‘Arcadia’ Graphic Novel Review

Arcadia written by: Alex Paknadel; Illustrated by: Eric Scott Pfeiffer; Lettered by: Colin Bell; Cover by:Matt Taylor & Eric Scott Pfeiffer


Disaster strikes in the early twenty-first century. A papillomavirus outbreak spread throughout the globe and killed seven billion people. With the very real possibility of the extinction of the human race, world leaders sought out drastic measures to save mankind, and they certainly found an unorthodox safeguard. While scientists attempted to cure the pandemic and stop the rising death toll, a safety net was put in place to buy humans more time: Arcadia.

Arcadia would not stop the disease from spreading. It would not give immunity to those still on Earth; however, it would preserve the memory of the infected, and I mean that literally. Arcadia is a digital safe haven for those who otherwise would have been lost to the papillomavirus outbreak. Simply put, the minds of the dying were scanned and transformed into digital data. Then, the data was uploaded into the computer simulation program Arcadia. The vast network of lives is housed in several international locations by those who have not yet been affected by the virus, or as Arcadians like to call them, The Meat.

Arcadia: The beginning

One of the first characters introduced to readers is one of The Meat, Lee Pepper. He is stationed at Arcadia Base 1 in Alaska and essentially helps protect Arcadian servers, but Lee’s vow of protection runs much deeper than his job title; it’s personal. Later, readers meet a rather dysfunctional Arcadian family, and the family’s dysfunction is only about to worsen. The family’s slow disintegration, along with the woes of Lee, are all somehow connected to the sudden instability of Arcadia. Thanks to rather unfortunate timing, all of the character’s personal struggles become woven into political strife between the Arcadians and The Meat.

With hidden agendas, plenty of deception, and millions of lives at stake, Arcadia has numerous questions to grapple with and not just at a storyline level. Arcadia prompts readers to question reality and one’s livelihood. Are The Meat living? Yes, they are breathing. Yes, they are in the natural world, but does their quality of life diminish their activities to simply survival? Is life just survival in the end?

Meanwhile, the general Arcadian population may have ideal living conditions  since they no longer have to worry about disease or death, but do they have a purpose? What does their life mean when they can edit out bad memories? What does it mean if there is no sense of urgency or challenges to tackle? What does their survival mean? Have they truly survived if they have lost their physical bodies? What happens to the notion of God or an afterlife now?

Arcadia: A dream

While Arcadia has hospitable environmental conditions, some of the natural world’s pitfalls did enter the digital realm. Class distinctions are still evident. The citizens continue to use currency and so status, both socially and economically, is easily integrated into Arcadia. Wealth is apparent not only by the services the Arcadians can afford but through one’s appearance as well. This time it is not designer clothes and the like which distinguish people. It is an Arcadian’s physical features, or lack thereof, that can indicate one’s wealth. Interestingly, humanoid features are considered a luxury and do not come standard in the digital world. Ultimately, even in Arcadia citizens are not given all the tools necessary to truly live a life reflective of the one they left. The privilege of looking like oneself must be earned and through monetary means.

Arcadia showcases thoughtful storytelling. It reforms the typical apocalyptic storyline by incorporating a heavy reliance on technology as a means of preserving the human race. It then continues to set itself apart with the existential questions it provokes. With so many twists and turns, readers simply have to read for themselves. So, plug into Arcadia and soon.

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