Cankor

As you might can tell from the wordless cover, Cankor is an atypical book. It starts out in an auto-biographical mode, with the tale of a man (or mannish creature) going to a rock show, but then it goes into a very psychedelic direction. He has made some fan art to show the band but left it home, only to see it actually appear in the band's posters and merch.

Things only get stranger as the muscular fella on the cover, an android/cyborg named Cankor makes a ghostly appearance on the scene. Most of the rest of the book follows Cankor as he traverses worlds and dimensions, encountering beings large, small, and superheroic on his way. However, there are interspersed spaces where the autobiographical stories crop up. In all, this is a ethereal reading experience. Sort of like a contemporary version of 1970s Jim Starlin Marvel Comics like Adam Warlock. I won't say that they get so philosophical, but they do meld fantasy, fiction, and reality in interesting and compelling ways.

The artwork is a huge draw or this book. The minute details of circuitry and rock features are just part of what drew me into it. Too often I think I review books here and talk about their plots and characters, and I have been trying to focus more on the artwork and what it brings to the table. As you might can tell from my meandering description of the book's content in the first paragraph, this book is not so much plot driven as it is about sensory-perception and visuals. It is full of long sequences with no words, but the visual storytelling is utterly compelling and beguiling. The imagery is convoluted, complex, and as full of emotional energy as it is of enigmas.

I had not encountered artist Matthew Allison's work before now, but I will definitely be checking out some more of it after reading this book. As far as I can tell, he has largely been doing comics covers and self-publishing Cankor and a horror book called Sweet Sepulchre! I have really enjoyed checking out his Instagram feed for some of his commissions and other art. He speaks about his work on Cankor in this interview.

All of the reviews I have read of this book have been positive and mention its idiosyncrasies. Alisha Weinberger wrote, "The art of Cankor is deeply disturbing and nauseating. And I say this with love and admiration." David Charles Bitterbaum called it a "fantastically bizarre work." There are more reviews at Goodreads, where the book currently has a 4 (out of 5) star rating.

Cankor was published by Adhouse Books, and they offer a preview and more here. This book features some profanity and violence, so I suggest it for mature readers.