By Sean Michael Wilson & Fumio Obata (Liminal 11)
ISBN: 978-1-912634-16-3 (HB)
We’re all locked up in our own heads as much as in our homes these days, and constantly in search of solutions to ease anxiety however we can. Please allow me then – in timely fashion and most serendipitously – to get in an early plug for this forthcoming sublime gem laced with helpful suggestions on healing mindfulness.
Not only is the message calming and helpful – and delivered in beguiling imagery guaranteed to reset your outraged Alpha Waves – but it also guarantees a solidly entertaining read while helping to moderate your hunger for physical relaxation and contemplative rejuvenation.
Until recently equally at home in Britain and Japan, Scottish author Seán Michael Wilson (Breaking the Ten, The Story of Lee) was inspired to write The Garden after being asked by a comics newcomer if there were any about gardening. After taking a beat and realising the range of subjects covered in graphic novels was quite limited – and getting smaller – the writer, educator and dedicated Humanist – who has previous form on cerebral topics and non-mainstream graphic narratives – decided to create one himself…
Wilson originally took a degree in psychology, with a postgraduate diploma in clinical hypnotherapy before transferring to the Ninth Art. In comic form, besides more traditional fare, he has co-crafted political and philosophical tracts such as Goodbye God – An Illustrated Examination of Science Vs. Religion and Portraits of Violence – An Illustrated History of Radical Thinking and adapted many Western and Eastern literary classics such as Wuthering Heights, Sweeney Todd, Book of Five Rings and Tao Te Ching. This is a man with wide interests who has learned how to kick back and slow down…
His collaborator here is equally distinguished with similar antecedents. Author, educator, artist and animator Fumio Obata (Just So Happens, DC Thompson, Internazionale) was born in Tokyo in 1975, before moving to the UK at age 16. His BA Illustration degree from Glasgow School of Art was compounded with a Masters in Communication Design from the Royal College of Art before he began pursuing a comics career in Britain and Europe.
In this gloriously welcoming hardback, the classic tale of early success leading to burn-out and transformative healing through new purpose follows formerly high-flying financier Joanna who spectacularly and very publicly suffers an emotional meltdown.
Recovering in her house, a conversation with sister Samantha sets her on a path to a new life that begins with a trip to Japan and a course in creating traditional Zen designs at the Garden Institute of Kyoto.
Once there, Joanna learns that it’s not actually all about her at all…
Filled with delightful human moments and a broad cast of appetising characters, Joanna’s learning curve is a marvellously tempting invitation to combine our personal urban nightmare with a more bucolic experience that Williams was a appeal to the suppressed nature lover in us all, and the life-changing challenge even comes with an appealing Poem of the Garden to start your own verdant rebirth…
Calm, contemplative and mentally refreshing, The Garden is a seed of surprise just waiting for you to plant it…
© 2020 Sean Michael Wilson & Fumio Obata. All rights reserved.
The Garden is scheduled for release on May 21st 2020 and is available for pre-order now.