Toronto artist Fiona Smyth is known for her psychedelic illustrations, paintings, and murals. Graphic novels seem like a natural fit, but rather than produce another underground art book in the vein of her 2001 comic strip collection, Cheez 100 (Pedlar Press), Smyth has inked an ambitious sci-fi adventure for younger readers.

Set in near-future Toronto, The Never Weres tells of a trio of teenagers whose lives are uttlerly normal except for one key detail – they are part of the last generation born. Humanity has been rendered infertile by a virus, and all attempts at renewing the species through cloning have been disastrous. The friends discover a mystery hidden under the city that might offer some hope, but in order to solve it, they’re gonna have to break a few rules.

Before sending them spelunking in the sewers, Smyth lays out what makes these teens uniquely suited to their tasks: Xian is a brave orphan who likes robots, Jesse loves biology but is a cowardly rich kid, and middle-class Mia is an artist and the group’s peacemaker. Their differences create believable complications, and the characters clash over how to solve the mystery – and  even over whether they should solve it at all.

There’s much pleasure to be derived from the look of Smyth’s future metropolis, with its favela-like city blocks, insectoid robots blurting out advertisements, and tatooed senior citizens. The young characters’ connection to the elderly is a major theme of the book, which is fitting as the majority of our population slips past retirement age.

Smyth’s collage-like visuals sometimes approach cacophony on pages already exploding with graphic oddities. The main flaw of the book, however, is the narration, which is provided by Storybot Sasha, a dreadlocked droid. Sasha offers innapropriately generous helpings of exposition in a medium where showing, not telling, is the rule. The unfortunate effect is to defuse the tension, a necessary ingredient for what should be a gripping sci-fi narrative.