Colorful.

Surreal.

Intentionally vague and symbolic, yet grounded in a gritty sense of reality.

When all is said and done, there’s something very serene and Zen about this series. Look at some of the dialogue. “He who conquers the left side conquers the world.” “Never knows best.” “Nothing can happen until you swing the bat.” “Swing the bat, Tak-kun.”

…

Wait, what?

We’re not reviewing Furi Kuri? My bad. I got completely thrown off by the Kanji-esque quadro-syllabic title and the presence of a yellow Vespa scooter. And the fiesty girl wearing the goggles. And, well, the fact that crazy bizarre things seem to happen for no reason.

Cripes, I can almost hear The Pillows providing the soundtrack.

So Ramón Pérez’s Kukuburi — that the name, isn’t it? — starts off with Nadia, a delivery girl making her way in the big city, suddenly finding herself in The Maxx’s Outback. OK, that’s not what Ramón call it. It does have giant floating whales, though. In fact, everything in this crowded world floats. Otters. Manta rays. Land masses. Giant ticks. It’s a Kukuburi dream thing! The place is crawling with large bugs that chomp on furniture and squids that pilot those big floaty whales. It’s almost as if the world itself was a living organism, and the inhabitants are unaware microbes.

Faced with a world of Technicolor glory, Nadia finds a helpful friend in the form of her pet Chameleon, the sensibly named Mr. Bojangles. It isn’t long, though, before she’s whisked away to meet a dapper gentlemen with a pair of snazzy rose-tinted glasses. He also happens to be a skeleton who may or may not be the Grim Reaper. He sits Nadia down and engages her in a high-stakes game. Instead of something classic like chess or dice, though, he gets all Milton Bradley in her grill and plops down a game of Battleship. Aw, man. I was jonesin’ for some Scrabble, at least.

The game is appropriate, though. Deadly appropriate. As Nightclubbin’ Action Ghost Rider plops down his pieces, bombs rain from the skies onto Nadia’s hapless friends. When Nadia does the same, beautiful things happen. Flowers appear. And, in one instance, she creates something not seen for eons: a bluebird of happiness.

Bluebird of friendliness, like guardian angels it’s always near! Blue canary in the outlet by the light switch, who watches over you? Make a little birdhouse in your soul…

Whoo, almost went on a They Might Be Giants fugue there! Back to the webcomic. It turns out that the world is strongly tied to Nadia, the “Kukuburi.” This place and its inhabitants are tied to her psyche, and it has something to do with her tragic childhood. Standard fantasy dream world stuff, since … well, since before American McGee decided that Alice went all Goth and created the imaginary world of Wonderland in a bloody fit of psychosis, that’s when!

Kukuburi is easily one of the most gorgeous webcomics I have ever had the pleasure of reading. If Pixar was ever to sign up one webcomic for their next movie, this is the one I want them to do. Like one of their recent offerings, Kukuburi gets away with long stretches with no dialogue. Yet Ramón Pérez’s art is so well done that it speaks for itself. It’s crisp and dynamic, implementing bold colors, clean lines, and perspective to great effect.

Pérez set out to create the physical manifestation of a dream that you never want to wake from. He succeeds at this better than anyone else in the business. Even The Maxx didn’t craft a world so enticing as the one in Kukuburi. But don’t take my word for it. Nothing can happen until you swing the bat.

Swing the bat, Tak-kun.

Rating:

Kukuburi
http://www.kukuburi.com
by Ramón Pérez

Reviewed by Larry “El Santo” Cruz

(5 votes, average: 4 out of 5)

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