Graphic Novel Review: Stanislaw Lem’s The Seventh Voyage: A Graphic Novel by Jon Muth

Posted on September 19, 2019 at 12:02 pm by Gene Ambaum

Stanislaw Lem’s The Seventh Voyage: A Graphic Novel by Jon Muth. Scholastic Graphix, 2019. 9780545004626. 80pp.

Ijon Tichy is cruising in the vicinity of Betelgeuse, when his ship is hit by a small meteoroid. He suits up and goes outside to make repairs, but it’s impossible to do alone. His ship flies on, straight ahead, its velocity increasing. After a failed meal that he turns into a satellite around his ship, Tichy goes to bed, and is awoken by a version of himself from the future who wants to help with the repairs. He refuses to believe his future self was real, but he’s wrong — it’s the beginning of an absurd and comical time travel adventure.

Jon Muth’s watercolors make this graphic adaptation of one of Lem’s Ijon Tichy stories even more lighthearted than it already is — when Tichy’s ship is struck in the first pages, he’s baking. And later the Tichy’s from different days and ties crowd the ship, the art is just amazing, and really silly. This is a great introduction to Lem’s fiction for young readers, and it’s going to make old fans like me smile, too.

I fell in love with Lem’s stories reading One Human Minute because it showed me a direction I’d never considered, that science fiction could include reviews of books that don’t exist. Lem’s work is brilliant. Thanks to Muth for pointing me back in Lem’s direction.

You can read the original story (and others by Lem) at https://english.lem.pl/works/novels/the-star-diaries/154-the-seventh-voyage