Om

By Andy Barron
Publisher: The Mansion Press
ISBN: 9782492646553

There’s something breathtakingly refreshing about Andy Barron’s Om. For a wordless book, its unique voice catches your attention from the very first page. It’s so very different to just about anything else you’ll come across that it doesn’t fall neatly into a conventional genre. In some respects it’s a fantasy, or maybe science fiction. Or it might be philosophical. Or spiritual. Or a comedy. Or a tragedy. It can be both dark and uplifting, sometimes on the same page. And it’s illustrated in a style that blends Warner Bros cartoons, rubber hose animation, and a keen eye for graphic design.

That’s all very well, you might be thinking, but what’s it about? Told through a succession of vignettes, the stories follow Om, a hapless innocent trying to make his way through an often brutal and unforgiving world. There are god-like entities, sinister and hungry beings, and danger at just about every turn. Things don’t always turn out well for Om, suggesting that the lesson is to accept what you can’t control. Stuff happens, and sometimes the stuff that happens isn’t very nice at all.

But there is hope and beauty and colour amongst the bleakness and despair. It’s not, by any means, a miserable book, but a practical one. Whatever Om goes through, he seems to somehow make it to the next short story. He’s struggling to survive just like we all are.

The strongest story in the book is the final story, The Black Book, told almost entirely using a mono palette. It’s a withering stumble through the underworld that still manages to evoke a hint of hope as Om confronts demons and despair. You have to admire his optimism that keeps him moving forwards.

If you’re a little tired of the same old same old, then Om’s what you need. Refreshing, interesting, and more than a little strange. But strange is good.

And if you liked that: A follow-up book, Mandala, is out now