EYES ON ACHROMATIC CHRONICLES: BLUE
Living without colors and where everything is the same, a boy named Jon begins to question his life. Achromatic Chronicles Blue tells the story of how he develops a unique relationship that teaches him the courage to create change and beauty in the world he lives in.
Jon’s mundane world was a never-ending cycle of gray, where life’s rhythm seemed predictable and uninspired until he met Blue. When Blue enters the scene, the tapestry of Jon’s world unravels, weaving a rich and expansive narrative filled with wonder, challenges, and unexpected friendships.
Jon’s life transform from a monotonous black-and-white existence into a vibrant journey filled with color and excitement. An unforgettable, all-ages journey, filled with revelations about the hidden value within us all. Climb aboard for a unique storytelling experience with Achromatic Chronicles: Blue. A story exploring new horizons and revealing the priceless treasure that resides in each of us.
THE CREATIVE TEAM
Achromatic Chronicles was written by Jay David known as Drunk 3po, a YouTube personality with commentary series on Star Wars, Avatar, other current pop-culture-related topics, world exploration & voluntary work, and the history of pirates. Aaron Brown is the co-writer and Lily Chan & Marinelle Viña are the illustrators of the book.
THE BOOK
Achromatic Chronicles: Blue is the first volume of the Achromatic Chronicles series. The book is a 220-page perfect bound graphic novel printed on quality glossy paper with a soft cover and a printed spine.
The binding of the book was well done but it would be great to have a hardcover edition, especially for the longevity of the book in libraries. These stories need to be preserved in the best way possible. The next volume is expected next year and hopefully, by then it will be possible to get a hardcover edition similar to Clownfish Studio’s books Shadowbinders and Crimson Rhen.
The book is missing the publisher’s information and copyright notes. Noting that this is a first edition I hope the next volume will include these missing details.
ACHROMATIC CHRONICLES: BLUE
Meet Jon, he lives in a town called Glassberry where everything is grey, white or black. Nothing different ever happens, either. The whole society is conditioned to accept the standard and never question the status quo.
Jon is different. He is a young boy who questions everything and looks out for the different things in life. He likes to wander in the woods looking out for something new. Lately, he strangely is dreaming of a different world. His behavior gets him into a lot of trouble in school. His best friend Fortuna accepts how he is and shows interest in his views. He doesn’t know about his other friends who may be a little embarrassed by his behavior.
Principal Moore talks to his parents for the umptieth time and gives them a warning. If Jon doesn’t adjust his behavior, he will face the consequences. One day he was running away from his bullies and got deep into the woods but it was getting dark and he needed to get back home. In his hurry, he fell down and found a blue ball that he had taken home.
To his astonishment, the blue ball speaks and floats. Its name is Blue. Blue has a troubling condition for Jon. On random occasions, it leaks its color onto objects that could be blue. It’s not in Blue’s control and it just happens unexpectedly. They form a friendship and Blue does not shy away from answering all his questions. He also tells him about his world, a world full of color. Jon fittingly calls it “Color World”.
On an afternoon Fortuna’s father came to his home looking for her. It appears that she has gone missing. Jon is devastated and tries to search for his friend in the woods but he doesn’t find her. In the meantime, Jon’s parents are trying to convince him to accept and follow the societal norms.
One day Blue accidentally turned Jon’s father’s car blue. Fearing that he would be in trouble and that his parents wouldn’t want him anymore, he runs away into the woods. He can’t stop crying and Blue does its best to calm him down.
He tells him that everything will be alright once he accepts himself but Jon tells him that he doesn’t know how to do that. In order to help Jon, Blue transports him into the Color World where he will learn a lot about himself.
FIRST IMPRESSIONS
Achromatic Chronicles is the perfect blend of gripping storytelling, stunning graphics, and life-affirming discoveries, an adventure that takes the reader to a realm where color becomes an adventure.
It’s not merely about the vibrant splashes of color Jon encounters, but also the transformative moments, heart-pounding escapades, and the profound realization that within each of us lies an untapped reservoir of potential, waiting to be discovered. For me, the themes that stood out were the value of friendship, being an outcast, confronting bullies, the value of questioning more, a journey of self-discovery and acceptance, and finding the courage to live life.
THE VALUE OF FRIENDSHIP
Jon values his friends at school especially his best friend Fortuna. He recently befriended Blue and values that friendship so much he is willing to go to extremes to help his new friend.
BEING AN OUTCAST
Jon is an outcast in the society he lives in. He acts and thinks differently, a behavior that is not accepted in Glassberry. However, his new friend tells him that his being different is a good thing. He can positively help his community and his world because he is different but he can only do that once he embraces his true self.
CONFRONTING BULLIES
Being different is a daily burden Jon carries because of societal norms he doesn’t understand. It’s no surprise that he has to deal with bullies at school because he is different and that includes his friends as well. The expected response is fear but as Jon is different, he confronts his bullies and tries to fight back. The fact that he reacted the way he did came as a surprise to his bullies.
THE VALUE OF QUESTIONING MORE
Asking questions in class is taboo in Glassberry. The education system established provides what children need to learn without questioning the “why?”, the “how?”, and the “since when?”. When Jon goes to the “Color World” his questioning nature becomes a positive trait.
A JOURNEY OF SELF-ACCEPTANCE
Being different is making Jon’s life difficult to the point that he fears that his parents will leave him. He starts to question himself and starts to hold back. If Blue had not been there with him it would have gone to the point of Self-hatred which is an awful place to be for a kid. Thankfully Blue is there to show him in an unconventional way how to accept his differences and be himself.
FINDING THE COURAGE TO LIVE LIFE
At one point Jon is too scared to go back home and decides to stay in “Color World” and help Blue’s friend find someone important that is missing as it reminds him of his missing friend Fortuna. During the process, he somehow finds the courage he didn’t know he had to face difficult challenges which leaves all adults amazed by his behavior. After going on the greatest adventure of his life Jon finally gets the courage to face his biggest fear.
THE CROWDFUNDING CAMPAIGN
The inspiration for the book is the author’s experience working as a teacher with children and seeing how some of them because of their social situation and social media were questioning their value in life. Seeing the lack of age-appropriate inspirational stories for little children inspired the creator to make an inspirational story for children. Initially a novel, the story was transformed into a graphic novel format and broken down into several volumes.
The decision to back the campaign was very easy, the project looked good and the creator wanted to positively make an impact with his story. The campaign for Achromatic Chronicles: Blue was run on IndieGoGo. There were several tiers on the campaign to back.
I chose the Signed Limited-Edition tier which includes a signed physical copy of the graphic novel, a signed limited-edition print, and a signed bookmark. I also got the Buy One Give One tier which includes a physical copy of the graphic novel for the backer, and another copy that will be donated. Initially, there was only one stretch goal which was supposed to be a holographic sticker.
In addition to the selected tiers and the stretch goal I also got an additional Achromatic Chronicles print and a magnet. The whole process of receiving the products went well. The products were packaged well. I received the tracking number in a timely manner.
Most of the updates on the campaign were provided by the creator on his YouTube channel. There were barely any updates provided on the campaign itself and no email updates at all. It’s not a problem for those that follow the creator but not everyone does.
Someone who randomly comes across the campaign on the Indiegogo platform not knowing anything else would be expecting regular updates on the platform or via email. It doesn’t have to be complicated. A simple solution could be sharing the link to the YouTube session in the IndieGoGo update section and using that as an update email that can be sent to all backers.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Achromatic Chronicles: Blue is a celebration of life’s vibrant tapestry and magic when we dare to venture beyond the familiar. It is a reminder of life’s boundless adventures when we embrace the colorful journey within. It is an inspirational story for all ages but it’s mainly a children’s book, the dialogue and the art suit the target audience.
It’s not noted in the book who the letterer is but job well done to whoever did the job. The art, word balloons, and descriptive text are done in manga style which makes it attractive to teens and adults. The book has the colors of the “Grey World” and the “Color World” which makes the story visually more interesting.
Visit the website achromaticchronicles.com for more information about the book. The initial crowdfunding campaign is closed but a second-chance IndieGogo campaign is currently InDemand for those interested in getting a copy of Achromatic Chronicles: Blue. Check it out!
Interested in more titles? Check more COMIC BOOKS and GRAPHIC NOVELS under the “EYES ON” series wherein I documented my experience with crowdfunding entertainment and shared my notes on the products I received.
My notes are all set. Let me know what you think.
See you on the next page!
