Indigo Children Vol 1 by Curt Pires & Rockwell White

with art by Alex Diotto, Dee Cunniffe & Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou.

Fifteen years ago, the preternaturally gifted kids collectively known as the Indigo Children disappeared. Reporter Donovan Price has never let the story go, and continues to search for any trace of them. His latest lead is a video tape, where one of the kids, Alexei, describes their group as the only survivors of a holocaust on Mars. They fled their dying planet and came to Earth to prevent more annihilation from happening to an (implied: inferior) people.

Ofc, no one who knows anything about the Indigo Children wants to talk to Donovan. An anonymous source leads him to Russia, where one of the people on the tape is in hiding. When an assassin attempts to kill Donovan and make it look like a suicide, the journalist realizes that he’s going to have to call in the big guns… or at least, the biggest gun available to him. Their journey leads them to a secret that could change the world forever, as the Indigo Children are recovered, reunited and ultimately threatened from within.

With strong MIND MGMT vibes — both in story and in art — this was a fascinating sci-fi delve into what humanity would really do if confronted by aliens who genuinely want to help us, as well as an interrogation of how benevolent those aliens might actually be. The cliffhanger ending actually points the way to a riveting conflict between those with different coping mechanisms. It’s clear that, while there are some very bad guys here, just as in real life, the question of who is good is much more complex.

The color work is strong throughout but some of the lines get really rudimentary as the book continues, especially as newer characters are introduced. I had a hard enough time keeping track of who’s who without also scrutinizing renderings to figure which of the pale guys a character might be. And in fairness some of that sketchiness is one hundred percent the fault of the story. I have literally no idea who the government people are who are conspiring to keep the Indigo Children contained. While I can appreciate identities being kept a plot twist for later, actually having names or even labels for important characters would be helpful.

That said, this is a really intriguing sci-fi graphic novel about the ethics of a collapsing world and trying to preserve what’s “ours”. I’m definitely looking forward to reading more of the series to see how this creative team tackles those tricky questions.

Indigo Children Vol 1 by Curt Pires & Rockwell White was published today November 21 2023 by Image Comics and is available from all good booksellers, including