THE SANDS is a transitional work that finds Tom Hart growing away from the mirth and whimsy of his early HUTCH OWEN stories and more towards the philosophical and introspective BANKS/EUBANKS. A man called Hawk travels to a fictional country in the Middle East with his wife, an entomologist. The two begin to live out their lives there, and Hawk begins to wonder just what the hell he's done with himself.
Young Hawk tries his best to find his place in the world, to make the best of his odd situation, and to get a copy of The New York Times to keep from going mad. He meets the boy-king in exile, he ruminates about starting a junk store, and he bugs the hell out of his wife. Young Hawk is quite lost.
Hart's story follows along a nonlinear path much like Hawk, hopping from point to point wherever his protagonist may lead him. As such, THE SANDS is a free-associative romp, a parable about partnership, and outright tone poem, deceptive in its complexity and rewarding in its challenges.
Matt Fraction splits his time between motion graphics and design house MK12, writing comics, and reading comics. He is the author of the graphic novels The Annotated Mantooth and Last of the Independents, both available from AiT/Planet Lar. He can be found on the web at mattfraction.com. His wife is hot.
