Set to Sea

After a career turning out much-admired Web comics and small self-published work, Weing produces a classic tale of the sea and self-discovery in his graphic novel debut. The unnamed hero is a poet who writes overblown verse about the wonders of sea life, while trying to pay his bar bill with promises of book dedications. That attitude quickly changes when he's shanghaied aboard a clipper bound for Hong Kong. At first a lumbering victim, the poet is pushed to the limit in a battle with pirates and discovers the strength and courage he never knew through violence. Presented almost like a Big Little Book for grownups, with one lovely panel per page in a small volume, the hero's journey in this tale isn't particularly unpredictable, but Weing's mastery of both small details (the hero's waxing and waning love affair with language) and sweeping vistas (from the glaciers to a steaming port city) gives it richness and emotion. After a lifetime of adventure, the doggerel poet learns that experience and suffering are the best motivators for real art, leaving open the question of whether art is worth the suffering. Weing's E.C. Segar–influenced drawings elevates what could have been an oft-told story into a powerful fable. (Aug.)