The Sandwalk Adventures

(Active Synapse, 2001-2003)
™ and © Active Synapse

Hosler’s mini-series attracted a lot of favorable attention when it began a couple of years ago, but those who turned on to the series early had an often agonizing wait between issues. Those who procrastinated, hesitated, or otherwise vacillated, however, are rewarded with a long-awaited collection of this wonderfully fascinating series.

Featuring the real-life evolutionist Charles Darwin, the story is a fanciful retelling of sorts of his well-known theory. Communicating with a pair of follicle mites that reside in his eyebrow, Darwin relates his ideas, countering the mites’ own narrow but sensationalistic understanding of how the world came to be.

A neat parallel presents itself as the story moves along, namely that these parasites’ stories, stories that have been passed on for hundreds of generations (by their reckoning) aren’t completely true. Why not? Because for the story to survive so long, it’s been embellished and modified over the years, like a piece of folklore. Or like any given species, where Darwin similarly postulates that it, too, must adapt over time to survive. Hosler’s footnotes in the original issues points this out, but it’s apparent enough on its own.

Darwin’s theories are fascinating enough in their own right, but Hosler puts his own embellishment on them and creates his own story that’s downright stimulating. This is one collection that’s fit for survival.

— Jim Johnson

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#5

Cover Price: $2.95
1 copy available for $3.00

Jay Hosler