The Motherless Oven

Scarper Lee is facing his death day in a world without birthdays where lives proceed in reverse. His dad is a metal leviathan on wheels, chained to the ground in the family’s garage; gods sing and scream throughout the house; and knives rain from the sky. Scarper does his best to stick to his schedule, even as his new schoolmate, Vera Pike, tries to shake up his routine. Scraper, Vera, and their pal Castro are pursued across the country by the law, in the form of an elderly couple riding around in some sort of horseless carriage, after Scraper’s father disappears. This is a weird story with a lot of potential, but Scarper and his heavy and moody eyebrows never make much of a connection with the reader. The art by Davis (Don Quixote) is well conceived, full of shadows and strange shapes, but the narrative feels like a fairly normal coming-of-age story that has had some strange visuals layered onto it. The last third is the best, when Scarper and the gang are on the run. Davis leaves room at the for a sequel; if there is one in the words, hopefully Davis will find a way in it to breathe more life into his surreal world. (Oct.)