by tonydoug wright

And the Sky Turned White... by Carter Allen (Candle Light Press 2005)

In 1976 Eric Carmen had a hit with the ultra-sappy ballad titled 'All By Myself', which still brings tears to the eyes of the broken hearted and sissies everywhere. 'All By Myself' could have been the cheesy alternate title to Carter Allen's newest graphic novel And The Sky Turned White, where a scientist named Andie encounters the last days of the universe.

Andie has been deployed to a remote planet where she must lead a solitary existence as a scientist gathering data for research. Although Andie lacks human companionship she does have E.A.R.L. a robot sidekick that assists her with the various day-to-day tasks at the research station . But Andie soon discovers that the planet she is assigned to is experiencing days of intense sunlight with no explanation why it is happening. As the days go by Andie soon discovers that all is not well in the universe. A vagabond group of space miners crash near her research station and inform her that there is no hope for surviving the impending doom. Although the end of the universe is imminent, Andie's adventures are only beginning.

Carter Allen has written another enjoyable sci-fi based graphic novel that features a strong female character with a feisty attitude. The plot of And The Sky Turned White is somewhat reminiscent of Stanley Kubrick and Arthur C. Clarke's 2001: A Space Odyssey but Allen adds a bit of comedy to give the story a lighter feel. Hey, everything in the universe is about to go "kaput" so we could use a good chuckle or two.

The artwork by Allen is the same black-and-white '50s sci-fi influenced style that can be seen in his Dub Trub series. One minor gripe with the artwork in And The Sky Turned White is that there are a few panels where Andie's facial features do not match the emotions she is expressing. One example is there is a panel where Andie has a smile on her face but her written dialogue is that of panic. Other than that, Allen does succeed in creating a more visual work than one inundated with unnecessary dialogue.

Overall, And The Sky Turned White is another fine work by Carter Allen. Although it was a quick read it was still a good sci-fi story that seems uncommon with today's comic book and graphic novels. There are those of us who have been disappointed too many times by the sub-par sci-fi releases from the major publishers so thank goodness for And The Sky Turned White. Candle Light Press can put another gold star by their name.