Originating as a concept album in 2003, Neil Young’s Greendale has since been adapted into several other media, the latest being a graphic novel by Joshua Dysart (Unknown Soldier) with art by Cliff Chiang (Human Target). The result is a small-town epic, a multigenerational David-versus-Goliath tale and a call to arms.

Set in a Northern California town, among the redwoods, the story centers on a high school girl, Sun Green. Like many of the women in her family, Sun has always had a strange and powerful connection with nature. It’s this connection that brings a kind of mysticism to the story.

With the war in Iraq revving up, a fraudulent energy crisis in California and corporate machinery descending on the Alaskan wilderness, Sun must soon make a choice: Will she take charge of her destiny or be another of the blissful and ignorant masses? To make matters worse, a sinister stranger has arrived in Greendale.

Grade: B+



Neil Young’s Greendale is currently available.