Monster Parade

I ran across this book at the Fantagraphics table back at Stumptown in October. I'd never seen it or heard about it before, but creator Ben Catmull happened to be there signing at the time. The little image here doesn't really do justice to the cover, which is a subtly textured combination of various paints and ink linework. It's intricate and moody, and sets the stage perfectly for the contents.

Monster Parade is an odd, non-linear collection of stories that flow into and out of one another, their only connection being that they feature strange creatues of some sort. The first section, "Winter Storm," brings a series of giants and gargantuan beasts that personify the titular weather as the artwork gradually darkens, becoming more rich and ominous. The black and white brushwork and washes abruptly segue into warm burgundy tones for the tale "Monster Express," a shift in color that mimics the sudden shift in narrative style. In this story, we find one Professor Williams sequestered to a train compartment with a fellow traveler, whose conversational topics and personal habits grow increasingly disagreeable during the journey. He'd leave is unpleasant companion if he could, of course, were it not for the monster loose on the train...

This lighthearted episode is followed by a return engagement of "Winter Storm," featuring a new batch of storm creatures, brought forth by the rain and dark clouds, clouds which match the smoke rising above the setting of the final story. "Civilization Studies Illustrated: An Overview of the Industrial Civilization of [unpronounceable]" reads like the Lonely Planet guide to a city dreamt up by Dr. Seuss and Edward Gorey. A handy list of sea creatures, both edible and inedible, tourist attractions including "haunted cellars where no living person should tread," and an extended detour into the history of a war between Louse Land and Mite Ville, on the underside of a local dock.

There's a whimsical yet morbid feel to this collection, an imaginative surrealist spirit. Apart from "Monster Express," there's really no narrative to speak of, just a series of images and ideas that are as inventive and charming as they are sombre and eerie. Catmull's illustrative style is clear, despite purposefully murky tones. Even with his relatively simple figures and cartoonish faces, he manages to convey a dark sensibility.