The Short While

Sorese builds on the futuristic setting of Curveball in this ambitious sophomore outing, an epic that’s part science fiction, part allegory, and part offbeat queer love story. In an indefinite future still recovering from a totalitarian dictatorship called the Administration, Colin and Paolo meet-cute when they pick up one another’s leather jackets at a party and quickly fall in love. A chilling brush with violence pushes them apart, and they set off on separate paths, unsure if they’ll meet again. Combining comics and prose, Sorese develops a complex, often bewildering society built in piecemeal on the ruins of a failed state, a landscape studded with smart houses, separatist communes, literal underground clubs, restaurants staffed by abandoned sex robots, and a new-agey cult called the Dance. “We live in a nightmare and I don’t know what to do about it,” says a stranger who helps the pair, but this semi-dystopian world contains its share of beauty. Sorese’s rounded, jiggly artwork softens the harder edges and infuses the characters with nervous energy. If the plot sometimes dissolves into confusion, the characters remain vital enough to be worth following through the chaos. It’s a bravely messy story about dealing with trauma, on a personal and a societal level, and searching for happiness in an imperfect world. (Nov.)