One Coin Reads 13: Run Wild, by Ki Zachopoulos and Vincenzo Balzano

Run Wild, by Ki Zachopoulos and Vincenzo Balzano

2018

What is Run Wild? I never saw it in any press releases, and this is my first ever Archaia book. It's actually my first Boom Studios book. I've bought some of their licensed books for my child, but I've considered them copyright publishers, not makers of anything worth reading. Probably that is part of the reason they created a sub-brand, so people don't confuse this with the Powerpuff Girls.

I've been slowing down on purchasing discounted books because the hit/miss ratio isn't great, but the art on this one really stood out in the previews online.

Run Wild is a Good Book. It's not perfect, but it's definitely above average, and there seems to be a lot of care taken in the creation of it. The story is vague, but it follows two children as they make their way through a forest, as they search for Papa. They encounter all kinds of animals who want to help them or stop them or hurt them. The art is reminiscent of Bill Sienkiewicz or Dave McKean. The best thing about it is, like with Anand RK, I have no idea where traditional media ends and the computer begins. Art like this really is the promise of computer tools brought to life. 

The story sounds like a fairy tale, and it reads like one too, for the most part. These children are the last two humans, and are on a quest to save... something. Humanity? Their humanity? I'm not sure. The first half of the book, all the characters speak in deliberately obtuse ways, "They'll lock her up!" "We follow the least dangerous one and try to save ourselves." Lot's of pronouns without knowing who they refer to. It wasn't frustrating, but it wasn't endearing either. Then in the final third, the 'science' behind the story is explained, and that wasn't satisfying either.

Maybe it's reminiscent of Jon J. Muth as well

In the end, the story made sense emotionally, and the characters all had defined relationships, the thing that held it back was trying to make the plot make sense logically.  I wonder if half of the dialogue could just have been taken out and the pictures have been allowed to tell the story instead, would that have made for a better book?

It's still a beautiful book. It's not advertised as an all ages book, but it is safe for children and has the sort of images which can be playfully nightmarish for kids. The book market is cutthroat and saturated, and it's hard for new books to find their space. This is a book with a lot of talent behind it, and I could easily see them being heavyweight creators in the future.