The Rabagoo Race

Scottish artist Garresh’s outrageous graphic novel debut is pure spectacle, an explosion of aquatic action and color that delights in the possibilities of the comics form. The story opens on the final stage of the eponymous boat race, with the captains of three fanciful sailboats—the Boulie Bear, the Van Vex, and the Solid Slope—competing to win “everything their hearts desire.” The little Boulie Bear, crewed only by a boy and his dog, trails in third, but as the larger ships are caught up in waves, storms, and sea battles, it may have a chance after all. The story is less important than the telling, as Garresh barrages the reader with dazzling images and daring layouts. He fills pages with swirling water and clouds, spear-like shafts of light, neon color, and impressionistic effects, as when an explosion turns the bridge of a ship into a smear of ink. His art has a 1970s throwback feel, combining elements of European artists like Moebius with American underground psychedelia. Readers with an eye for kinetic beauty will be swept up. (Apr.)