Rapp posits a world where everyone moves fast, which is of course a comment on our very own world, so that’s fine. It’s a fairly typical YA kind of plot (at least I think it is based on the YA stuff I’m familiar with from The Hunger Games and brief plot summaries I get from my daughter), even though there could be so much more to it that Rapp ignores. She discovers that they can take out the chip that every person has installed in their arm (which they use to buy things faster, but also the government can track them), they can “de-bug” you from your accelerated pace, and they have access to stuff like the real version of “Romeo and Juliet.” Angela falls in love with the place and with Gladys, another teen who’s been there a while, but of course, the book can’t have too happy an ending, can it? “THE MAN” IS TOO OPPRESSIVE!!!!! So shit hits the fan, and while I don’t want to spoil the ending, I do want to consider how problematic it is. Her grandfather tells her to dig up something at the tree where he and her grandmother used to go, and when she does, she accidentally falls into an underground tunnel, where a “slow-down” resistance movement hangs out. Angela has begun dropping her “goes” and talks of reading the real version of “Romeo and Juliet” and hanging out with her grandfather, who’s going to be moved to a “reduction colony” (which sounds nice and sinister) because his heart rate is getting too slow. Go.” because they want the next person to talk quickly, and this odd tic makes the dialogue actually read faster, which is Rapp’s point. Everyone ends every sentence with “go,” as in “Today I ate a hamburger. Everything is fast, from eating to shopping to even sleeping (they explain how in the book, fret not). The story concerns Angela, a teen who lives in an accelerated world. The basic premise is solid, but Rapp surrounds it with such a clichéd teen rebellion story that it just doesn’t work. There’s a lot to like about Decelerate Blue, which is why the fact that it’s ultimately disappointing so annoying. It’s published by First Second and bears a price tag of $17.99, or $14 at the Amazon link below, which will send some money my way if you choose to use it for any purchase, not just this book!įirst Second has a reputation for publishing good comics for all ages, and Decelerate Blue is certainly geared slightly toward teenagers, but that doesn’t mean adults can’t enjoy it, right? Rapp, apparently, writes YA novels, so it’s not surprising that we get a story of a 15-year-old girl in this comic. Up next in my big pile of graphic novels that I’m trying to catch up on is Decelerate Blue, which is written by Adam Rapp and drawn by Mike Cavallaro. “That’s the beat of concrete, the beat of machines, of mobile phones and plasma screens … how much junk in my life do I really need?”
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