Scattered Seeds

Well, well, well. I’ve not yet digested Ray Bradbury’s The Homecoming and I found another book by Dave McKean. I’ll be looking forward to this illustrated picture book. I enjoyed both the picture books—The Day I Swapped My Dad for Two Goldfish and The Wolves in the Walls—by Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean, so the third one should be interesting. It’s titled Crazy Hair.

Crazy Hair cover

From what I see in the following page spreads, I like it already.

I mean, who’s not to like an octopus and pirates.

Oooh. I just can’t wait.

The Homecoming by Ray Bradbury, illustrated by Dave McKean

I suppose there is there is this endless cycle of on-off on-off love affair with Dave McKean.

I first came to know McKean’s work sometime in 1988. His painted work in comics–Black Orchid–stood out amidst the sea of colour-filled-black-lined pages. Being different, being bold, attracts. I embraced all that he did and I longed for more because ability to draw me close, and tease with ideas. But as the years went by, I lost interest; after all, his artistic style changed. I stopped chasing after him. Yet I still pick up a book or two occasionally. And sometimes, a gem appears.

I thought Mc Kean’s work in illustrated edition of Ray Bradbury’s The Homecoming is absolutely fabulous. His work augments the story about Timothy, a seemingly normal boy of a family of vampires, ghouls, and other fey creatures; so very different that he longs to be like the family members he does not resemble at all. Mc Kean’s watercolours bleeds Raybradbury’s tale of strangeness into very a world that is plausible and real. And as the various monstrous forms and vampiric relatives of Timothy travel to meet in a great family reunion, I find myself like an invited-intruder who longs to see the happenings unfold. It’s been a long while since I have been so enthralled by Dave McKean’s work.

I may now give Neil Gaiman’s The Graveyard Book a try…

Not that it is written by Gaiman, but because it has accompanying illustrations by Dave McKean.