Anomaly (Graphic Novel) Review

Wow – what a book!

At first glance, Anomaly resembles nothing so much as a board game. It comes nestled inside a large cardboard box that is pretty much the exact same size and shape as your favorite game night fare. The box itself does a great job of ensuring your book arrives in perfect conditions, with no worries of dented corners or ripped book jackets. Inside the box, your new obsession awaits. Anomaly is a very large book, printed on heavyweight paper with a hard cover and colorful jacket. To put it simply, it is lovely to look at. The colors are vibrant, the characters are beautifully drawn, and the materials speak to quality of construction. You’ll fall in love with the book before you read a single word – but it’s the story that will truly captivate you.

As you begin Anomaly, you are introduced to an entirely different Earth. It’s a future that is unfortunately all too believable. Building upon the corporate friendly and freedom limiting laws now being passed, a group of powerful companies slowly worked their way towards world domination. It is now 2717, and the world (and all its inhabitants) is governed by The Conglomerate.

When we first meet Jon, he is lower than low – a menial worker who was forced into drudge work after his catastrophic failure as an Enforcer. When he is suddenly offered the chance to lift him and his family out of the darkness and back into glory, he has no choice but to accept, regardless of the risk. He, along with a group of intrepid explorers, is sent to an planet that is shrouded in mystery. As a newly reinstated Enforcer, Jon must keep the group safe in any way necessary – even when betrayal and near certain death await him at every turn.

Anomaly is a book that really sucks you in. Whether you read it for the incredible illustrations, or the masterfully written story, you will not be able to put it down. The characters are relatable and interesting, and the story line is surprisingly unpredictable. You will care about these characters, and that is an accomplishment in itself. You will also be on the edge of your seat, as authors Skip Brittenham and Brian Haberlin lead you deeper and deeper into a brand new world.

In a move that is both original and supremely cool, the Anomaly book has an accompanying app that will blow your mind (and annoy everyone in the room as you yell at them to check it out). While it is real quite simple in its execution, it enhances your enjoyment of the book in a way that I haven’t seen before. You can download the free app for either iOs or Android. Then, point your device’s camera at marked pages to see characters from the book come alive. As you scan the page, a character or vehicle will seem to pop right out in a 3D image on your device. The image can be interacted with, creating motions or sounds, and you can click a button to learn even more details about it. While there aren’t a ton of pages included as yet, more are being added – meaning long after you finish the book you’ll be coming back to check out more animations.

I absolutely adored Anomaly. It is beautiful to look at, entrancing to read, and the augmented reality app is supremely cool. You will fall in love with the characters and the illustrations, and if your friends and family are anything like mine, you’ll have to fight for your turn to read it. My one complaint with the book is that it is somewhat awkward to read, due simply to the size and shape of it. It is a large, heavy book that is rectangular in shape. With such long pages, it’s better read seated at a table than snuggled up in bed – but it’s worth every second either way.