Earthdivers, Vol. 1: Kill Columbus (Earthdivers, #1)

by Stephen Jones

Davide Gianfelice (Illustrator), Joana Lafuente (Colorist), and Rafael Albuquerque (Cover Designer)

The New York Times–bestselling author of The Only Good Indians and My Heart Is a Chainsaw makes his comics debut with this time-hopping horror thriller about far-future Indigenous outcasts on a mission to kill Christopher Columbus.

The year is 2112, and it’s the apocalypse exactly as expected: rivers receding, oceans rising, civilization crumbling. Humanity has given up hope, except for a group of Indigenous outcasts who have discovered a time travel portal in a cave in the desert and figured out where everything took a turn for the worst: America.

Convinced that the only way to save the world is to rewrite its past, they send one of their own—a reluctant linguist named Tad—on a bloody, one-way mission to 1492 to kill Christopher Columbus before he reaches the so-called New World. But there are steep costs to disrupting the timeline, and taking down an icon isn’t an easy task for an academic with no tactical training and only a wavering moral compass to guide him. As the horror of the task ahead unfolds and Tad’s commitment is tested, his actions could trigger a devastating new fate for his friends and the future.

Join Stephen Graham Jones and artist Davide Gianfelice for Earthdivers, Vol. 1 (collecting Earthdivers issues #1-6), the beginning of an unforgettable ongoing sci-fi slasher spanning centuries of America’s Colonial past to explore the staggering forces of history and the individual choices we make to survive it.

• ISBN13: 9798887240459
• Publish Date: 19 September 2023
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Idea & Design Works
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 148
• Language: English
• URL: https://penguinrandomhouse.com/books/isbn/9798887240459

Reviews

[Quirky Cat]

Summary:

The world is falling apart - just like we were warned about. Humanity has long given up hope of saving the planet. Those with the means have fled, leaving those without to deal with the fallout. This is where our story begins.

A group of Indigenous outcasts have found a very interesting feature in what was once a beautiful part of America. This mysterious cave seems to have the ability to transport people back in time. Desperate to save their country, their people, and the world, they devise a plan: to kill Christopher Columbus.

Review:

I've come to a conclusion: I will pretty much read anything that my favorite authors write. That officially includes Stephen Graham Jones. I fell in love with his work when The Only Good Indians was released, and that isn't going to change anytime soon.

Getting back to the point - Earthdivers Vol. 1 is rich, intense, and deeply horrifying. Stephen Graham Jones has a way of writing horror so that it slowly seeps into your bones. It doesn't slap you in the face. But it does linger. Oh boy, does it linger.

I'll admit that I was a little hesitant about the core concept of Earthdivers. Not because I have a problem with the idea of hunting Columbus. It's just that I generally prefer to keep real historical figures out of my time-travel adventures.

But my god, it's worth it. It's so worth it! This book is tense. It's dark, too, delightfully so. Looking back on it, I wouldn't have changed a thing. I certainly can't wait to start reading the second volume!

Regarding the artwork, let's just say that it perfectly matched the story's tone. Davide Gianfelice and Joana LaFuente gave us visually stunning settings and characters. I love the overall design, and many smaller choices helped to bring the whole look together. Likewise, Steve Wands helped to further enhance the look. It was perfection.

Highlights:
Historical Fiction & Horror
Time Travel
Hunting Columbus

Trigger Warnings:
Graphic Elements/Death

Thanks to IDW and #NetGalley for making this book available for review. All opinions expressed are my own.

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I’m definitely in the middle of a graphic novel/ comic book phase these days!

 

Reading Arca a few days ago made me want to go through all the comics I borrowed via Comixology (i.e. this girl is getting through Something is Killing the Children)! Arca also made me request Earthdivers from IDW Publishing because it just sounded so interesting!

 

Earthdivers is part of IDWs attempt to branch out after the loss of comic licenses such as Ghostbusters and transformers! As someone who hasn’t really read either of these comic series (and I’ve only half watched the Transformers movies because of Megan Fox) this doesn’t mean too much to me besides indicating that we’ll get some really interesting comics from a place that already has a good track record picking out things that most people like!

 

I also want to thank NetGalley and IDW for a copy of Earthdivers! It also worked out for IDW because I ended up buying the part 2!

 

Earthdivers #1: Kill Columbus came out on the 5th of October 2022. It’s 35 pages long and seems to be under the horror graphic novels category on Amazon. It’s part of an ongoing series so I’m not sure how many we’ll have at the end! There are 6 at the very least, with episodes 4 and 5 available for pre-order and the cover for number 6 right here! It’s also already set to be a tv series by Disney!

 

I think its nice that we have Arca and Earthdivers by the same publishers. While Arca is take on those who leave, Earthdivers focuses on those who stay. (Did you get the Elena Ferrante reference?)

 

Earthdivers is about a  group of indigenous survivors who come up with a plan to save the earth by rewriting history to stop the United States from coming into existence. As one of them goes back to the past and tries to change things, the others await the consequences of his actions in the future.

 

As with any graphic novel, you have to comment on the art, which I just loved! The story itself in this book (it is 35 pages) isn’t much. You get the basic premise and that there will be major hurdles to this plan (and it does get dark); beyond that they can’t do much because of the length. It was enough to get me intrigued, and I ended up purchasing the second part from amazon (via Comixology).

 

As an adult I’ve stayed away from things involving time travel, I’ve always felt like I wouldn’t vibe with that category (so no Doctor Who or Outlander), but Earthdivers makes me feel as though I should give this genre a try! As someone who did love Time Squad, I will say this is like a grown up dark version of Time Squad where they can only save the world by undoing the creation of a country.