The Wanderer

Dutch artist Van den Ende follows a mysterious paper boat on a surreal, at times oppressive-feeling journey across the world’s oceans. Wordless, closely worked black-and-white spreads conjure an alternative Earth whose reefs hold strange life-forms. The paper boat—it’s as tall as a person (or are the people as small as the boat?)—is folded and launched from a galleon by a fair-haired human and a horned, caped figure. On its voyage, the paper craft encounters monstrous sea creatures, icebergs, murky depths illuminated by sea life, and more. Approaching a drilling rig that pumps poison into the air, it takes a bullet while sea birds drop out of the sky, dead. The black caped figure and attendant bright-eyed creatures intervene. At last, the paper boat arrives at the harbor of a surreal port city, where a final reunion leaves still another mystery. Charged with a current of imaginative power, Van den Ende’s artwork, like an Escher drawing leaning into oceanic and naval architecture, results in a 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea sensibility and an unsettling blend of warm nostalgia and chilly futurism. Ages 8–up. [em](Oct.) [/em]