Ocultos by Laura Pérez and translator Andrea Rosenberg
Each book that I have read by Perez has been stranger than the one before. Contradictions. Too many wordless pages. Too much text. Not enough details to the illustrations and, yes, not enough. The colors are both the perfect touch and the most distracting piece of the work. Each of the three titles are perfect with their similarities, yet they are so different at the same time. How can it be the same author? This author and their books are an Experience. This is an author whom you feel more than read what they have created. No two readers read the same work.
I cannot even give you a synopsis of the story, as there is none. The stories presented are connected and each one is its own story. I think themes of madness, reality, death, dreaming, aging, connection (with lack of) and escape present themselves so there seems to be a pattern to things. If anything, I can only describe this (and the other books by Perez) as Literary and Lofty.
Most of my rating (of the four) is for the illustrations. They are haunting and with their realistic approach, there is a serious abstractism to them as well. Colors (or what there are) used set the tone and feeling. This can change from page to page, not to mention second to second on the page you are currently reading and/or looking at. The book description has “Paranormal comics” as a subject, and the artwork agrees.
