John Broadley’s page in the new Beasts! Book 2 was my favorite page in the book. I love his weird, crazy, intricate drawings. So I was really happy to get his latest book— a collection of his Wild for Adventure strips from this year. The book is all handmade with a mix of xeroxes and color prints and a nice hard cover. I am intrigued by his bizarre stories that don’t make sense to me. From an interview with PictureBox here’s what John Broadley said about his previous Wild for Adventure work: “Primarily I was trying to convey a sense of the absurd, I wanted the books to be totally useless, without a point. Eventually they evolved into the comic strip format. Once the drawings are presented in this way, you tend to read them as if they are sequential. The scenes are random, but over the course of a book, there is a rhythm, the reader draws connections between the subject matter.” I know this is kind of silly but one of the things that I really like about John’s drawings are the outfits he dresses his characters in. They come from all different time periods, wear hats, monocles, uniforms, suits, checkered sweaters and so much more. I enjoy all these small charming details the most. You can see more of John’s work on his blog here and pick up his books for sale at PictureBox here.

© Julia Rothman 2007