Manu and the newly released Puno, Reviewed.

How about some dystopian sci-fi? Want more? Okay. How about a dystopian sci-fi with heavy cyberpunk elements? Okay, well how about all that wrapped in beautiful Peruvian landscape and culture with a flipping cyborg Jaguar? I know right, 2021 could be wildly entertaining. Enter Gustaffo Vargas to deliver all this and more with Manu and Puno.

I’m ashamed to say Manu is a comic I was totally unaware of before receiving Puno from the huge-hearted and incredibly patient wizard behind this website. Luckily for me also, he’s smart enough to lend me both so that I could truly appreciate this story. Manu won Best UK Independent Comic in 2019, so I'm not sure what rock I was under to miss that. Anywho, I couldn't be more delighted to have entered this Peruvian cyberpunk universe, with its vibrant beautiful looks and intriguing power of tech mystery, dystopian story.

Manu and Puno are parts one and two respectively of a three-part odyssey, so join me in breaking down these issues, hopefully without too many spoilers (at least not for Puno), and guiding any others out there that may have missed this beaut, on a pilgrimage of Peruvian delight in dystopia. And if any of that hasn’t sold you already just remember there's a cyborg Jaguar for flips sake.

So, let’s start with the art. Gustaffo Vargas really sets the tone with this encapsulating art from the front covers. Manu shows that wonderfully intriguing cyborg Jaguar with eye poppingly vibrant colours, the yellow of the fur playing off the vivid shades of green with the focal point of the neon pink cyborg eyes really selling this comic expertly. By comparison, Puno's much more muted colour scheme still sells its contents, serving as an excellent juxtaposition for what is ultimately a darker chapter in the story. Not that much of it is particularly cheery. Remember we're talking dystopia here. These covers also wonderfully reflect the landscapes of focus for each part of this story. Manu being the vibrant kaleidoscope of colour found in the Amazon rainforest, while Puno's more muted approach captures the sparsely vegetated landscape of the Peruvian highlands. These themes, with opposing geography, add a real richness and depth to the story pulling the narrative along some truly engrossing landscapes.

Manu's pleasing opening takes advantage of its vibrancy to disarm the reader into this narrative with detail-rich panels presented in an expertly formatted layout. The layout of these panels is really interesting, providing a visual delight to cement this story's body. Each panel expertly accentuates the art displayed within, creating page after page of real beauty even in its darkest narrative points. The layout design also manages to significantly add to the emotions the art presents, and this is delivered throughout both issues. Whether high action, serene contemplation or loving intimacy the combination of the detail, bold colours and panel structure create a richness and depth that ultimately captivates and defines intent before a single word of narrative. I found the design of each issue interesting also, thanks to the juxtaposition created. Munu's rainforest opening, all bright and vibrant, with a splattering of deep red as the narrative evolves in its darker moments pastel colours for memory and ending with a much more muted palette as the issue closes in its evening city landscape.

Puno works almost at its opposite. As the narrative landscape setting has shifted the colours reflected are muted. They then build in boldness before the centre pages and the depictions of Limon which crackles and pops with its wash of neon pink and blue. The restaurant confrontation which follows this again builds the bold vibrant palette before the neon club scene delivers seediness and menace to close out an extremely enjoyable visual feast.

The character designs also reflect the powerful colour choices with the heady mix of traditional Peruvian culture and classical cyberpunk aesthetics. It’s a look that wonderfully defines this story. There's something voyeuristic about this style, with it feeling beautifully traditional and equally futuristic. The art is detail-rich and worth pouring over, the colour palette sells the setting and tone while the panel structure delivers its own emotional weight to superb art.

With that beautiful art, it would be easy to assume a lack of conviction in storytelling, but the truth is the art delivered in both issues just really drives and accentuates the fascinating story on offer. Only truly stand out comics can deliver a synchronization of captivating emotional art and powerful narrative story and Manu and Puno are great examples. We’ll begin with the plot points first as just like the art there is a real depth and richness to the whole presentation of this story.

Manu opens with the introduction of Sonia who comes across as an emotional lover. Her devotion and commitment to Canela seems one of deep love, yet eager for reciprocation. Canela at face value seems to be a much more emotionally cold lover. The opening of Manu feels like a set up for a classical romance with only the cyborg animals, in Rodolfo and Bigote, hinting at anything more, before an in your face (or in Canela's face) heavy glimpse towards Canelas haunted past and by extension her cautious standoff nature. Things quickly take a turn with the arrival of trespassers which escalates the mysterious nature of Canela. The cut to the moment of the highlands scene alludes to this mystery further while also providing a snapshot of the Aymara language which I found from a technical standpoint to be a wonderful inclusion offering an education in something I was completely ignorant of. From here we meet our “villains” Vasquez and Donovan who add context to the scale of the trouble Canela is tied to.

Finally and this will be slightly spoiler-ish for those unacquainted with the series. So please make sure you're caught up and ready for Puno before this!!!!!!!!

Indeed the final revelation is that Canela is in fact not a Canela but rather Lila with ties to a now mostly extinct gang and a past which has forced her isolation and solitude. Further revelation of surviving gang member Marco Poma, known to Lila as Limon, provides final context to Lilas predicament. Sonia's “friend” Xolo reveals this secret with selfish intentions but what information will he have to bargain with and what will it cost Lila? This leads us into Puno, which having only been recently released I will attempt to describe with much less spoiler infusion.

Puno begins with an introduction to the new landscape, offering a glimpse at the soldiers and tech being utilized by Vasquez and Donovan in their hunt for Lila and Poma. The scene also offers a moment of political commentary regarding Peru's handling of its native communities which is handled with emotional weight and explained further in the endnotes of the issue. The plot roars forwards with real detail as the scale of Vasquez and Donovan's mission is revealed before, my personal favourite moment, two full-page spreads depict a montage of events alluding to the rise of Poma and the Lima Roja incident. There's also an extremely interesting nightclub scene where Lila must uphold her end of the bargain struck with Xolo. By the final page, these issues deliver on all the defining plot points of the main characters with Manu defining most of Lilas past and connection to Poma while Puno cements the origin of Poma, alludes to his abilities and defines the history of the top players. These revelations along with the final page and its depiction of the scale of the upcoming battle leaves us perfectly poised for a stunning conclusion that could well be a huge highlight for this year. I cannot wait.

For fans of cyberpunk, dystopia, Peruvian culture, interesting sex clubs, cyborg wildlife and comics so vibrant you might want sunglasses to enjoy it, I implore you to go to www.gustaffovargas.bigcartel.com to purchase your copy. Whether Manu or Puno, both are available at very, very reasonable prices and come with signed items. If you can’t get enough of the universe created in those pages there's Lima and Trujillo, two stand alones set in the same universe. There's even an exceptional digital triple pack as the perfect gateway. Just brilliant.

Review: 5/5