“Urscape” #1 : Will Cardini Leaves It All Behind — And Leaves It All On The Page

If there was anything tethering Will Cardini to the dull, consensus version of “reality” — and that’s a mighty big “if” — it’s gone now, as his imagination completely and utterly flies the coop with the release of his new self-published B&W full-sized comic (he calls it a “mini,” but it’s not) Urscape #1. The cosmic clashes of absolutes that were his stock in trade in earlier pubs such as Tales From The Hyperverse and Sphere Fear are here not so much jettisoned as naturally transitioned into those selfsame absolutes — in this case represented by his recurring protagonist Miizzzard — just being absolute and doing absolute sorts of things.

To that end, I think it’s safe to tell you that what you should expect here is a series of 20 full “splash” pages that don’t so much tell a story as simply become one.

Narrative was always a threadbare conceit in Cardini’s work, anyway — more a crutch than an imperative, a bone thrown to readers who still came in to a work expecting such things. He’s better off without it, and while shit still “happens” here, it’s not shit  you can adequately describe or even necessarily contextualize, all of which means — well, I’m not sure what, exactly, but I can say with full confidence that territory doesn’t get much more uncharted than this.

A phantasmagoric whirlwind of impossible nightmare geometries, ever-transitory physical formations and states of being, and impenetrable pseudo-realities greets our boy Miizzz as he enters the titular Urscape, a ferociously post-giving-a-fuck updating of The King’s “Negative Zone” or “Quadrant X” with all the stops pulled out, the foot off the brake, and the accelerator weighed down with a brick.

No, make that a goddamn cinder block.

This, clearly, is not a comic book for squares, but what’s most impressive about it is how thoroughly it makes everything else out there seem like it is. I’m not sure if Cardini actually meant to throw down a gauntlet here, but he has : unfurl the spool of your imagination all the way, or get out of the way. As a reader you can’t keep up, even at the rate of just a panel per page, yet that’s not due to any over-rationalization of work that, frankly, invites none. Rather, I think it’s because the human mind can only absorb being completely blown on occasion, and here it’s standard operating procedure. You’ve been warned, sure — but that doesn’t mean you’re not ill-equipped to love this comic, only ill-equipped to fathom it.

Or do I only speak for myself? I know not and care even less, truth be told. What I want from a Cardini comic is an experience, the kind only he can provide, and in that regard, Urscape #1 is the most Cardini-ish thing he’s produced yet, insanely intricate in both its scope and its execution, a tour de force that goes nowhere except for, well, everywhere. And all at once, at that.

When the chicken-shit anchor of identity is left behind, is that the point at which true autonomy is found? That sounds contradictory on its face, as the two are inextricably linked in the opinion of most (okay, fair enough, all), but as Miizzzard sheds the husk of his being and instead becomes all being, I really do have to wonder whether or not we’ve all been looking at more or less everything the wrong way. The self as prison might sound equal parts pretentious and out of touch, but seriously — next time you’re walking down the street pay attention to every footstep, every breath, every action taken whether voluntary or otherwise, and tell me being who you are isn’t a massive hassle. Who wouldn’t jump at the chance to enter an extra-dimensional plane where you can be everyone and, especially, everything else? I wouldn’t pass it up, that’s for sure, and as portals to such realms go, they don’t come much cooler than this one.

What you’re holding in your hands with this isn’t so much a comic book, then, as it is a ticket out. From the shackles of reason, of logic, of limitation. Embrace the chaos — let it inform your newly-arrived-at cosmological viewpoint, absolutely, but more importantly than that, let it transform it. Will Cardini invites Kirby comparisons, no question — I just made one myself mere moments ago — but the one that comes most readily to mind here is the anecdote about Jack talking to a fan who asked him if he knew where he was going with OMAC. His response? ” I knew where I was going, sure — if I’d known you wanted to come with, I’d have brought you along.”

Urscape #1 is the point at which Will Cardini quits holding your hand. He’s not bringing you along — but that doesn’t mean he’s not compelling you forward.

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If you’re ready to take the training wheels off, this comic can be ordered directly from Cardini’s “Hypercastle” website for $6 at http://hypercastle.com/store_urscape1.php

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