This year’s classic literary character Captain Nemo has been featured in several shows and books, including the new AMC+ Show Nautilus (Amazing, check out!) and the Monster Piece Theater in IDW’s miniseries Godzilla. Now, Dark Horse offers a 4th miniseries featuring Neemo’s granddaughter, Lumen. She is just as great and adventurous as her granddad.
In the past, there have been many contradictions with Nemo’s ethnicity. Luckily, the miniseries portrays Neemo and Lumen as Indians. The most enjoyable scene appears early in this issue, traversing homeland in Banderkhand, India with pet tiger Mistripe and pet monkey Iggy. These scenes show us everything we need to know about lumen. She is a tomboy who loves to push herself into her physical limits, is not afraid of anything and has a deep love for nature and animals. She is also extremely clever and taught in multiple languages and advanced mathematical and scientific concepts. Miss Stripe and Iggy are also adorable.
In one scene, James Robinson writes an extended conversation between Lumen and her aunt Meera. It seems like a typical 13 year old who wants less study and more playtime. However, it reveals a lot about Lumen’s backstory. It’s so much writing, and rather than dropping it on the mountains of the exposition, it reveals information organically.
Dark Horse
Other equally interesting characters are featured, including a dapper character similar to John Steed from the Old Avengers TV show, and a bulky brawl professor. It has also been reintroduced to Nemo himself. Nemo feels like she lives a hermit-like being under the ocean near the mystical island (this story takes place months or years after the end of Jules Verne’s mystical island novel).
The art of Phil Hester and Mark Dieling is fascinating, bringing both the underwater world of Nemo and the exotic Indian landscapes to life. I especially loved Nemo’s Jack Kirby style gimmick. This would have been proud that the “King” was a strange Signature Wye tube and jewel socket spitting out steam, all rendered in gorgeous detail.
At the climax of this issue is an army consisting of steampunk tanks and robots (along with masked soldiers wielding energy rifles), where Lumen attacks the compounds inhabited and attempts to take her away. It’s an epic sequence where Lumen, her pet, her aunt, and everyone else in the compound fights back, showing them they’re all warriors. But who are the attacking forces working for, and why do they want Lumen?
James Robinson provides a fantastic three-page section after the conclusion of the matter, featuring Nemo with background information about Jules Verne’s novel.
Robinson also says that he uses other characters throughout the miniseries that draw from the fiction of that era (late 19th and early 20th centuries). Can you taste Sax Romer’s Hu Manchu as your nemesis, or can you get Edgar Rice Burrows’ Tarzan as your ally?
I’m looking forward to where the miniseries will go next, and what the dazzling characters will have in the store. This is an incredible debut for the miniseries featuring Jack Kirby-style steampunk gizmos, the brave protagonist of Lumen and the promise of adventures around the world.
“The Adventures of Lumen N” #1 Review
Lumen N.#1’s Adventures
This is an incredible debut for the miniseries featuring Jack Kirby-style steampunk gizmos, the brave protagonist of Lumen and the promise of adventures around the world.
The art captures the grandeur of Jack Kirby’s illustrations.
Lumen is a great character. Here we are given a wonderful introduction to mystery enough to keep us guessing her past.
The promises of characters from other books that are built into the storyline add a great deal of potential to future storylines.
