I have been reading at least one comic a week, trying to break my old brain in to that medium. My problem is combining text and graphics together to arrive at a holistic appreciation for the story. Depending on the authors’ style I might read it seamlessly, give up on the text and just view the art, or view the art and then come back and read the text. It seems that Fabio Ruotolo must teach a special education class for comic retards like me, for he produced something weird, sensual, and evocative, without dialogue or narrative, in the form of Mia.

An explorer equipped with a head band, backpack and handgun is exploring a geometric desert above which a rock levitates. The rock has a face, is covered with flowering herbage that gives the appearance of a head of hair, and is hung with fruiting vines that descent to within three feet of the arid rocks below. Most alluring is the stream of water that descends from the cone-like chin of the hovering megalithic face to drain into a pool of inviting water at the explorer’s feet.

The sense of wonder evoked, the next seven pages tell the brief story of the explorer’s quest to understand and use this fantastic resource. Letters are only used to indicate wordless sounds. I really liked this purely visual story; apparently a comic painted by a mime.