In the first issue of Paranoid Gardens, panels are opened in the broom closet of an honorable nursing home, revealing the warped flesh of the creature. The building, recently damaged by the stray vision of a confused, panic superhero, requires as much attention as the aged residents of the home. Fluffy patches are prone to monster nurses (some kind of extraterrestrial nurses ripped). By the end of the question, an old hat. The paranoid world of gardens is a common surreal and made. The ghost stewards, aged aliens, and attendants with mystical healing powers were all set quietly towards the mundane traps of the home of recovery.
Dark Horse
The book is a barrage of big ideas that can be glimpsed as if seen through the gaps in the fence, as if seen through many comic books by authors Gerrard Way and Sean Simon (Doom Patrol and Umbrella Academy, Art Opes, and the True Life of the Wonderful Killjoy between them). Appetizing, strange, begging you to make it clear. It also presents a dozen small, absurd question marks, as this book presents the central mystery surrounding the origins of our healers and paranoid gardens. Who is the quiet walk sent down to property with astronaut-like beekeepers, rainbow sping smokers? Why was the panicked superhero brought into the house against his will, moving by Gurney? Most importantly, what is your deal with the manga Monkey Cult?
Not all of these mysteries are solved – some people don’t even fall within the scope of understanding – and neither is the central mystery of the Delusional Garden. As the story progresses, the barrage of unsettling concepts begins to feel like a half-winded window dressing aimed at enlivening the place, rather than a meaningful clue to world chaos. If a delusional garden is something, it’s fun and ridiculously stylish.
Revealing the truth is only half of the points.
Much of the book’s style is not possible without the indelible work by artist Chris Weston. The world, no matter how far off the wall, is truly realized, rendered perfectly, and incredibly true. All of this is supported by the basis work of colorist Dave Stewart. The garden facility feels like it was drawn from life, even if grotesque pinks and psychedelic mists divide that reality.
The end result of the delusional garden may not be narratively satisfactory. The book is mixed in with half the stripped truths, but the effect is much greater. Readers don’t leave six issues without feeling that they will change in any way, as if the absurdity has the touch of LSD. It is beautifully heart-changing, and I feel that the massive concepts that come together are, like the swell of great music, how disharmony.
“Paranoid Gardens” is a wonderful, stylistic mess
Delusional Garden
Filled with surreal mysteries, Paranoid Gardens is as styled as the true nature of the story.
Absurd and cool.
It’s incredibly drawn.
It’s packed with confusing and persuasive concepts.
Many strange parts are ultimately unresolved.
