Two-in-One Review: Aporiatica A young writer/artist invites us into his mind and his memories of his life as a student. In other words, Don MacPherson and Randy Lander offer up their thoughts on Aporiatica from Cyberosia Publishing. Don: Aporiatica is many things. It's an anthology. It's a sketchbook. It's a diary. It's part of a learning and development process. It's all of these things and more. And it's hard to pronounce. Randy? Randy: It's also the work of a Xeric Grant winning writer and artist, something which always makes me sit up and take notice. The publisher, Cyberosia, has caught my attention with their illustrated prose horror offering Frightening Curves and science-fiction graphic novel Overtime, and this is another example of the variety in their publications, as Aporiatica doesn't really have fantastic leanings at all, instead representing an unusual view of modern day life. Aporiatica published by Cyberosia Publishing written & illustrated by Marcel Guldemond Don: One has to give the publisher and the creator credit for developing such an offbeat and unusual volume of writing and art. Guldemond is quite honest about what he offers his readers here. This is a look at an artist's early work, influenced by writings and events that are likely beyond many readers' awareness. Guldemond makes no bones about it, nor need he offer any apology for it. This is not only an unusual and intriguing foray into various forms of storytelling (comics, poetry, life drawing), but something of a look at the artistic process. Randy: I'll be the first to admit that much of this work goes sailing over my head, as Guldemond incorporates responses to the work of J.L. Borges into one of his stories and fills most of the rest of them with vivid and strange poetic imagery. As Don says, this is not just a story offered up for public consumption, but a look at the groundwork of a new artist. Don: A recurring theme in Guldemond's work is youth versus age. He opens with "In the Dark," in which a mysterious old man faces off against a confused and inexperienced adversary in an ambiguous contest of some kind. "Under a Slowly Spinning Sun" examines the author's student life by contrasting it against a slow but deliberate old man making his way through the streets of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. Randy -- and most readers of this review -- will have to take my word for this... but speaking of Halifax, Guldemond certainly captures the stark side of the Atlantic Canadian city perfectly. It's my birthplace, and though I was raised in another province, I've always felt a strong connection with the Nova Scotian capital. There's another irreverent, celebratory side to the town as well, but the artist manages to ensnare a dreary, overcast Halifax afternoon nicely in this book. Randy: As you say, this is another aspect of the book that didn't connect with me. However, I definitely got the feeling of dreariness and darkness from much of the work in this book. Guldemond's point-of-view seems to tend towards the dark, whether it's the haunting and inescapable imagery of the old man in "In the Dark" or the flat and dim settings that accompany "Under a Slowly Spinning Sun" and "Bill." Don: "Bill" stands out as the most accessible and universal of all the pieces in this book. It's a simple story about the yoke of nicotine addiction. Smokers (reformed or otherwise) will see themselves in Bill, while non-smokers will see their friends in him. Randy: Accessible and universal are honestly not words I would connect with Aporiatica. This book has more in common with poetry and literature than most comics I am familiar with, and all the praise being directed toward Guldemond as an original voice is well-deserved. However, the price of this is that I doubt the casual reader, simply seeking entertainment, will find much to enjoy here. But those who want to see a very intelligent artist's interpretation of life, through poetry and imagery, will find Aporiatica quite rewarding, and I expect that Guldemond will make quite a splash in the more literate segment of the comics audience. Don: I'd be lying if I said that all of the stories and poetry in this volume fully connected with me, and Guldemond doesn't expect it all to do so either. "Resonating Transparent" is a sequential-art essay done for a rather open-minded professor about texts I've never read. Aside from that piece, though, there seems to be a purposeful ambiguity in the creator's scripts, and in some of the art. He's out to capture emotion as opposed to plot. It makes for challenging reading -- even arduous, at times -- but the honesty and emotional core Guldemond has integrated into this work cannot be denied. Aporiatica isn't the sort of graphic novel (or "graphic collection," I suppose, would be a better term) I would normally seek out, but fans of experimental storytelling, poetry and books about the creative process would be well advised to give this book a look. For more information about Aporiatica or Cyberosia Publishing, visit their website at www.cyberosia.com. Email Randy and Don comments about this review, or discuss it on the Fourth Rail message board.