Originally posted on Just Geeking by.

Content warnings:
There are a lot of scenes of violence, gore and death throughout this graphic novel. This includes the death of humans and magical creatures. There are scenes of deforestation/the destruction of nature. There is a scene involving poisoning. Themes of prejudice, racism, and ignorance continue throughout.

I first caught a glimpse of Motherbridge: Seeds of Change many months ago when George Mann shared some of the art work on his Twitter timeline. Illustrated by the talented Aleta Vidal, the combination of stunning artwork and fantastic word smithing bring this story of a mother separated from her family to life at every stage. This isn’t Mann’s first time working with this medium, nor is it his first time writing in a dystopian future earth landscape. If you’re familiar with Engineward that’s about where the similarities end in terms of genre, however, it’s just as dark and gritty, just on a whole different level.

In the world of Motherbridge: Seeds of Change, the borders that were obliterated when the Mother rose up have been reinstated. These borders are literal and figurative, with people are returning to the old ideas of segregation. The utopia that the Mother had created, the one world united “blind to creed or colour to allegiance or belief” died with when she did; humans were incapable of honouring it without her there to enforce it.

During the time of the one world, Hayley Wells had moved from England to New York during the time of the Mother, made a new life, fell in love, started a family and everything was great – until she was ripped away from it because she wasn’t born in that country. She and hundreds of others were rounded up in cages. The walls went back up, with the dying remains of the Mother and all the mythical creatures that awoke with her on the other side of those walls.

As a white man in a uniform shoves her outside the gate telling her “to go back to whatever shithole you crawled from” Hayley finds herself on the other side of those walls. Outside the wall Hayley ends up finding a lot more than she bargained for. There’s a cult of Mother worshippers, mythical creatures, a world abandoned to nature and some like-minded outcasts who join her on her quest to get back to her family. To do that Hayley’s planning to bring the wall separating her from her family crashing down. It isn’t just difficult, it’s near impossible – or it was until Hayley stepped into the wilds beyond the wall and things began to change. The Mother is not nearly as dead as people behind the wall have been told…

In Motherbridge: Seeds of Change Mann and Vidal take on the fantasy tropes of journeying and questing, to discuss the topics of segregation, forced separation, female rights, climate change, and a whole lot more. For anyone reading this review and thinking “why does comic books/fantasy/insert genre have to get political, I just want to read for fun!”, you might want to do a bit of background reading on how speculative fiction and comic books came to be. They were literally born from politics, to voice issues just like this. Motherbridge is right on point, and does so beautifully.

Nestled in a journey filled with nature magic and learning the full strength of your own power comes a tale of what fear of the unknown can do, and how the actions of a few in power can cause pain for so many. Mann’s words are given life by Vidal’s gorgeous art work which feels like nature has blossomed on every page, with leaves and flowers being utilised as frames. The full page spreads are masterpieces, mixing mythology and nature to create the unique vibe that is Motherbridge. It’s not just the landscapes, the magic and the creatures that Vidal has brought to life beautifully; the characters look amazing as well. As with all of Mann’s stories they are full of emotions and reactions that make them feel genuine.

Motherbridge: Seeds of Change is a stunning graphic novel in so many ways. It has family, friends, found family, a great sapphic romance, bad guys which you’ll love to see get their ass kick, gorgeous mythic creatures (that you might wish were real and want to adopt…) and if you’re anything like me, you’re going to wonder if there’s going to be any more. The story ends in a way where it could go on, or it can end as it is. It’s one of those endings that works either way. I personally feel that the world of Motherbridge has a lot more left to share, and I would love to see more of Vidal’s beautiful interpretations of it.


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2.5/5 stars

(Full disclosure: I received a free e-ARC for review through Edelweiss.)

Twenty years ago, Mother Nature awoke, building bridges between people, states, nations, and continents, tearing down man-made walls, uniting us as one (hence the name, "World Mother"). Humans were free to move about as they pleased, love who they wanted, and generally follow their bliss. Resources were plenty; unnecessary suffering, a thing of the past. A utopia made real.

Haley chose to immigrate from England to the United States, where she met a man, fell in love, and started a family. But somewhere along the way, the World Mother abandoned humanity - and, in her absence, the powerful returned to fear and hatred to subjugate the many. Like many "foreigners" before her, the authorities of Haley's walled-in city came for her in the night, forcing her out at gunpoint. It's among the rotting wildlands of New York City, while searching for a way back to her husband and children, that Haley finds a greater purpose - reawaken the World Mother so that she can fulfill her promise of freedom and compassion for all.

I really wanted to love MOTHERBRIDGE: SEEDS OF CHANGE. It's got everything: an ecofeminist utopia; magical, human-animal hybrids; a queer love story; a celebration of compassion, for all creatures. (Central Park Zoo animals thriving outside of captivity? You love to see it.) But the execution just left me wanting more.

I hate to say it, but the story just felt .... cheesy. Heavy-handed, ham-fisted, however you want to put it. And what was with Falcian's old timey speak? A Centaur is majestic enough on his own, you don't need to make him extra-pretentious by styling him after Shakespeare. Though I do kind of love how Haley subtly shifted her found family's perception of Falcian from an "it" to a "he"; a something to a someone. ( )