Comics Features Reviews

Desolation Wilderness Wins You Over With its Calming Narrative

Sometimes, you just need a comic that allows your thoughts to roam with no particular destination in mind. Sometimes, you need something that is meant to soothe you and lull you into a sense of comfort. Desolation Wilderness by Claire Scully does just that. It’s a charming comic that seeks to ease your worries and fears and allow you to simply be.

The comic opens with the sub-line “A sequence of events occurring over a period of time in the search for a location in space”. From there, readers are delighted with a series of landscape drawings, each containing pieces similar to the previous work but arranged in a different landscape.

Each drawing is simplistic in nature yet utterly beautiful. When you look at these pictures, you can’t help but to feel as if you have been there, or, been somewhere like there. All the drawings feel connected to one another both in terms of landscape and colour palette. These simple designs are highly effective in easing the mind of anyone who reads this. As you turn each page, you can’t help but to have a feeling of warmth grow slowly inside you.

This comic is charming. It’s a nice change of pace from story-driven narratives and offers as an excellent pick-me-up. Desolation Wilderness creates such a feeling of relaxation, I was half hoping some of these pages were black and white so that I could colour them in myself. It is very reminiscent of an adult colouring book in terms of the feelings it evokes.

It is always exciting to see what Avery Hills Publishing has in store for its readers and with Scully’s help, we’re offered this delightful surprise. Really, there’s not much more we can say about this one other than it’s something you simply have to enjoy for yourself. Even if you or someone you know is not really into comics, this is a perfect gift idea. It’s impossible not to enjoy the art you find with every page turn and it’s lack of narrative offers a cozy experience.

You can buy Desolation Wilderness through Avery Hills Publishing’s website. If you’ve had a chance to experience this zen comic, let us know in the comments below or send us your thoughts on Twitter!

About the author

Jillian Diblasio