Colour Theory

by Beatrice Huxley
2019, Self-published
Paperback, 2 volumes, 60 pages, $22.50 CAD each

Rating: ★★★★☆

Colour Theory is a cute, and surprisingly cozy, post-apocalyptic romance, set in the region where I currently live. The graphic novel was originally posted as a webtoon, which is evident in how panel layouts are occasionally a bit awkward and image quality of the two printed volumes can be somewhat poor. It doesn’t stop the art from being evocative, dynamic, and beautifully used by Beatrice Huxley to intensify the emotions in her story. The only other criticism I have is that Colour Theory sometimes feels more like a picture book than a graphic novel. Some panels have entire paragraphs of text, with little else but a single image to accompany them. I think this may be intentional, seeing as there are no flashbacks—something I can respect, given how I have my own rules regarding flashbacks in my own writing. However, I would have liked there to be fewer walls of text, or perhaps these longer sections of text could have been shown in a different format, rather than being confined to speech bubbles. Regardless, I can easily see past the issue considering the indie nature of the original webtoon and how evocative the art is besides.