Anomaly, written by Skip Brittenham and illustrated by Brian Haberlin, is a huge graphic novel that tells the story of Jon, a dishonorably discharged veteran of the Conglomerate Enforcer Corps. He's been sent on a protection mission to a distant planet; what he and the other members of the exploration team find there will give him a second chance to redeem himself, help longtime enemies ally against an immense evil and decide the fate of an entire alien world. As Jon and his friends discover, it's not the shape of a being that matters, but the intent and heroism that dwells inside us all.
This is big stuff, and Anomaly doesn't disappoint. The artwork is done in a painterly style, full of science fiction tropes like system-spanning space travel, wildly divergent alien creatures and societies and a galaxy-wide corporate evil. The destination planet of Anomaly wouldn't look out of place in an Edgar Rice Burroughs novel, and though the storyline can be fairly predictable, the visual storytelling is top notch.
Anomaly has a companion app for iOS and Android devices that can be downloaded via a QR code printed in the book. Pointing the app at specially prepared pages within the volume unlocks animated 3D models of many of the people, ships and alien animals, as well as an additional 100 pages of background material on the story's fictional universe.
Anomaly tells an epic story with lush, painted visuals, wry humor and a little bit of technological gadgetry that will please anyone who loves sci-fi adventure, comic books and delightfully large coffee-table books. --Rob LeFebvre, freelance writer and editor