By Kristyna Baczynski (Avery Hill Publishing)
ISBN: 978-1-917355-35-3 (TPB/Digital edition)
The basis of all drama is an examination of the human condition – albeit sometimes in extraordinary forms, configurations or circumstances. Somehow, that’s even more true when your characters aren’t human at all – as seen throughout this compelling compendium of past works by author/illustrator Kristyna Baczynski. The author/artist hails from the Pennines of Yorkshire, by way of the Carpathians of the Ukraine. That’s not at all germane here, but does hint at many places visited to get here, with events already witnessed. It also sounds incredibly romantic, conjuring up all manner of deep-seated preconceptions about windy moors, bleak moody peaks, poignant meetings, sudden surprises and perpetually building new homes and friendships.
In a nutshell, preconceptions, aspirations, dreams, realisations and that old devil hope are what this book is about…
The appetising menu consists of Baczynski’s first longform comics work – released in 2018 – adroitly accompanied by a glorious smorgasbord of briefer comics works crafted since 2012. During that period they have built a body of work spanning independent zine culture to mainstream publishing, with major names including 2000 AD, Penguin Random House, Hachette, Carlton and Canongate paying bills whilst self-publishing and small press freedoms renourish their soul, and reinvigorate the speculative whimsy…
The review opens with the main course and a fresh look at Retrograde Orbit.
In a faraway star system, a little girl grows up as refugee and immigrant. Flint finds it hard to adapt to life on mining colony world Tisa. Even though she has no real memories of the place, she feels the call of her long-abandoned homeworld Doma. The exodus was due to a geological or maybe industrial toxic detonation, but no one at school cares or understands, and mother and grandmother never want to talk about it…
Years that are never easy go by anyway, and those feelings of something missing don’t go away. Days pass too and Flint grows up, acting out like any teen. She inevitably graduates into a mining job, but the something-missing still plagues her. Moments pass as she collects memoirs and mementos of her lost world, whilst growing increasingly colder and duller.
…And then a message is received from the supposedly dead, barren planet. Flint now has a purpose and a goal, and nothing will stand in the way of her return…
This lyrical, uplifting yarn offers a beautifully understated, moving glimpse at the power of Place in our lives, employing science fiction themes and trappings to dissect the most primitive and fundamental longings to which humans are subject. It also reminds us that there’s always hope. In a glorious celebration of humanity’s constant follies and greatest assets, this tale is certain to be a beloved touchstone for every lover of aspiration and resolve.
The remainder of this virtuoso graphic dishes consist of tasty and tempting small press tales, self-published unless otherwise noted. Leading off and addressing recurring themes of living alone (and the perniciousness of plants!) is ‘My New Hobby Craves Violence’ wherein lonely bookshop worker Pip, fresh out of a soured relationship, adopts a strange pot plant and – aided by online kibitzers and supporters – nurses it back to life with appalling, life-changing repercussions…
‘Vessel’ then audits the life of a youngster looking to fill herself with vivid experiences before ‘A Measure of Space’ shares the life of one of those who survived the meteor crash that shook the world and changed all life upon it…
First seen in 24×7 (published by Fanfare in 2016) ‘Hand Me Down’ traces the mighty passage of life from great saurids through us to what follows humanity, as recorded by an artefact that survives a cascade of eras and epochs by being precious to those at the top of each food chain, after which ‘Vantage’ similarly follows the progress of assorted life forms who think the world revolves for and around them…
Next comes a selection of pieces appropriately deemed Short and Sweet, beginning with a pictorial proposition (from OffLife #6, 2013) that the brain and mindscape are just a ‘Repository’ of experience, followed by scary yarn ‘Yaga’s Light’ (Bimba #2, 2013) wherein dying, desperate peasants follow a phantom into the woods and beg the evil capricious witch there to save them…
That’s augmented by surreal cautionary vignette ‘Scratcher’ (OffLife #10, 2014) and twinned tales from (The Hic & Hoc Illustrated Journal of Humour, 2013). A witty peek at a bunch of funny bones, ‘Fossil Waffle’ is supplemented by a bargain-boasting going-out-of- business sale after Earth calls in the Receivers and canny ET buyers enjoy ‘Galactic Savings’. Next, The Warriors of Junkfood (2026) unleashes kaiju fast food as rampaging ‘Greasy Bandits’, prior to one woman failing to control her appetite for ‘Dinner at Eight’ (from The Strumpet, 2013) before (from The Stool Pigeon, 2012) a beleaguered broken bunny battles on and broaches ‘Another Year, Another Easter’…
Closing our narrative window, ‘Compliments – A Study’ is a dose of self-analysis latterly confirmed by ‘Bleeding’ and a demonstration that ‘A Drawing is Like a Seed’ before a cruelly funny countdown to ultimate feline mortality is explored in ‘Nine Lives’ (originally self-published before picked up by Fantagraphics for The Treasury of Mini Comics volume 2 in 2015). We then close on an expansive ‘Gallery’ of 11 miasmic scenes all intended to further stretch the mind and heart.
The intoxicating joy of drawing and sheer buzz of creation bursts from every page of this cartoon cavalcade, as a rich cosmopolitan blend of inspirational formative events and an international/intergalactic taste for the unexplored and as yet unreachable stars above. From human depths to stellar heights, Another Realm is a gateway to adventure and home away from home for all dreamers to visit as often as possible.
© Kristyna Baczynski 2026. All rights reserved.
Win’s Christmas Gift Recommendation: Star-Struck Wonderment… 8/10
Another Realm will be released on October 28th 2026 in Britain and on December 2nd in the USA. It is available for pre-order now.