The Last Day of Rain Series
Creative Team
writer/illustrator: CLAUDIA MATOSA
publisher: SELF PUBLISHED
The Last Day of Rain is a dystopian mystery that clings to remaining humanity against the backdrop of a dying world.
Filled with rich lore and clever visual designs, this series follows Carol, a member of a secret organization developing a way to bring rain to the wasteland of a futuristic and divided London.
Written and illustrated by Claudia Matosa, the central mystery paired with the balanced pacing makes this series an engrossing experience that is easy to binge.
Issue #1 introduces readers to Carol, her family, and her love interest named Art who may or may not be sabotaging the efforts Carol is part of. Water is the core struggle humanity faces as London has not received rain in 28 years, and this makes any efforts to resolve the broken water cycle paramount.
As of this review, the first four issues have been released and readers have followed Carol as she traverses a London devoid of resources, water, but frustratingly still has division of the haves and have-nots. (Sadly, 2091 almost feels too familiar to current day.)
Matosa’s intertwining of various themes might feel familiar to other dystopian stories, but the focused narrative combined with grand potential consequences is refreshing and even includes subtle humor.
I’m a big fan of “less is more” and Matosa’s world building skills enrich the discussions between characters without becoming exposition dumps or isolating the reader. Instead, it’s easy to accept history of this not too distant future as discussions of companies selling trips to escape the planet and technology intensely infused with society means those left behind face incredible struggles.
While water dominates the topic of this comic, mystery surrounds this series and Matosa’s world creates intriguing set designs and mechanics between the people of futuristic London and AI that stalks them.
By designing the script and visuals to focus on the characters, this assists readers in connecting with Carol easily and quickly find interest in the number of ensemble characters.
Despite being a dystopian tale, don’t expect action sequences or scenes outside of the core characters. This story is very much meant to connect readers with the key players and Matosa easily maneuvers this task without sacrificing the overarching plot.
The Last Day of Rain offers readers a unique dystopian tale filled with imaginative societal designs and excellent pacing.
