March of the Crabs, Vol. 1

Shifting from the vantage point of tiny, wandering crabs up to the depiction of larger seaside confrontations and other interactions between humans, this first book of a trilogy tells a tale of varying scales, both physical and emotional. The fictional square crabs—who are as sentient and charming as the creatures in Pixar movies—can only move in one direction, a limitation that dictates an anonymous love life, almost perpetual loneliness, and an inability to flee from danger. A single square crab, soon to ne named Sunny, begins a journey that changes his life and the lives of all square crabs. One day, he stumbles on a way to change his direction and sets into motion a sudden evolutionary leap. But De Pins’s lens is wider than the world of crabs, and the hero’s interactions with two nature documentarians on their quest to film the square crab reveals the chaos of the human world and its ability to crisscross in any manner it pleases. A tapestry of human behavior unfolds on the beach, mixing larger environmental battles and the sordid actions of individuals. De Pins, also an acclaimed animator, has a clean, flowing art style—flat blocks of color eschewing black lines—that keeps his opposing scales vivid and seamless, beautifully capturing character movement, and the cluttered space inhabited by humanity. (Mar.)