Honestly, I'm trying to formulate my thoughts for this review, but Zojaqan is stunning. I mean that in the literal sense. I'm dumbfounded.

A beautifully wrought thesis on grief and control, Zojaqan follows Shannon Kind. We follow her through the beautifully drawn pages to see the inevitable end of her interference in the creation of a civilization.

It is haunting and thought provoking and beautiful. I can't recommend it enough.

Although it would be good to note that this is not a book for the faint of heart. Lots of violence here, folks.

Shannon Kind is stuck in a strange world. One moment, she was on Earth, grieving her dead son. The next, she's in a prehistoric alien land in which she can't seem to stay anchored in time, slipping forward months, years, millennia. During each period of temporal stability, she interacts with the local creatures - protecting and teaching the native prey species (to whom she becomes a god-like figure) from the violent and monstrous predators. These interactions have huge implications in the evolution of both species, which Shannon witnesses with frustration as she leaps forward over and over again.

There is one major issue I had with this book: the illegibility of the text of the Zoja narration - written in an olde worlde font that is very difficult to read, especially on a screen. Other than this, I really liked the art style, and appreciated the ambitious scope of the story.

Zojaqan is complex, intelligent science fiction story packed with time travel, alternate worlds, aliens, evolution, best intentions, unintended consequences and lots of blood, sweat and tears.

A fantastic graphic novel. Great artwork and a very engaging storyline. We'll definitely get this for our library.

I picked this up because I saw it was from the same guy that did Joyride, but I didn't really enjoy it as much as that title. It's an interesting concept to tie together the loss of Shannon's son with her appearance on a completely different world where she then tries to 'mother' the creatures evolving there. I say 'mothering' them but really she inadvertently turns into a kind of god to them as she tries to help. It was an interesting concept but I feel like the background wasn't explained clearly enough so I found the whole thing to be kind of confusing at times. Honestly it heavily reminds me of the parts in Mike Carey's Lucifer where Lucifer and Elaine both have to make their own worlds and struggle with how much influence they should have over their creations, so most of the time I was kind of just wishing I was reading that instead. It's a decent read though and the art and designs are pretty good overall. I think it would have worked better if it was a bit longer though.

Great art and a really good story to go with it!! I had a lot of fun reading this, would definitely read more!!!

<i>Soon will come the armies.

The churches, the betrayals…

The light and the void and the light again…</i>

A story about time, about life, about death.

About eternity.

Mortality.

Shan <i>lives</i> in this epic comic.

The imagination and art in this volume are breathtaking.

The depth and breadth of this story are amazing.

This really spoke to me.

In darkness, we go to places unimaginable. Our dreams turn into metaphors for our lives. The art we create becomes metaphors for what we live.

The longer we live, the more the darkness tries to surround us. As we evolve, that darkness evolves. We spend every day of our lives fighting it.

Sometimes the darkness wins.

Sometimes we live it over and over.

<i>Soon will come the armies.

The churches, the betrayals…</i>

<i>Thanks to NetGalley, Diamond Book Distributors, and Vault Comics for a copy in return for an honest review.</i>

An interesting sci-fi story. The art is good and the story is a bit predictable but it's worth taking a look at.

Science fiction has long been used as a metaphorical vehicle for dealing with grief or trauma. "Zojaqan" feels like it belongs in this tradition, but also takes it in a new direction.

The story starts with Shannon Kind stranded on an alien world. She discovers a native prey and predator species on the planet, and finds herself defending the prey against the predators. She then sporadically jumps forward in time, sometimes a few dozen years into the future, sometimes thousands of years. Over time, her prey species, the Zoja, build a civilization based on her teachings. However, her lessons get distorted and her offhand moral guidance stagnates into a corrupt religion.

Throughout the story, we also learn that Shannon is grieving the death of her son Luther. Her flashbacks to Earth remind us of our own troubled present (in one panel, Luther even carries a Black Lives Matter sign). The implication is clear: despite the progress of civilization, we will always have to contend with the strong preying on the weak.

"Zojaqan" is a multilayered story that does not give up its secrets easily. It can sometimes be hard to follow, but never because of bad writing or unclear artwork. Rather, I felt the writers wanted to prompt readers to engage with the story actively. You will probably need to work to get the most out of this story. I particularly appreciate just how much the authors leave to the imagination. It's possible to get a rough understanding of the rules of this world, but ultimately there's so much more we don't know. Subtlety is an understatement.

I personally loved the art style. The characters were drawn with just enough clarity so that they're clear, but the artist never dwells too much on the details. The abstract style helps lend the world a slightly ethereal quality. Great use of reds for the sky.

This comic isn't for everyone. "Zojaqan" is not an action/adventure story. In a lot of ways, it reminded me of the recent movie "Annihilation" (without the horror). It's a quirky science fiction story that works primarily on an emotional and intellectual level rather than through worldbuilding and plot development.

[NOTE: I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review]

I received a copy of this book for a fair and honest review. I have only reviewed a couple of others in this comic and graphic novel world. The drawing was well done and clear. It really show you the flow of the story and kept me engaged in the tale being woven around me. Shannon goes through a lot to survive, but I want the best of the Zojas as well. There is more I want to say, but I don't want to spoil this. It well done and would like to see more by them in the future.

Zojaqan is a unique take on the 'fell through a portal' kinds of low fantasies - in this one, Shannon arrives into another world while grieving the death of her son, and though she initially wants to give up, the world keeps her alive until she is ready to fight whatever comes in her way. Then she meets a species called the Zoja and in a state of motherly affection, starts to shape their destiny, but over and over she finds that trying to change a circumstance would sometimes would result in no change and she accepts her loss.

While the central arc of the story is Shannon coming to terms with the loss of her son, the majority of the plot is devoted to how she shapes the future of the Zojas. See, she has this ability that she can skip or slow down her time in this world, so she skips and it can be two generations when she back with them. She initially helps the Zoja fend off their predators, makes a deal with a menacing forest spirit, and tries to teach the Zoja morality. Her attempts to 'civilize' them however, are met with human-like civilizations of the Zoja that worship her and kill in her name. She essentially becomes the icon of a vengeful God for them - one who lives among them, but also who can cast them down for not following her teachings. I particularly felt that if you (the reader) have a problem with faith and religion in our world, this would particularly resonate with you - the idea that God maybe an entity who is just trying to make the future of your species better but keeps getting disappointed over how you use their name to commit atrocities.

While I liked the concept and direction of the plot, I still was not a fan of the artwork. The world is built well enough, a wonderland-like realm with strange creatures and things. But Shannon's character design was awful - the artists have her in weird and painful looking body postures ALL the time, and rely more on what they think look aesthetically pleasing than realism. Also, I hated the lettering for the narration given by the Zoja - it is in this weird old-timey font, yellow-brown color scheme and is a strain to read, even for someone who doesn't have vision problems. Also, it suggests it is an adventure fantasy, but that could only be said of the first chapter, maybe. The rest of it is just philosophical musings.

So basically, good concept, and interesting ideas, but terrible artwork and lettering.