Tales From the Loop

Tales From the Loop came onto my radar due to the art and it was only after recently seeing the trailer for the Amazon series did I get it- I guess it was time to see what all the hubbub was about. The premise of the book is that in an alternate 80's Sweden a kid (ostensibly the author) and his peers experience a Stranger Things-like dystopia where strange machines litter the landscape, relics of an experiment called the Loop. The Loop is a massive particle accelerator built underneath the town, and while the science behind all this is sketchy, the artwork is stunningly evocative. 

It looks like what I imagine Sweden would look like in the countryside, if there were indeed strange robots lurking around and dinosaurs plucked from the ancient past by whatever space/ time anomaly the Loop has caused. The heart of the story, though, are the human tales- and that's where I think the book is both good and somewhat lacking. We get a sense of the loss and pathos that goes with the deterioration of the Swedish welfare state-this premise is actually laid out in some of the promotional copy- so perhaps a larger message is being explored here as well? Either way, the art is absolutely compelling- it's just that the story is less so, sadly. 

That's not to say the story isn't effective in its own way. And to be honest the overarching story is the Loop and its effects on the Swedish countryside- and the lives of the people who live there, where life every day is interrupted by signals that resonate from deep in the earth, and looming cooling towers dominate the landscape- but it's also a fact that the story is told in vignettes, little one or two page blurbs that introduce a strange anomaly and tie it into the lives of the children living there. Some are more effective than others, but I found myself wondering how this would translate off the page. 

Apparently the Amazon series is moving the locale to America (naturally) and we'll see if some of the appeal of the artwork is lost in translation. Although judging from the trailer they do seem to be getting a feel for the original. Regardless, the themes explored here are loss of innocence, family life, poverty and divorce- this last in particular seems to be a focus- and I like the possibilities here, how we can get a Stranger Things vibe while at the same time getting a compelling human story. I just think the vignettes here were rather lackluster, with some exceptions- this is a coffee table book, of sorts, and not meant to be a novel, but for the price tag I would have liked a little more story. 

All in all though this is worth a look for the artwork alone. It absolutely inspires and makes one want to imagine the possibilities of this alternate 80's where other dimensional portals and space/ time anomalies wreak havoc with everyday life- I'm just not sure it's worth the price if you're looking for deep story.