Review by Frank Plowright
A spacecraft on its way to a colony established by humans is about to enter an area of space where there will be no communication with Earth or with the colony for a year. We see two crew members dropping their children off in the nursery section before heading to work, but a short while later all adults are dead leaving the Lil at ten years old as the oldest person aboard, and therefore in charge.
The full implications of a horrific situation take some time to sink in, particularly that the essential interface between the children and the artificial intelligence keeping them alive is no longer present. Val, the AI can operate independently to some extent, and can teach the children the tasks needed to ensure the spacecraft, but is unable to work around moods and reluctance, and cannot follow children if they choose to leave the ship.
Jeff Lemire and Gabriel Walta previously collaborated on the creatively successful Vision series, and while the circumstances are very different this has a similar theme of something that’s not human attempting to cope with humanity. The Vision was a hero with a known heroic past, so essentially trustworthy, but what Lemire subtly hints at is Val being aware of matters the children don’t know.
Walta’s art is stylised, with some resemblance to John Romita Jr’s chunkiness, but because the spaceship is functional, there’s little opportunity for him to do anything other than repeat similar surroundings for most of the story. They’re plain and simple, but he gives the children personalities and matches them well to their experiences. There’s an exception near the start, but it’s only during the final third that Walta can shed the discipline to some extent.
What Sentient becomes is surprising, a comment on how children imprint and how adaptable they can be. It’s grim in places, but also touching and heartwarming, with the world’s greater priorities of no concern to the children. If you want a strange and unpredictable SF tale rooted in humanity this is worth your time.
