Surrealism, associations and great beauty
Do you love the fairy tale worlds of Shaun Tan? Were you delighted with Little Nemo returning to the land of dreams? Molly Mendoza ‘s jump made a big impression on you? If so, the Wanderer was drawn and published especially for you. And for your children, because it’s a typical all ages publication : a picturebook for a parent, a comic for the youngest. You will find in it melancholy, deep loneliness, as well as ecological themes. Kids will experience an adventure like in Sinbad the Sailor and see the wonders with which the Sea Devil has tempted many travelers.
First of all, Peter van den Ende’s comic is absolutely delightful. It has the meticulous beauty of Escher’s graphics, full of illusions and interpenetration of worlds. When deep sea dwellers or other adventurers come onto the site, your minds will explode with associations from Verne and Lovecraft to Hellboy to Shankar . Like the latter, The Wanderer is the heir to a long history of literature, art and science, so tracking down the references can lead you to interesting areas. In one of the interviewsthe author explains, for example, why a certain fish-like submarine in this book is called Ictineo IV. You heard it right, it’s called because even though it’s a silent comic, there are a few subtitles in it – as the only words among so many stunning graphics, they have a lot of metaphorical meaning.
The Wanderer is a hymn to the sea and the vagabond. A paper boat sometimes picks someone up, meets unusual creatures. He travels through the bustling tropics and majestic icy landscapes. If you take a closer look at other travelers, you may come to the conclusion that their paths crossed with the trail of a small ship more than once. Maybe he’s not so lonely in his silent voyage after all.
Here and there
Read this comic from cover to cover, don’t peek at the endpaper of the back cover prematurely. Stop at the front one – there’s the whole world before us, and somewhere in it there’s a paper boat launched from a great ship. As a scout? Innocent fun turned into the adventure of a lifetime? We do not know why the little ship went on a lonely journey, or what is its purpose … Although maybe it’s simple? What ship will squeeze into mangrove forests, shallow or coral seas? Is it possible to talk to fish from the height of the huge side? Well, there’s no way around it!
A paper boat descends to the level of a million delightful details, it can look at the patterns on the scales of the inhabitants of the sea, touch sea anemones, appreciate the menacing enormity of the waves. By the changing landscapes, you can guess the route it takes. Since it’s a children’s comic, maybe it’s worth following it with your finger on the map, even the one from the endpaper? As Peter van den Ende said in the aforementioned interview, this time it’s not about looking at a comic book hero. Look at the world!
Mandioca publishing house has once again released a beautiful, original comic book that takes us on a great journey through fantastic lands and times. The Wanderer is visually rich, and at the same time – for a story about a sea expedition – surprisingly tender and intimate. Maybe it’s because everything from a paper boat is huge, but at the same time close, because for such a ship, any puddle is enough to swim the last piece separating it from life.
