I’d occasionally like to go back in time and give the past version of myself a smack on the head. I reviewed a few comics from Hans way back in the early days of the website, starting in 2005 if my rickety archiving system is accurate. At the time it was obvious that he was an exceptional talent, which current me can confirm by reading those old reviews. And yet! I somehow managed to lose track of the guy. One look at his website shows that he’s been making books ever since, so that’s a pile of books I need to get caught up with in a hurry. Because (long-winded and meandering introduction over) this is an exceptional comic, unlike just about anything else you’re likely to see. Before I even get started on the story, I’d recommend to anybody reading this book to take your time on those panels. Every one has a level of detail that rewards lingering on it, and the choice to go full color (his previous comics were black and white) was inspired. So what’s going on in here? Oh boy. Cochlea and Eustachia are twin (?) human girls (???), and no, you cannot tell them apart unless they’re actively addressing themselves. The “human” part is dicey since one drilled a hole into the side of the other and no blood came out (there was also only a momentary sense of pain), and the “twin” part is in question because most of this volume deals with the repercussions of getting mistaken for another identical version of the girls who’s going around and causing chaos. Things start off with a mole man emerging from the his cage in the back of a giant statue of an anteater with a fancy collar (or possibly a taxidermied anteater), which rouses Cochlea from her sleep. This also lets the reader take a tour of this house, surrounded by a sea of bird skulls, which is filled with mysteries and wonders. And dangers! They’re both seemingly at constant risk of injury or death, although we do see later that the rules might be a bit different in their world. After observing both the mole man going about his day and their evil twin doing all sorts of damage, one of them is captured after being mistaken for the evil twin. Horrible things happen to her as a result (how did a phone get up there anyway?), after one particularly horrible thing happens to the mole man, and things take an ugly turn after a plug is pulled. No more from me about the story, as I feel like I may have already said too much. This volume also has a short story in the back, which shows the pair digging up a (still living?) body and doing some improvements to it, which I should also probably leave to the reader. Highly recommended, obviously, and once again, reader: take your time with this one. There’s not a huge amount of dialogue, but some of these images are guaranteed to stick with you. $25 (or $56 for a pack of volume 1 & 2)
