REVIEW: ‘No One’s Rose,’ Issue #1

No One’s Rose #1 is published by Vault Comics, written by Zac Thompson and Emily Horn, art by Alberto Albuquerque, colors by Raúl Angulo, and letters by Otsmane Elhaou. In the future, humanity has destroyed most of the earth. Climate change has rendered it uninhabitable. The last safe place is a refuge called The Green Zone. A domed area where humanity continues to live. It is here that we find Tenn and Seren. A brother and sister who are both striving to better their world, though the paths they choose are very different.

Generally speaking, storytelling is typically done from a single character’s point of view. They serve as the filter through which the observer is given their information. Sticking to one character’s viewpoint streamlines how we see the world. But it can also create bias. We get only the way that character feels. No One’s Rose #1 looks to be going for a more complicated approach.

Instead of going with the typical single perspective, writers Thompson and Horn split the book evenly between the two siblings. Furthermore, they never go out of their way to present one view as being the correct one. Both are shown to have valid points with what they feel, as well as what they see, as the important goals. In this way, the reader is allowed to judge what they see, and start making their own conclusions about the world No One’s Rose #1 presents.

And speaking of the siblings, I was pleasantly surprised to find that I liked both of them a fair amount. Quite frequently creators feel the need to have siblings be polar opposites. This doesn’t feel like the goal here. While both are different, and it causes a bit of bickering, I can see how these two could be related, or manage to live together without drawing blood.

The big place where our dual protagonists differ is in their goals. Tenn is a brilliant engineer who has devoted her studies to repairing the world outside the dome. This work is supported by the ruling government: the Post Environmental Liberation Union.  Because of this helpfulness, Tenn sees the government as benevolent. Trying to give back to the people what has been lost.

Seren works in a water decontamination plant. He spends his time keeping the dome water drinkable. He sees the dome as being unfair due to a split between the upper and lower dome. People generally do not move between the two areas of the dome. With the well-to-do enjoying the top half, the rest of the population work in the lower half. Seren believes this situation is unacceptable and a change in the social situation is the most important thing for humanity.

We are only given a brief glimpse of life in the dome in No One’s Rose #1, making it so we cannot know exactly how bad, or good, things are there. But I am more curious than most such settings would have me. I feel like I genuinely don’t know which side is good instead of being able to presume that the government is totally corrupt.

The art of No One’s Rose #1 does a solid job of presenting not only the characters but the world they reside in. Many different locales are shown in this issue. From several areas inside the dome to a jaunt outside, all the places are presented cleanly. Albuquerque’s art lays everything out in a clear, presentable fashion while Angulo’s colors give the illustrations that extra bit of life.

Overall, I found No One’s Rose #1 to be an intriguing read. What I’ve seen of this world feels unique. There is potential here for a story that may be a little different than most of its type. But whether it will blaze its own trail or walk well-trodden roads remains to be seen.

No One’s Rose #1 is available now wherever Comics are sold.