Facing The Sun #1-5
Duna Haller
Recap
Fear. Grief. Trauma. Guilt. Love. All seen through the eyes of a dysfunctional android prototype well passed her estimated lifespan. Updates every other Tuesday!
Review
The story presented in this weekly webcomic is an astoundingly mysterious and emotional one. We’re introduced to three main characters, a disabled girl, her personal assistant android and her mother. The whole narrative happens within the house of the girl and, sometimes, the lab where they make repairs to the android. With a dark, sometimes terror inducing, and deliberately smothering art we’re introduced to these characters’ traumas, the roots of that trauma and the dysfunctional relationships formed as a result.
The main theme of the limits and personhood of AI is explored in Liza, Arya’s (our main character) disabilities android assistant. Arya is emotionally attached to Liza, who keeps hurting her unintentionally, due to her code malfunctions. The theme of the attachment, even love, that Arya feels gets even further explained when we realize her mother is abusive, and also dispatches of and dehumanizes her “creations” – other androids – even when they prove to have an evolving emotional intelligence. Moreso, her mother forces her to pursue experiments on Liza and to ignore her feelings around her and her trauma (both emotional and physical, since the disability was the result of an accident her mother marks as forbidden to talk about).
Abuse, isolation and codependency, as well as different approaches to the meaning of love and affection, and the limits of it are explored in these first five chapters of this webcomic. It’s a harsh read, but one that makes you deeply understand these characters and feel their suffering, their wrongness. The art, even if it’s bloody, rough and a bit confusing at times, makes sure to get you back to looking at (walking) plants, nature scenarios, some sense of homeness, and the kindness and care in the faces of Arya and Liza. Both are victims of Arya’s mother’s abuse and with a very different approach they help us understand more of trauma, pain and codependency.
There’s a particular thrust in the narrative around chapter four (by the way, it’s appreciated that in the middle of it there’s a cool mini-comedic interlude and a little Valentine’s extra as relief for the heavy story), which shows deeper exploration on the line between AI and human (and the general dehumanization of androids within this fictional world), as well as ties to the theme of exploitation and large scale capitalism, while also getting the two main characters even closer in a really tender way. So, while at the beginning of this webcomic you might feel it’s heavy and without a lot of brightness or hope to it, hang on, the survival of these characters and their tender relationship is going to pay off and give you some really vulnerable, sweet moments.
Final Thoughts
A beautiful and harsh tale of abuse, grief and codependency, one that also makes us wonder about the different aspects of love, the future of humanity and artificial intelligence, and the nature of survivorship. Beautifully crafted by Tesslyn Bergin all by herself, it excels in difficult themes, shocking panels, but also space for cuteness and healing. You can follow each week here and buy the upcoming issues of the physical edition here.
Facing the Sun #1-5: Holding On In The Face Of Grief
- Writing - 9.5/109.5/10
- Storyline - 10/1010/10
- Art - 9.5/109.5/10
- Color - 9/109/10
- Cover Art - 9/109/10
9.4/10
User Review
( votes) Comments Rating 0 (0 reviews)