Graphic Novel Review: Rest by Mark Powers

Rest by Mark Powers

Graphic Novel
Read 11/12 – 11/13
140 pages

I had very high hopes going into this one. I randomly plucked it from the store shelf after reading the synopsis and being fully drawn in. This graphic novel revolves around a man named John Barrett who becomes the subject in a human drug trial. The drug in question makes a person no longer need to sleep – they’re up 24/7 and can ‘live their lives to the fullest’ so to say.

So from someone with a degree and interest in psychology, yeah, I was pretty much hooked. (And the cover is pretty great too – I mean look at that thing!)

This graphic novel reminded me a lot of the movie ‘Limitless’ if you’ve seen that one. It had the same feel too, to an extent. With each of the six issues within this trade, I became more invested. I started to see the full scope of side effects the drug caused before the main characters realized it for themselves and it caused an almost thriller-like aspect to the whole experience. I read it in two sittings, unable to force myself to put it down for anything else aside from the influence of severely droopy eyelids.

I was totally digging this. It was great – the characters were interesting, there were twists and turns, there was a mysterious past to the drug that I thought was pretty cool. Everything was great and this was likely going to get a four-and-a-half star rating from me…. until I reached a certain panel and I was thrown out of the whole experience like being launched out of a cannon. One panel, that’s all it took. It made my opinion of the whole graphic novel kinda crumbled.

If you decide to pick up this novel, do so! I thoroughly enjoyed it… until that one part. But hey, it might not happen to you. You might not find that damn panel as utterly ruining as I did. Hell, you might not even realize which panel I was talking about.

So overall, this graphic novel is awesome. I loved it. But unfortunately, that panel and the events within it essentially dropped what I’m going to rate it substantially. Endings man, they’re make or break for me.

Rating: 2.5/5 stars