Light Carries On

by Ray Nadine

When Leon’s camera unexpectedly breaks, he is forced to borrow a used one from his mom’s antique store. As he snaps the first picture, the ghost of the camera’s former owner is released and the two are inexplicably linked.

After taking Leon’s body for an accidental joy ride, the ghost introduces himself as Cody, a queer punk rocker who died decades ago. Of course, he doesn’t remember how he wound up dead but the two decide investigating might be the only way to end the haunting.

Leon has been reeling from a recent break-up with his boyfriend, recovering from his time in the military, and trying to become a photographer who can afford to take pictures of something more than high school proms and weddings. So being the only one able to see and talk to a ghost that died before cellphones, Wikipedia, or iTunes seems like a great way to fill his ample free time. The two get closer as they travel around Chicago showing each other the landmarks of their pasts and trying to unearth the secrets around Cody’s mysterious death. They discover they have much more in common than expected as they explore the complexities of life, love, and afterdeath, taking breaks to jam out to tunes, hang out in planetariums, and slurp down tasty frozen beverages.

Cartoonist Ray Nadine ( Station Six, Raise Hell, Messenger ) has created an unmissable graphic novel that balances out themes of trauma, grief, and toxic relationships with radical empathy, queer joy, and healing.

Genres: Graphic Novels, LGBT, Romance, Queer, Comics, Fantasy, Ghosts

264 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 16, 2023

About the author

Ray was born and raised in central Illinois, and was drawing as soon as they could hold a pencil. They knew from a young age that they wanted to tell stories, and after years of growing up on manga and webcomics, they began creating their own stories. They've self published a handful of their books, and Light Carries On is their debut graphic novel published by Dark Horse.

Ray lives in Chicago. They work all day and night as a comic artist, colorist, and letterer.
They love the city, and in their free time they love making music playlists, collecting skulls, and playing video games (currently playing: Final Fantasy XIV).

Reviews

[Liz · Rating 2 out of 5]

This story would have been a 3 star read for me if it didn’t fall victim to one of my least favorite mistakes made in narratives about punk(s): the blatant disregard for historical accuracy!!! I can’t figure out why part of the story took place in 1977, because it really didn’t have anything to do with the plot, but characters from that era are wearing shirts from bands didn’t exist then: black flag wasn’t performing as black flag until ‘79, someone watching the moon landing (‘69) wearing a Sex Pistols shirt (formed in ‘75), a band with a super early 2000’s name (The Raven Conspiracy), playing the Empty Bottle in ‘77 when that bar didn’t open until the early 90’s. If the author wasn’t going to pay attention to whether or not they were representing the 70’s era of punk correctly, then why not just completely fictionalize it?

[Heidi · Rating 4 out of 5]

FULL of gays and also slurpees

[Rod Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

A melancholy ghost story has a spirit imposing on a war veteran who has his own trauma to help find out how he died thirty-some years prior. It treads familiar ground as the duo bonds and experiences some self-discovery, but it's well done for what it is.

Just for fun, I made a Spotify playlist for Cody's Favorites, the iPod screen displayed on the first page.

[Johnee · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a sweet, touching story about two lost souls from different generations, who are able to connect after one “summons” the other when using their camera. The artwork aesthetic is beautifully done in duo-tone colours and I really loved the serene depictions of the city of Chicago, which serves as a great backdrop for the story.

I did take a long break from reading sessions, which meant that I wasn’t completely invested in the story. The last half was lovely - veering more into slice-of-life, sprinkled in with a bit of the "mystery", and although the two MCs have a breadth of depth to their characters, I didn’t care for them as much as I’d have hoped.

Still, a lovely story about finding comfort after facing tragedy.

[Gabriele | QueerBookdom · Rating 5 out of 5]

Representation: gay Black disabled protagonist, gay white protagonist, queer white tertiary character, queer Asian tertiary character, Black tertiary character, lesbian Black tertiary character, lesbian white tertiary character, gay Black tertiary character.

Content Warning: vomit, death, alcohol, mentions of cancer, mentions of suicide, mentions of war, post-traumatic stress disorder, trauma.

Review to come…

[Skye Kilaen]

I am still pondering this graphic novel. Overall, I loved it. But I do wish the story had acknowledged that the white MC taking over the body of the Black MC, at length & without permission, has a racial aspect.

[Sara the Librarian · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm very into Ray Nadine's style as an artist, unfortunately pretty solid art doesn't make up for a total lack of a meaningful story or characters whose main features are "slackers."

Leon is an Afghanistan vet living in Chicago who has been existing in a kind of limbo since returning from his last tour. He's kinda, sort helping his mom at her antique store and he's kinda, sorta taking gigs as a photographer. When his camera breaks he "borrows" one from his mom's shop and unwittingly releases the ghost trapped inside it.

Cody was a punk rocker in the 70's, the front man for a popular band that was just about to take off when he committed suicide. Except Cody is sure he didn't commit suicide, he just can't remember what really did happen.

Despite these relatively interesting backstories there's just not a whole hell of a lot here. Leon and Cody just kind of wander around Chicago talking to each other about how lame and aimless their lives are. But we never really get a true sense of who they are. Leon mopes around and feels sad and aimless. Cody acts like an asshole, has a shitty boyfriend he can't shake and constantly misses band practice. Neither of them has hopes or dreams for the future or any real desire to do anything except wander around Chicago. This mutual malaise eventually sparks into an equally blah romance.

There's no real world building so we have no idea why Cody is a ghost, why he was in the camera, what Leon went through in Afghanistan, why either of are so into photography, why they like each other, neither of them has a personality beyond "aimless" and "drifting."

There's no real conflict, even the resolution of Cody's death is just kind of shoved in at the end and has no impact on anything. Neither character has changed or grown or even made any interesting choices about anything. I just had no idea what I was meant to take away from this.

I suspect that I'm meant to feel that Leon just being a vet and Cody a punk band singer and both of them being gay is meant to be enough to tell me who they are. Especially when none of those things are ever fleshed out. We get nothing about how hard it must have been for Cody to be gay in the 70's and there's all of two panels devoted to Leon's time in the military. There's nothing for the reader to ground themselves in.

What they do or how they identify isn't a story.

Just a guy and a ghost wandering around Chicago.

There are way better ghost stories and graphic novels out there.

[melhara · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a slice-of-life story about a gay black veteran from Afghanistan who gets a secondhand camera only to find that it's haunted by the ghost of a gay rockstar from the 70s. It's kind of a sweet story as they both get to know each other, but I also found the story to be rather aimless and lacking in depth.

*** #18 of my 2023 Book Riot Read Harder Challenge - Read a comic or graphic novel that features disability representation. ***

[Kat · Rating 5 out of 5]

PUNK ROCK GAY HEARTFELT GHOST STORY!!!!!!!!!
Oh how my heart burned while reading this. What a beautiful & unique story. Great balance of grief, trauma, toxic relationship, queer joy, & healing. Packed with 2 of my favorite things, gayness & 7-11 slurpees!

[Alexis Meuche · Rating 4 out of 5]

We love a gay ghost story with heart.

[Emily Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.8 ⭐️ A spooky achillean paranormal romance perfect for fall.

I went into this with fairly low expectations as I wasn’t hugely keen on the art style at first, but it grew on me and I found myself really enjoying this.

It looks at mental health and follows Leon who returned from war and fell into photography where he accidentally summons the ghost of a singer.

It was surprisingly warm and cosy but does have some angst to it and heavier themes mentioned. This is a spooky mystery graphic novel as we find out how Cody died. Perfect for fans of Taproot or Cemetery Boys.

This was fairly long (over 200 pages) and I would assume it’s either adult or 16+ due to some of the content.

Rep/ Black MLM / Gay MC with PTSD/Trauma who is sober, While MLM / Gay MC. Relationship featured is MLM. WLW SC & MLM SC’s also.

TW’s listed below, please skip if you don’t want spoilers.







Tw//CW// FTB sex, death, cheating (past, on page), mention of suicide, themes of trauma and PTSD surrounding military, drug mentions, alcohol, panic attack mentions, murder, sobriety mentions.

[Steven · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gorgeous. Great concept! Very touching.

[Ananya Garg · Rating 4 out of 5]

sad days sweet gays

[Emily✨ · Rating 2 out of 5]

I loved a lot of the concepts here, but the execution fell flat in places. I didn't find the "mystery" aspect very compelling, and the reveal was underwhelming and unconvincing. Kellen was a cheating asshole, but it takes a lot of hostility to literally strangle someone to death with your bare hands for threatening to kick you out of a band. The real mystery was trying to figure out when this is supposed to be set. I think it's 2015? But then the MC's keep referring to 1977 as "30 years ago" so I was confused. My biggest take-away from reading this was actually the Wikipedia spiral it sent me on, reading up on the hanky code, Chicago landmarks, and the Sex Pistols/Sid Vicious. 2.5 stars

TW: military PTSD, infidelity, murder, body possession, mention of suicide, past parent death, themes of death and grief

🌈 I read this title for the Queer Lit Readathon, Round 11! 🌈

[Amanda [Novel Addiction] · Rating 4 out of 5]

MY HEART.

[Sinistmer · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a touching romantic story about a dead punk rocker and photographer/former soldier. The palette of greys with blues worked really well to give it a dreamy quality, and the dynamic between Leon and Cody is well-developed. Flashbacks provide solid context on Cody's story while letting their romance develop well. There's plenty of dark topics touched upon (drug/alcohol abuse, suicide, and PTSD), but ultimately the story is a hopeful one.

Readers who like the spooky romance in stories like Blackwater would do well to pick this one up.

[Jonathan · Rating 2 out of 5]

I liked the art a lot, but the story was just so conventional in its approach—everything I expected came true exactly in its most straightforward iteration.

[Jack Reynolds · Rating 4 out of 5]

This graphic novel was a random find for me on the new shelf in one of my grad school town's libraries. Light Carries On's cover was front and center, snagging my attention the weekend before my Thanksgiving break. I decided to pick it up since I don't believe I've read a queer fictional graphic novel targeted towards adults before. Given my reading tastes, I find this surprising. The concept also sounded cool, and I liked Nadine's use of color and art style when I flipped through it.

I'm happy to say this didn't disappoint. Nadine was able to create an engaging story. I liked how Leon and Cody's lives paralleled each other in a way, where both experienced some type of loss due to their circumstances. The color palette Nadine used here is also very soothing. The blacks, greys, whites, and blues work in harmony together, with some nice bursts of red to cut through some of the tenser moments. How Cody died is important to the plot, yet Nadine also cuts their characters some slack to just live. This last point, in particular, makes their growing romantic connection feel more natural. There's a line in the last chapter that particularly resonated with me, given how a moment in the second to last chapter was framed. It left me feeling hopeful by where this development would go, even if it wasn't the most realistic.

The timeline's the main reason why I didn't give this a higher rating. It took a while for me to realize this graphic novel didn't take place in the present day for Leon's chapters (which were framed in white). One reviewers mentioned the clothing and band inconsistences, but I also noticed Nadine kept on referring to Cody as being dead for exactly 30 years. There's one moment during a therapy session where a clock dates the present timeline as taking place in April 2015, which makes the number for how many years Cody's been dead inaccurate. What end up bring minor inconsistences pile up in the first half of the graphic novel, which did get in the way of some of my initial enjoyment. Other than that, I'm glad this ended up being a very impactful read. I'll be curious to see if Nadine published other solo work through Dark Horse.

[Kyle · Rating 4 out of 5]

There is a lot to adore about this sweet (but not sugary) queer, paranormal romance. With themes ranging from addiction, depression, PTSD, grief, betrayal, and loneliness, to chosen family, Punk Rock, reconciliation, and healing, the underlying thread holding it all together is an understated love story that just feels…. sincere. This won’t be to every reader’s enjoyment, but for me it worked on many levels.

4/5

[Bethany · Rating 3 out of 5]

cute story with a splash of angst, cool two-tone illustrations, lacked a bit in depth and character/relationship development

[Neo · Rating 3 out of 5]

good but probably forgettable

[Eric · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

A nice little read while I waited for the internet to come back on

[Crystal · Rating 5 out of 5]

So beautiful

[Grace · Rating 4 out of 5]

ghost loves mcr. 4 stars

[P Roberge · Rating 4 out of 5]

Those gay boys got good music tastes

[Mitch · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a wonderful story, filled with heart and humor. I felt that the climax was missing something, but it wouldn't stop me from reading this again.

[Estibaliz · Rating 4 out of 5]

I guess this deserves four stars, because the characters really ended up growing on me, even though this graphic novel has kind of a slow start, and it took me a while to get into the story.

Some people complain about the lack of historic accuracy when it comes to punk references, but that didn't bother me, as I'm not a connoiseur, and I was paying more attention to the story than the history here.

And, as the back cover says, this graphic novel indeed does a great job in balancing out themes of trauma, grief, and toxic relationships with radical empathy, queer joy, and healing. It's just a bit heavy on the emo side of things here and there, mind you, but an enjoyable read over all.

[V Hummer · Rating 5 out of 5]

i spotted this book the day after it came out and was just drawn to its beautiful cover and touching summary and it didn’t disappoint at all- it exceeded! set in Chicago, this is a gay romance about a photographer and ghost falling in love and learning about grief, trauma, and carrying on. lovely art style with an interesting mix of romance and mystery, but a main focus on the latter.

the mystery elements act more as a driving force for the MCs getting closer together as they learn more about each other but nonetheless added really interesting drama and was a highly effective backdrop to the themes. i loved the setting and dynamic of the two characters. highly recommend for a touching, romantic read :)

[Tutankhamun18 · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this sweet graphic novel about a war veteran photographer (Leon) and a punk rocker ghost (Cody) who isnt sure how he died and their friendship (and then more than friends). The plot was sweet and wholesome, but also had a mystery behind it. It was a great balance and I really did enjoy it alot. I also really enjoyed how the ghost was depicted and how both characters had their own personal character growth aside from their friendship.

[SamLevi · Rating 4 out of 5]

between a 3.5 and 4 for me i think. at first i was like :-/ about this book because of style choices but the story rly grew on me and was pretty sweet. ending was not what i expected which i always love. use of color was rly nice and the artist def developed over the course of illustrating this book in making more and more intentional visual choices