Review by Ian Keogh

Save Yourself! is a book you can judge by the cover. It stylishly represents the digitally generated art of Kelly and Nichole Matthews, and also indicates the theme of someone moving well outside their comfort zone, Gigi, who’s been ever more withdrawn since the death of her brother.

Gigi lives on an Earth where glamorous aliens Aoe, Gen and Thel arrived in time to fend off an attack from alien monsters, and stuck around to become multimedia icons. Gigi’s among those enthralled until the day she actually witnesses one of their subsequent battles with non-humanoid aliens and realises that not everything is as it seems.

Writer Bones Leopard ensures Gigi and her humanity remains at the heart of Save Yourself! Almost everything is seen from her viewpoint, and her natural reactions are very much more accepting than most when confronted with the impossible. Despite being in mourning she has a strong sense of self and ultimately what Save Yourself! boils down to is whether a girl can find romance while saving the planet.

Kelly and Nichole Matthews serve up sumptuously shaded digital colouring over delicately lined art, filling in the depth with colour, but the personality is already there in the drawing. Those colours are bright and primary, reflecting the assorted alien environments in which Gigi finds herself, and those within them. At the end, a page of designs shows how they’ve refined and simplified what Leopard had in mind.

This is an enjoyable space opera romp, yet cleverly set on Earth, and complete in the single volume, so there are no concerns about a long term commitment to a never finished story.