ANAFAE REVIEWS

"Anafae is one of those rare works of art that combines stunning imagery with an intricate storyline and a message that needs to be heard and understood. By showing what happens when the Goddess reawakens and finds her realm destroyed, with fake trees littering the dry lifeless landscape, Monica Richards and James Neely prove that, as Charles Bowden so eloquently put it in his novel Blood Orchid, “our way of life is killing us.” Ultimately, it’s a story of awakening and rebirth, one that shows us what could be but doesn’t have to be. Here’s to hoping humanity wakes up before it’s too late. " - Lisa Selvaggio, Paragon Magazine

"Anafae is a visually stimulating book brimming with beautiful art and an intriguing storyline that will have you hooked at first glance. Comics don't get much better than this. You owe it to yourself to pick this one up." - Marie Bridgeforth, Bridgeforth Artists

"A healthy mix of myth and science fiction, this fantastically illustrated graphic novel feels like a step above a comic book. The world is dying and Anafae awakes from a long slumber to walk upon the planet and learn what went wrong. Intriguing and delivering its message in a subtle way, Anafae's journey is one sure to be interesting to follow. The book felt like the tip of the iceberg to me, the beginning of an adventure and a healing of impossible proportions." - Anastasia Rabiyah, welovefiction.com

Full Review and Interview by Anastasia Rabiyah on WeLoveFiction.com & RabiyahBooks.com

Brilliant and beautiful, Anafae stands at a critical confluence of permaculture and pop culture, of social responsibility and sustainability. It distills the essence of where we find ourselves culturally and environmentally with hope and promise that much can still be done to reconnect ourselves and the natural world. Wrapped in a seductively fantastic context, its message is urgently relevant." - Scott Horton, Editor, Permaculture Activist

"Through this storytelling device, Richards and Neely have created an activist comic book that sets out to help readers apprehend the seriousness of the global climate crisis by imagining the consequences of a failure to change. The art is beautiful, the moral concerns are universal, the characters are appealing, and there is a suggestion of two intriguing conflicts?between nature and technology, and between the forces of creation and destruction in two of the faces of Anafae. Anafae is a contribution to a growing discussion on ways to avert environmental catastrophe."
-Beth Davies-Stofka, Broken Frontier

Full Broken Frontier Review

" Ultimately, this is a story about the magic of storytelling. We search for art which expresses genuine feeling, and Anafae does just that by merging world mythology and science fiction into a tale one will never forget. This is the classic ‘Hero Tale’, but with an unprecendented twist: the duality of Father and Son (the Waxing and Waning Year) dwell within the same body . I cannot wait for what’s to come."
- Paganista

Richards and Neely weave ancient myth and the near future into a warning flag for this very hour. It's a cautionary tale wrapped in visuals on par with Neil Gaiman's Sandman saga. Few artists awaken us to real-world crisis through such powerful metaphor.
Scott Sweet, Compassion International

See Comicon.com's Pulse Interview with Monica & Jim

"Something special is being created by Monica & James, their detailed artistry is sumptuous. I love its wonderfully feminine poetry. The way in which masculine information has been coupled with a flirtatious glimpse of arcane mysteries. How the tale reveals, yet never fully... dancing tantalizingly out of reach, unable to be second-guessed. It masterfully measures enough to hook you, to make you care, make you want to know what is coming next (& what has come before)..." - Vlad Quigley