Atlas by Dylan Horrocks

The new issue of Dylan Horrocks' Atlas came out this last week. I have been impatiently waiting for this new issue for quite a while now. Mr Horrocks has been one of my favorite comics artists for many years now, and if you've ever read Hicksville, you might have an idea why. I've seen Mr Horrocks post on the internet that he is interested in creative works that engage in "world building," and Hicksville and this new series certainly seem to do just that.

Atlas is an ongoing series with a main feature and a back-up in each issue. The main story, "Atlas," is subtitled "The Life of Emil Kópen" and this second issue continues to slowly build a world that includes its own language and its own form of comics. This series seems to be building on the themes Horrocks introduced in Hicksville. He even includes a technique from Hicksville that relates the comics and creators in Horrocks' world to creators with which the reader is already familiar, a quote at the beginning of each chapter. These quotes also refer to the story at hand like the Charles Schulz quote at the beginning of this chapter: "The brave man has the courage of the early morning."

Mr Horrock's art is masterful. He has a supple brush line, and a skill for page layout and spotting blacks. He has a few idiosyncracies, formidable noses, heavy eyebrows and heavy black eyes, but these just distinguish his art rather than detract from it. A Dylan Horrocks character looks like a Dylan Horrocks character, which helps to immerse you in the worlds he is creating.



Do yourself a favor and check out this title, or Hicksville if you prefer, but don't overlook a future master of the medium in a strong time of creative growth.