Lower Your Sights comes to us from Mad Cave Studios and Voices of Children.
In this benefit anthology, readers get a look at the empathetic adaptations of real world events. With all earnings on this books sale’s going to the VOC charity organization, readers are sure to come away with something. With the Russian Invasion of Ukraine going on, the stories featured focuses on the consequences of war, the peace/relief effort, and mental health. Not just in Ukraine (Oo-Crane-Ya) but other military conflicts.
Lower Your Sights: The Truth About MacGuffins
One of the main takeaways from Lower Your Sights is the refusal to romanticize man-made disasters. While survivors should always be given sympathy, the context behind them should never be celebrated. One of the most notable pieces comes from the story Keepsake.
In this story, Ukranian artist Kateryna Kosheleva dispels the myth around luck and talismans. It’s never the object itself that holds power, let alone the story behind it. Keepsakes are merely reminders of good fortune and loved ones. After hearing so many tales about something stop a bullet, this is a good change of pace. Because no amount of items or the magic people give them can end a war.
In fact another story A Toy’s Tale of War complements Keepsake‘s message. Through a child’s vague and simplistic understanding of a war in a playful setting, readers feel an innocent empathy. Because the toys the main character Lily is playing with are going to be donated, her play time feels like trying to make them into keepsakes. Even if Lily will never know who gets her old toys, she hopes that this loose connection makes a small difference.
Despair is its Own Toll
A small escape means a lot to children in such an environment. Some are lucky enough to get a childhood. In one of the non-Ukraine related comics, Invisible Child, readers see how a child soldier becomes isolated. It’s a heart breaking look at systemic failures to provide aid. After everything these children have been through, a lack of access to therapy prevent them from settling in. Not just because of their own traumas but their parents looking at them like zombies.
Not that adult soldiers get it any better. A couple like No Time To Grieve and Homestead show soldiers ready for the good fight, but worry if there’s a home to go back to. As other stories like The Wait and Bread Making demonstrate, there’s hopelessness building in everyday life. The Wheel and Absence go the extra mile with how wars just keep happening. Even if civilians and soldiers regain some kind of peace, the threat of another war looms overhead. The Guarding and The Only Answer feel almost like a resignation to this necessary evil that people have to carry.
Lower Your Sights: Active After Death
Another noteworthy story in Lower Your Sights is The Arrest and Exiles of Liudmyla Starytska-Cherniakhivska. Despite the tragedy of this real life protagonist, her story continues to be an inspiration to Ukrainians. This as well as The Master & Margarita encourage people to read work from when Ukraine was under the Soviet Union. As history is starting to rhyme, it’s important to look at what people in similar times leave behind. Sure they’re open to interpretation, but a new look at something familiar can be inspiring.
Stop Moping and Make A Difference!
For example, Sea of Bones shows school kids going from goofing off to helping their teachers while they’re stranded. They didn’t even need to know the tragic history of where they were, unlike their classmate. If less mature kids can make tough times a little easier, what’s stopping everyone else? The last story Heartland shows that every person can do something like form a marching band to lift people’s spirits. Feeling sorry for yourself and others can get really exhausting.
Lower Your Sights For The Art
Amid all of the notable stories, we gotta talk about some art. A few Ukrainian artists give a few illustrations amid the comics like this:
Speaking of the comics, I’ll list my favorite sequential art in Lower Your Sights. Becca Kubrick has a very melancholic yet hopeful aura where the soft touch of a hand or voice is felt in each panel. Gabriel Elias Ibarra Nunez’s long and wide panels feel like a long passage of time in 6 pages. It certainly helps that No Time To Grieve has some dour colors from Kote Carvajal. Not to mention the note-esque lettering of Lucas Gattoni. For that matter Gattoni shows some of the most creative examples of dialogue balloons in A Toy’s Tale of War. Who would’ve thought that smaller colored dialogue balloons would make a big impression. Finally Dave Chisholm has one of the most visually appealing executions of a song. It feels like music is actually being played.
Do We Have Your Attention And Heart?
Lower Your Sights has some of the most emotionally resonant material to tug at people’s heartstrings. Every writer and artist has something to share about how war affects people. It’s a long and complicated process that might grant a better perspective. With all profits going to a charitable cause, I can tell you that it’s well worth an investment. Overall score, 10/10.