While Titan is science fiction and takes place on a moon, it is very much rooted in real-world politics, specifically the relationship between the privileged few trying to control the many who make up the working class. In fact, if you took away the setting and the size of the Titans, this story could essentially take place on Earth.

While a very relevant story, I had trouble connecting to the characters and several plot points felt rushed or confusing. The artwork was interesting but not consistent: sometimes the Titans appeared to be twice the size of the Terrans, and sometimes they were only slightly taller (even when comparing the two main characters, Phoebe and João, it was unclear what their size difference was). I also had a lot of trouble reading the white text on pink background. This may be easier to read in the print version, but white text on a white background is difficult for a lot of people to read. It's artistically interesting but makes some scenes really inaccessible.

There were some really interesting points to be found here, but the story as a whole just didn't work for me. I do think it's an interesting look at how the issues we see in society today, including bigotry and class inequalities, are likely to spread into future endeavors, even if we colonize other planets/moons.

Content warning for graphic sex and violence.

This reminded me a lot of the beginning of The Expanse series; a struggling space colony, populated by Titans (who were born in low gravity, and thus physically different enough that they wouldn't be able to survive on Earth) but ruled by Earthlings. (They even share the "dropping rocks from outer space" strategy!") This, of course, causes tension, which isn't helped by the arrival of a government inspector who claims to want to help the Titans.

Interesting art and color palette, with convincing future tech and slang.While we get a good insight into the beginning of the conflict, the decision to time-jump right to the end is interesting, and leave the plot feeling a little lacking.

Not the most original but not bad.

'Titan' explores the concept of worker's rights in a capitalist society, and the treatment and the discrimination of the working class and those who are different (through the Titans). It deftly explores this through the privileged João whose part of the Terran ruling elite, and Phoebe who is part of the undermined and mistreated group of Titans at Homestead.

João is a privileged individual who at first seems to view himself as some form of a saviour, he naively believes he can solve Homestead's problems on Titan by leading Terrans and Titans alike. What he actively fails to realise for the first portion of the novel is that he is part of a group who regularly mistreats another group and therefore is viewed as another oppressor at worst, or at best patronising, rather than any great help. I believe this reflects how many of us react to those who are more privileged than us who try to 'save' us, and we've seen a rising discussion in this in recent years with the label 'white saviour'.

In contrast to this we also follow Pheobe, part of the oppressed Titans. She is somewhat far more open to the prospect of what João is proposing than other Titans, as she appears to be far more interested in and sympathetic to Terran culture. Pheobe is an intriguing character with several layers, who Vigneault routinely challenges in her views and loyalties, and overall I liked her arc throughout the story.

The story focuses a lot on the concept of war and rebellion, and how they are born, prolonged and ended. It seems to give quite a dreary outlook on these issues and routinely criticises both sides to question if anyone is truly 'good' or 'bad' in the situation. It is also extremely well done as it mirrors techniques both sides in rebellions - the rebels and the oppressors - use to hurt the other side in real life, and at no point does Vigneault seem to praise one over the other, he merely showcases what we are capable of in times of great distress.

The main conflict of the book is not so much the rising tensions on the moon Titan, but really it's how the reader must grapple with the way Vigneault has portrayed capitalism. It leaves the reader continuously questioning who the real villain is in a capitalist society but also how best to fight it, as the author repeatedly questions and challenges the beliefs, methods and loyalties of both sides of the conflict caused by capitalism. It is a rather damning assessment of the concept and explores how the value of profit can impact people's psyche, much like Arthur Miller did in 'Death of a Salesman'.

The art style of this was another positive for me. I liked how the art was in shades of black, white and pink that offset the graphic violence and scenes often displayed in deep space. I thought the colours contrasted well with each other without making the story to gory to read or look at, it distanced the reader from difficult scenes without completing removing them from the horrors of it.

Whilst the graphic novel explores interesting concepts and issues I would have preferred for it to have given more depth, and to have explored the nuances of the ideas it was challenging. This graphic novel also suffers from a problem a lot of others suffer from: I wanted to know the characters further. I felt I only learnt about João and Phoebe on a surface level and can't fully detail their motivations, fears and passions; I would have preferred to have spent more time with them and learn what truly makes these characters tick.

Overall it's a good sci-fi graphic novel that explores the conflicts and horrors of capitalism in deep space, whilst also managing to challenge both sides of the argument. I would recommend this if you enjoy sci-fi or graphic novels, but if you don't want to read a graphic novel that includes sex scenes or heavy violence I suggest you don't pick this up.

In this graphic novel, we are thrust into a futuristic world where humanity has engineered other humanoid-like beings who are much larger and stronger to live on worlds in which their earth derived bodies cannot. These people are put on these planets to work the resources of the land in order to keep the much richer more prosperous worlds running smoothly.

MNGR De Silva is sent to Titan on which the ‘titian’s’ carry out work in factories and mines that are key to producing power for the richer colonies.
De Silva meets Phoebe Mackintosh, a Titan who was born and raised to work in the factories and mines of Titan. De Silva explains to her that he’s here to help increase the productivity of the colony, as its performance is below average. Phoebe explains that the equipment they are working with is old, and the people of the colony are being treated unjustly by the security that guards them, being worked to the bone, facing workplace injury or death, and living in poverty. They are fed up.

De Silva and Phoebe form a bond and soon a romantic relationship- but things won’t stay peaceful for long as the workers soon begin to protest, the security responds violently, and soon all hell breaks loose as the workers try and get suitable workers and Titian rights- they no longer are tolerating the sub-human treatment that has happened for generations.


The themes in this story draw striking parallels to how Black people have been treated for generations. We see this with the way humans have created a genetically modified population of people to carry out work for them (although the Titans weren’t ripped from their families, and they live relatively well compared to slavery that happened in the US), the Titian’s have obvious tensions with the police/security force believing them to be lazy and undeserving- many clashes have taken place in the past where a security/police member killed a Titian.

The story is wonderfully told and illustrated, the romance between De Silva and Phoebe is very passionate. We have a lot of action towards the middle and end of the book when Titian’s fight back and De Silva has to fight for his life, and soon a war ensues across all the colonies where Titian’s work and reside.

The ending closes out with De Silva and Phoebe encountering each out after years of war and recounting everything that has happened since their last meeting.

I really enjoyed this graphic novel and the illustration style.
I loved Phoebe's character, it was great to see her go on to become a badass war hero and fight for the rights of Titians!
4 stars, would recommend.

** ARC provided by Oni Press via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Firstly I really appreciated this being available as a Social PDF. I haven't seen this before and it's a fantastic way for Netgalley to share Graphic Novels. ACSM files don't work for me as I use a kindle and a chromebook, and personalising the PDF with my email address is a great way to prevent piracy. Thanks.

Simply put, this is a story of a worker uprising on a moon. The most interesting part is that the uprising goes ahead despite the presence of a new manager who is trying his best to support the workers and protect their job security. As a comment on resistance to structural inequalities this was very thought provoking. This would have been more effective had there not been some heavy fascism and apartheid conditions. As mentioned in other reviews the choice to use Black speech patterns for the workers was almost certainly a poor one. There's a cute love scene that whilst a little unnecessary is respectful and "normal". The characters are no beauties, are hairy, differently sized and yet still have a fun time in a scene that is not played for laughs, which was good to see. Generally I thought the art was brilliant, and loved the use of colour.

Such a lovely art style, I really enjoyed it and I'd love to see more from this author/illustrator.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an advance readers copy in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 stars.
There was a lot to like about this. It created a world that was pretty quickly fleshed out and realized. I enjoyed both of the main characters a lot. The themes this book explored are very relevant today. I found myself wanting to read the entire thing in one sitting. Overall, I am glad I read it.
There were a couple things that bothered me though. All of the characters outside of the main two are very one dimensional. There are two groups in conflict and that seems to be the only aspect of any of these characters worth noting. The conflict is well done but all of characters are made to be somewhat villainess.
The other thing that bothered me is the use of AAVE to draw parallels to this story and what is happening in today's society. I think it will make people uncomfortable to see this coming out of white characters mouths.

Thanks to Netgalley for a digital copy in exchange for an honest review :)

This is a nice short science-fiction story about inter-planetary colonisation, exploitation and rebellion. The story was not very new and the characters are not unique (both protagonists love 20th century music). Everything felt rushed and I guessed most of the twists. I liked the technological aspects and the whole idea of Titans. There were points when I wanted to know a little bit more about the characters and the history of the colony.

Titan is a very interesting story about war, fighting for justice and peace. The world building was very cool and even the illustrations were awesome with only pink and blank coloured pages, I was into it as I read it in one sitting. The pace was just nice and very well wrapped up. Even though it was short, it contained a lot - action, a little fling and demanding rights for the Titans. Finally, after years at war, all is just as it ought to be.

I really liked Titan. But I also felled like there was to much in the graphic novel it was. I think that it would have been better it this book was 2 books.

Titan was a pretty interesting story but I wish it would have been a little longer. The chapters and plot points felt kinda rushed to me. The characters were all introduced so quickly that even towards the end I still mixed a lot of them up. But other than that I found this story quite interesting and unique. I'll definitely check out more by François Vigneault.

The art style in this graphic novel is stunning, and initially reminded me heavily of On a Moonbeam, especially with the space theme. Though the setting of Titan is also in space, it focuses heavily on politics and the divide between the working and ruling class in their society in regards to the race/species of the characters. Overall, it was interesting, and likely an enjoyable read for those who are interested in sci-fi, but I didn’t feel like the story held my attention in the same way that the art had initially grabbed it.

Back when I was a teenager, I read Strikebreaker by Issac Asimov. It is a story that stayed with me partly because it dealt with industrial relations in a way I hadn't up to that point seen before in a sci-fi story, and, partly because in reinforced my rather un-nuanced view at the time that scabs in the end always made things worse for their fellow workers. Titan like Strikebreaker is a sci-fi story about industrial relations. It explores the corrupting power of unions to further the conditions of their members, the constant drive that corporations have to grow profits at the cost of their workers, and, what happens when these two forces come into conflict. It also has at its heart a rather tender love story.

Worldbuilding in science fiction stories is as critical as the plot and the characters. Vigneault's art is impressive. Everything is wonderfully rendered in a palette of reds, whites, and, blacks. Everything from the spacesuit designs to the living quarters seems believable. Despite its somewhat cartoony stylings, this is one of the most realistic sci-fi depictions of what life on an extra-planetary body might be like that I have seen since Ad Astra.

As impressive as Vigneault's art is it matched by his plotting and dialogue. The story is gripping and to its credit took off in a direction that I found unexpected. Everybody loves a plot twist.

The hardest trick for a writer to pull off is to make you care about an unlikeable character. João da Silva brings to mind Ryan Bingham from Up in the Air (as played by George Clooney). He is either going to turn things around or recommend that the station be closed. Yet early on I began to warm to him. Though getting the mine back to profitably was his main concern, he wanted to learn as much about the plant before making any decisions. In Phoebe Mackintosh we have I think we have found yet another great sci-fi heroine. Equal parts brave, kind, and, driven, she is both likeable and spikey. She does the things one wishes they would have the courage to do when the stakes are high.

I thought Titan was brilliant. A shining example of a sci-fi story exploring the way humans treat each other. It is one of those books that make you want to read the creators other works and look forward to their future stories. Highly recommended.

28/30

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing this book in exchange for an honest review.

Unfortunately, DNF @ 37%.

I usually love all the themes in here, but it simply did not work for me. But I would still recommend for those who are interested.

Titan explores age old themes of sectarian tension, colonialism and oppression by focusing on a moment in time ( the future) and a couple's cross sectarian interaction with each other and the momentous events. While there are no massive new insights, the plot layers and story action clearly show the complex and complicated lives of actors in momentous times. It doesn’t have a 'good guy' and 'bad guy' per-se, and the very messy way things happen in life is portrayed with enough drive and action to keep you reading. The colour palate is very sparse, and the style of drawing really emphasizes the 'ugliness' and reality of living, fighting, warring, loving, plotting and betraying.

It was an entertaining if somewhat bleak read. It would make a very poignant and useful discussion piece on how humans 'other ' and the non linear narratives of perpetual war.

Thank you to the publisher for giving me a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

I liked this. It wasn't super good but it was okay. The dialogue was very overwhelming and to be fair pretty hard to read due to the fact that this comic has its color aesthetics. Sometimes the black would just merge in in my opinion making it hard to read the dialogue, or at least rather distracting.
The story itself is quite fun to read especially since it's in space and focusing on what is in my opinion "Something new". I really enjoyed the whole setting, I thought it was fun.
Overall I enjoyed the comic and would like to maybe purchase it in the future.

3 stars

The art style is absolutely beautiful. however, some of the color selections made it hard to read at times so I found myself struggling to keep track of how the story was developing. The concept was super appealing, but this story was just not for me. I liked the premise of the story but there was too much information that lacked explanation. For those who love sci-fi and don't mind less explanation, this one is for you.

I received a copy of this from Netgalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

DNF @ 20%

I liked the concept behind this a lot, but it lost me somewhere in execution. The art is excellent, but the dialogue was too much and overwhelmed the page. There was so much going on that it was hard to read, with a lot of visuals and a lot of words crammed into each page, and right at the start there was so much exposition that it made me immediately weary. Graphic novels should show, not tell, and this just didn't do that for me. I also found the white text on the pink background really hard to read, and squinting at the page to read him talking to his internal systems got old fast.

I think the idea behind this is excellent, and the plot is interesting if standard sci-fi fare, but unfortunately I just struggled to get into it, which is a shame because I was getting Murderbot-esque vibes at first and had high hopes.

Titan is a stunning story of politics, war, betrayal, and love. The coloring and illustrations are beautiful and really compliment the story. I can't wait to get my hands on a print copy!

Enjoyable graphic novel! Interesting story line. Thank you so much for letting me have the chance to read it