives and the world they live in (at least this was the case for me).

The art-style is beautiful, eye-pleasing and trippy at times. It's made of watercolours, using mostly shiny tones in a way that it reminded me of lollipops and candies.

Even if it's binded in a beautiful little hardcover tome, the final taste that was left in my mouth after reading this comic is that I wanted more from it and that I'm not convinced that it is worth the 17$ its original price is.

[Tristan Young · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved the art! It was weird, but I think the abstractness was working for it. This pastel dreamy future had very eerie undertones, especially the more I thought about it.

[Lara · Rating 4 out of 5]

literal no entendí NADA pero me ha encantado. necesito hablar con alguien más de este libro para que podamos hacer análisis exhaustivo, porque buffff.
por cierto, ¿POR QUÉ ADELA NO APARECE EN LA FICHA DE PERSONAJES EN EL FUTURO?¿se murió? porque Gustavo aparece también como silueta (y es obvio que lo mataron) y Pomodoro también (se tiró por la ventana en la última viñeta). No hay nadie más como silueta, solo esos tres.

[Jiro Dreams of Suchy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have no idea what happened or rather why it happened, but wow it looks amazing. Check this out and tell me if there is a deeper meaning or if it is weird just for the hell of it (I’m happy either way). Quick read!

[Riley Aldridge · Rating 2 out of 5]

??!??!?!?!????? the art was really cool but ??????????!?!?!!?!????

[La Central · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Es una reflexión, más oportuna que nunca, sobre el miedo al futuro de los preadolescentes dentro de una sociedad caracterizada por un individualismo feroz y un silencio creciente entre los personajes humanos que va haciendo de ellos máquinas. Las promesas publicitarias que refuerzan a corporaciones y con ellas, al Capitalismo son en este cómic, el punto de mira. Sin embargo, lo más reseñable es la mística naif que con una estética delicada a la vez que potente hace del trabajo del color y sus fundidos el verdadero protagonista. Ana Galvañ sitúa su nuevo libro con ApaApa en la línea de renovación del cómic más inmediato y su creación puede hacer disfrutar a los más veteranos a la vez que puede ser una perfecta introducción en el mundo del cómic adulto para los más jóvenes. Ojalá tener un Pomodoro que nos acompañara en nuestro día a día y nos cantara desde el hombro." Jara de Tomás

[Niknaz · Rating 3 out of 5]

a random find at the library that i checked out because of its bright colour palette! but despite its fun colours, some aspects of the story were really dark (child abuse, domestic abuse, and death). the juxtaposition made for an interesting reading experience!

it’s 3 stars because the story is really short and read more like an excerpt of a larger body of work.

[Martina Commisso · Rating 3 out of 5]

A little too ~conceptual~ for me, but the art style, colours, and layout were great.
Pretty confusing overall but definitely worth flipping back through it a second time. The story is made more clear with a reread.

[Juan Fuentes · Rating 4 out of 5]

El dibujo de Ana es hipnótico, y la trama futurista llena de pequeños detalles que, sin embargo, no acaban de encajar bien. Posiblemente porque así lo quiere la autora.

[Alex Carrillo-Hayley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Popsugar challenge 2022, prompt #36: A book you know nothing about

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

Absolutely stunning artwork. From the color palette to the page layout and composition it’s a real treat.

[Alanah]

I'm not quite sure how to rate this, but I do know that I want to know more! I really liked the art style, and the nostalgic-yet-futuristic feel. You definitely have to read it twice (or more)

[mads · Rating 3 out of 5]

decent, absolutely obsessed w/ the illustrations and thought the concept was neat, just wish the story went further.

[Robin · Rating 4 out of 5]

A gorgeously designed wistful remembrance of youth's innocence. The bright color scheme juxtaposed with the story's pained tone is spot-on. Beautiful.

[BookBoo · Rating 2 out of 5]

⭐ 2.5/5

Very ambiguous, I dig that BUT...the story didn't resonate with me so this abstract concept went over my head in terms of figuring out the overall narrative.

[Riola · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautifully illustrated with dark themes. Hyperpop dystopia. I really enjoyed this, and am not sure why so many of the reviews seem to dislike the non linear storyline.

[Jeremy · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Spanish word for 11 is once, and Nuria and her friend, the 11 year old girls in Ana Galvan’s Afternoon at McBurgers, know they're only 11 once. They live in a future where everyone lives indoors, a generation, maybe two, removed from people who experienced the outside world. The girls’ world is sparsely populated by working adults and cute personal assistants called I-Me’s that look like Humpty Dumpty Siris. The girls’ afternoon at McBurgers is a chance for Nuria and her friends to visit their lives in the future, a five minute window in moments pre-selected by the fast food chain McBurgers. Nostalgia has a powerful effect on our brains, especially when it’s tied to something intimate like eating.Imagine if the Happy Meal toys you enjoyed as a child could transport you to visit your deathbed and you get the idea. The inner lives of children are out in the open, raw emotions bright and pure, unburdened by shame or repression. Galvan captures this in the bright colors of her work, the pinks and greens and blues pulsing with neon energy. It’s the color of childhood as we remember it, idealized and beautiful, and, unlike the rest of her story, anything but subtle.

[Lynsea Montanari · Rating 1 out of 5]

The art was stunning and I really wanted to like this book. But I had to google what happened after reading it because I am so clueless to the storyline and even with a google search I still don’t know. There were bits of cool concept but I should be able to follow a narrative. As I said earlier though the illustrations were unique and beautiful my favorite part for sure.

[Danielle · Rating 2 out of 5]

I liked the concept of Afternoon at McBurger's, but there's a lot of ideas thrown together that aren't fully explored. I didn't realize this was so short and I think that definitely impacted my enjoyment of the comic - this easily could have been a full-length story.

[Ariadna Sanz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sigo dándole vueltas a la historia. Un viaje de mil capas, una ilustración como siempre excepcional. Voy a estar aplaudiéndolo un rato largo.

[Tom · Rating 3 out of 5]

Three 11-year-old girls visit the local McBurger’s to enter a contest aimed especially at 11-year-olds. Not everyone will win, of course, but those who do are sent 5 minutes in the future to one scenario of three of their choice. (One of those choices explains the book’s introductory scene.) Before that, though, we get to meet the girls, see their friendship, and glimpse fragments of what makes up their inner lives.

As with an earlier title by Galvañ published by Fantagraphics, Press Enter to Continue, the theme is based on future technology, although Afternoon lacks the earlier book’s Philip K. Dick-like paranoia. I like the simplicity of both Galvañ’s palette of pastel Risograph-quality colors and her line—thin, continuous, precise (and used sparingly), akin to work by C.F., Oliver Schrauwen, and Dash Shaw, with nostril shading via Lilli Carré. Jamie Richards’s translation from the Spanish is in clear, idiomatic English.

[AJ Maitland · Rating 4 out of 5]

This would make for a wonderful film. I was wondering why it wasn't longer, but the visuals obviously fill in the story along with the words. If one strictly reads picture-less novels [or has not read a graphic novel in a long while], this might be disorienting or cause one to question more what, in fact, is already there. I found myself in this position a couple of times. Aside from the challenge of my own personal recalibration (which is on me), the story is heartfelt with simple shapes and colors to both underline and counter unsuperficial matters of life. It translates with such honesty what really exists despite the romantic palate people attempt to paint over their lives with. I enjoyed this one.

[nicole ☾ · Rating 2 out of 5]

(2.5)
The art is beautiful, but the story is forgettable and not fleshed out enough that the story is satisfying. Not everything has to be answered, but the little that is given to us--themes of growing up, adolescence, puberty (in a way? The character who was left out reminded me a lot of late bloomers who often feel left behind on the journey to adulthood)--were trite. Nothing really stood out to me except for the art. This would be a decent story if it were, maybe, three times as long.

[StrictlySequential · Rating 3 out of 5]

"First printing: November 2021"

This time she told a story that I could follow but fragmented it to the point of making me read it about 2.5× to understand what she was getting at. What on earth did any of that have to do with burgers?

The art looked better to me but everything about the colors and how she uses them are still detestable to what I want filling in a story. She obviously wants bizarre atmosphere out of them and their blending but I hate the look.

[Ricardo Baptista · Rating 3 out of 5]

Há cada vez mais um afastamento de um desenho tradicional na ilustração e na bd.
A Fantagraphics tem a reputação do alternativo e a Ana Galvañ encaixa bem no projecto editorial deles.
O desenho é minimalista e os layouts inventivos. As cores são "risográficas". A história pede releitura para perceber o que se passa - há uma viagem ao futuro para alterar o presente e os contornos da motivação e consequências são vagos.

[Kathleen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting futuristic story of three 11-year old besties who go to McBurger's to see if they've won a 5 minute glimpse into their futures. Enjoyed the storyline, although it could have been more fleshed out. Colors of graphics disconcerting to me as I have vision problems. Hints of sibling abuse and use of a gun/ laser are a small part of the story. Overall, worth reading.