Review by Frank Plowright

At twenty Jade Nyo is the carer for her younger brother Rory. He needs crutches and it’s suggested, although never explicitly stated, that he’s on the autism spectrum. He’s additionally being plagued by dreams about a giant angry man emerging from the sea accompanied by a tidal wave. That, though, soon proves to be the least of Jade’s problems as she’s tasked with finding the missing dials on a device called the Acid Box, which triggers geological movement like earthquakes. It can also transport people through time and space with club urinals the connecting points.

Sara Kenney rapidly makes Jade and Rory sympathetic characters, while the plot of decent people thrown into something manifestly beyond their skill set is always a good start. What Jade has going for her is a deep love of 1990s techno music and an indomitable spirit, which is useful as Kenney has her visit the global heartlands of rave culture through time.

You’d have to have been there to know how successfully Acid Box recreates the feel of old club culture, but for most James Devlin’s personality led art and busy dancefloors over the first two chapters (sample art) will supply a good representation. While Emma Vieceli’s always a good artist and there’s much to recommend Ria Grix’s interpretation of the cast also, three artists with different styles over four chapters is never advisable. Kenney explains the reason in her afterword, but it’s still a shame.

The constant naming of dance classics soundtracks Jade’s thoughts, and while there’s an element of excluding readers who don’t know the playlist, it’s also an insight into how she connects with her reality. There’s not a moment when she’s not listening to music or associating with it, and connecting that with the trauma in her life is well considered on Kenney’s part. The background feeds the bigger plot, which becomes that animation staple of ordinary kids without much of a clue having to save the world, although Kenney has a good twist of her own to add. However, it never overwhelms the deep dive into Jade’s personality and experiences.

Also interesting is the message about drugs. There’s no hardline rejection, but instead constant warnings about caution and showing the conjunction of cause and consequences. In one case toward the end those consequences are massive, and it may prove a more contentious point than the drug use for reducing people to statistics. However, given greater resonance in the afterword, there’s a surprisingly astute observation that what matters isn’t what you do when you’re young, but how that shapes the person you later become, and that’s nicely resolved in Acid Box.