‘Skip’
Created by Molly Mendoza.
Published by Nobrow Press.
165 pages - Full Colour - Hardback
£16.99 / $22.95
The Story - ‘When Bloom is suddenly flung into another world and meets the exiled and optimistic Gloopy, the two youngsters find in each other a much-needed kindred spirit. But as they skip through dimensions and encounter weeping giants, alligator islands and topsy-turvy 2D worlds, they find that their greatest challenge will be facing their own fears back home.’
The Preview - A scan of the previews so far of this book might lead you to the notion that this is a book dealing with a post apocalyptic world and how one of the characters escapes through a looking glass of psychedelic dimensions.
It is so much more than that.
I will start by saying that this is no short read. I would recommend that you pace yourself and return to the pages on at least a few occasions. Allow the depth of the images on show throughout the book to sink in and grow through your later considerations. It is a story that bursts off the page with imagination and absolute breath stealing beauty. As I read through this book I took photos and sent them to comic reading friends who were equally blown away.
Don’t be fooled by the cover. This is no mere art experiment, although it does take a bravely experimental approach on almost every page, it is also the study of friendship and jeopardy. A boy alone finds some consolation whilst lost in strange worlds in a creature who it turns out is not too dissimilar from himself. As the story progresses you notice the mirroring between the pair both emotionally and at times completely literally. They travel together through landscapes and environments that are surreally beautiful, transformative, frightening, foreboding, disquieting and so much more. I became transfixed with the intelligent imagination on show here. It plays with your emotions and you worry and cheer and cry and grit your teeth as they throw themselves through dimensional doorways to the next danger.
The book artistically travels from lush water coloured natural inland waterways to twisted and sinister fairy tale kingdoms to blocked out and sterile computer simulated realities. As a story it is never afraid to drag you hither and thither with a cutlass and a sharp set of reptile teeth. We experience the counterpoint and emotional sting of bumping nightmares and fantastical dreams up against each other in ‘Skip’.
‘Gloopy, I feel like we are close to the end.’
The art changes and morphs in front of your eyes as you sit back for the ride. The page is forthrightly attacked by Mendoza and cascades through and over panels, page edges and storylines. It is episodic in nature as the pair travel and this is incredibly well represented at the turn of the page. The art is used as a narrative scythe cutting and pushing the reader onwards. When you think that you have something figured out you are wonderfully bewildered once again. There is a rough freeness to much of the art that never at any point seems over rendered, it makes you soar through the volume like you are strolling through the habitat yourself.
I would also warn you to be prepared for a dense reading experience, there is an awful lot for the eye to take in. Savour the journey of Bloom and Gloopy. I guarantee that you will return. This strange and awkward pair show us that beings from wildly different places can be more alike than anyone expected.
This will be out soon from Nobrow. Check out this great company and all their other books at https://nobrow.net
You can also follow them on Twitter https://twitter.com/NobrowPress
Molly Mendoza is an American illustrator and comic artist who graduated from the Pacific Northwest College of Art. She has gone on to develop a rich personal art practise, self publishing comics as well as working in the editorial world. She currently lives in Portland, Oregon.
You can find Molly at her website here http://www.mollymendoza.com or on Instagram here https://www.instagram.com/msmollym/
Many thanks for reading.
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