Tongues, Vol. I

Ignatz winner Nilsen (Big Questions) brings an ambitious postcolonialist perspective to the myth of Prometheus, projecting ancient strife among deities into present-day conflict in Central Asia. The plot centers on Astrid, a 13-year-old East African girl dragging a suitcase across the desert with a monkey and a talking chicken in tow. Surviving on scavenged MREs (meals ready to eat), Astrid has been summoned by the goddess Seshat for a task of world-altering consequence. Meanwhile, Prometheus sits chained to his rock, gathering scraps of news on human progress from the eagle who arrives each day to devour his liver—their routine only broken by occasional games of chess. Though an adventure saga on its surface, the deliberately paced narrative makes space for philosophical ruminations on the origin of language and appraisals of Russian composer Alfred Schnittke’s “Minnesang” choral lamentation. Nilsen’s audacious page layouts match the narrative scope. Intricate scenes play out in honeycombs of hexagonal frames, or across panels arranged over anatomical diagrams of animals—a visual allusion to archaic haruspicy (divination through examination of animal entrails). Pages also fold out interstitially in the printed work, a puzzle design to match the artistry. With exhilarating imagination, Nilsen charges headlong at big themes of responsibility, fate, mortality, transcendence, and the natural order. The results are stunning. Agent: Frances Coady, Aragi, Inc. (Mar.)