Kevin Hooyman
The Themes Of The Day (KH)
 
Kevin Hooyman's second graphic novel is a series of short stories in a completely psychedelic style, with lots of detail and deep questions.

Here is the synopsis: A bearded mountain man is awoken by his cat and rises to greet the day by making a list of themes for mediation; from American faith to ZZ Top, to be considered in a textual and graphic stream of consciousness. In the serpentine unfolding of pages, a metaphysical atmosphere arises in with a mystical cast of characters.

Thought bubbles snake from personified animals, spouting philosophical queries and statements like "If liberty means anything at all, it means the freedom to tell people what they don't want to hear." Energized lines activate the all-over compositions, which show moxie in their layered foreground and background elements that draw the viewer into a deliberation of cultural forces at play in America.