There are times when a bit of escapism's needed (as in, all the time), and 1980's Quest for the Gloop by Helen Nicoll and Jan Pieńkowski (of Meg and Mog fame) provide just that, by the bucket, in Quest for the Gloop. Originally published in serial form in The Egg (the Junior Puffin Club's magazine) in 1979, the whole lot got coloured in and turned into a mini graphic novel in 1980. Around twelve years after that, the book came into my possession, and that's where we pick things up.
So, here's to the escapism of the Gloop - an adventure that takes in robots, giant sea monsters, three-eyed camels, three-headed mummies, mechanical frost giants, melting wizards, a dominatrix who lives in a space castle, robot bats, spider-anroids ("Spydroids") and so much more...
That is: 1. Bizarre! But in a cool almost Nemo In Slumberland kind of randomly awesome way. 2. Beautiful! I love the artwork! It also kind of LOOKS like Nemo, but with a kind of R. Crumb, underground flavor mixed in. The monster designs are all incredible to look at. How bizarre is that 3-headed mummy? 3. Pienkowski is an incredible pop-up book creator, and I'm akready a huge fan... but now I have something else I need to track down!!! What a cool thing to feature! Thanks!
ReplyDeletePleasure! Never thought about the Slumberland comparision before you mentioned it, but I see it, yes. Weird to think all those wonderful designs came from the same pen that did the comparitively minimalist Meg & Mog (stick figures is all they are!).
DeleteI have Haunted House by Pienkowski, but obviously that won't fit under a scanner - still a fantastic book though.
Glad you enjoyed the Gloop.
Another obvious influence: http://www.annexed.net/images/escher/escher2.jpg
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