Turtlebunny Productions Inc 2016
Created, Written & Illustrated by Chris Callahan
We all know i’m a huge fan and supporter of self published and made books. There’s a passion to the work from these that is unparalleled in my opinion. What Chris manages to do here is utterly astonishing to me. My friends let me say this is what we all should look for those projects that take you on a journey whose clarity doesn’t hit you till the last page. Something to sweep you up on the emotions and feelings being presented so that you cannot look away or bear not to see what’s next.
Before we get into the story let’s talk about the interiors. For me this is a mixed media deal where he has taken computer generated stuff and what looks like photographs and hand drawn work and put them together on the page to create something stunningly unique and gorgeous. Aside from the colours that pop there’s one image of a skull that when you see it leaves you breathless. Also the use of page layouts through angles, perspective and the utilisation of backgrounds are sublime. This along with the words and the meaning of what we read has this odd effect of both pleasure and terror that mix like the perfect cocktail.
The centers on James who we very quickly learn is in heaven. Only nothing there is what it seems like it should be at least not for him. This is the most epic of love stories the kind of story that makes your heart ache. The love that James has for Anna would’ve been the kind of stuff that epic Greek poems were written for or Shakespearean tragedy was made of.
The journey we see James take as he tries to figure out what happened to them and where she is is one you won’t forget. With a few characters who both try to help and impede his search we see how heaven is interpreted by Chris. Angel’s who lie to protect the souls in their care, the Tree of Knowledge being a metaphor and how simple thoughts create action. Not to mention the fact that the nudity is so tasteful and open that as we see James throughout this you just appreciate him.
I don’t think i’ve ever come across something so well written and artistically put together as this book is. You feel the passion, the heartache and the loneliness as if they were physical weights upon you and that alone is the kind of experience that leaves you a different person than when you started.
I cannot stress enough that this is the kind of project that you need to support, to learn about and to back. It’s why many of us fell in love with the medium because of the emotions and feelings reading gives you. I’m awestruck that i’m still able to find something that moves me and makes me want to learn more about the project, it’s author and characters within its pages the way that this has.
You can head here, http://themisplacedcomic.com/ to help Chris out and I sincerely hope that you will.