THE WANDERER

A paper boat navigates an intercontinental voyage, meeting fantastic creatures, industrial ships, and surprising allies.

In this mind-blowing debut, Belgian author Van den Ende presents over 60 intricately rendered drawings, depicting everything from Escher-esque schools of fish to vast expanses of ocean and sky. The wordless tale begins near the Aleutians, as ship Exploratio launches the tiny boat. Its encounters—with fish-mammal hybrids, Antarctic ice caverns, and more—unfold above meticulously detailed underwater tableaux. The conflicted interplay between humans and ocean habitats is portrayed throughout. Juxtaposed with a doleful, pipe-smoking baleen whale is a surreal anglerfish/crustacean hybrid with a broadcasting TV as bait perched atop a sunken trove of boats (including a paper one). More whimsically, a giant squid trades bottled ink for bound books. Chillingly, a deep-sea oil rig, a whale hanging from one crane, spews noxious smoke amid dying birds and fish. The paper boat assists a diver during an armed attack from the rig. It’s rescued, in turn, during a storm and, again, after a waterlogged sinking. Achieving a European port, the paper boat reencounters the many beings and crafts that abetted its journey. Six intriguing final panels delineate the paper boat docking below a small house. As the boat fades away, a human figure materializes, adorned with images from the voyage—including the paper boat. As the figure encounters another at the doorway, readers are left to their own conjurations.

Marvelously engrossing—a triumph.