A Closer Look at Ezra Claytan Daniels’ “The Changers”

Ezra Claytan Daniels’ The Changers is a two-volume self-published 2003 grahic novel

What should be sacrificed in pursuit of perfection?

Ezra Claytan Daniels (creator and emcee of the Comics Art Battle) explores this question in his debut 2003 speculative fiction graphic novel The Changers , now available in the Schulz Library here at CCS and as a free .pdf download on his website.

The plot focuses on two time-travelers from three million years in the future, a time in which humanity has reached the apex of its evolutionary capability, who have been sent back to jump-start the development of the human race. Our heroes Bisso and Geaza (whose real names are apparently 81550 and 63424) find themselves in the primitive present and do their best to fit in—a task which is complicated by the arrival of a traveler from an alternate timeline who has been sent back to thank them for creating the future from which he hails. As the plot progresses, Bisso and Geaza are forced to question whether or not the timeline from whence their visitor hails is desirable.

It’s an impressive first work: the themes are well-developed, the figures and environments feel of a piece with each other, and the quality of art is remarkably consistent. Daniels’ writing is intelligent and focused.  Two-page essays about Bisso and Geaza’s impressions of the present and reservations about the future they’re creating mark the transitions between chapters and add significant depth to the narrative.

Daniels’ art in the Changers is energetic, marked by the use of thick, fixed-width outlines on foreground elements and panel borders and a strong graffiti influence. The books are printed in hunter green on an ivory stock that mellows the contrast a bit—were the Changers printed in black on a bright white stock, the result might have been a bit too stark to be read comfortably.

Both volumes are nicely designed, with Star-Trek-like graphic elements on the covers. The vector portraits of the main characters, although they don’t give much indication of the style of the interior art, are striking and iconic enough to draw readers in.