Stanton, James – Takilma

Website

Takilma

Ah, dream comics. They’re damned near review-proof, at least in terms of the story, because what are you supposed to criticize? I can say that it now makes sense to me that James rarely uses humans, as the few unobscured human faces in this one were flat and their mouths never opened, but even that is a petty point to make, especially when it’s always possible that the faces were drawn without much detail based on the dream. So what is the dream about? Ah, this part is always fun. Two girls are out in the dark following a trail only by the soles of their feet, but when they reach a fork in the path a comet comes by to briefly light their way. They find the house that they were looking for, but after knocking on the door a large cluster of ghost crows emerge and light the forest on fire. The girls wonder if they should move away from the flames, but out of the forest emerges what appears to be a badger wearing a cloak and with two human legs. Or is it one large beast leg later on? Again, it’s a dream. This almost excuses me from my pledge not to do spoilers, but not quite, so I’ll leave it there. James has a nice afterword explaining the point in his life when he was inspired to do this comic (the dream wasn’t his, so he couldn’t explain it to the reader anyway) and a few more drawings from that time in his life. If I come across as hating this book, that really wasn’t the case. I loved the wisps from the house welcoming the girls, the transformation of the crows, and more than a few other little touches. As to whether or not you should buy it, that depends purely on your opinion of dream comics. It’s a worthy addition to that field, but clearly this wouldn’t be your best bet if you were looking for a definitively coherent story. $5