Into The Bewilderness by Gus Gordon. HarperAlley, 2025. 9780063246126. 184pp. Includes tutorials on how to draw Luis and Pablo.
Luis (the big bear in a red hat) and Pablo (the small mole wearing glasses) are friends who live and hang out in the woods. Luis is super positive! Pablo, less so. Luis wants to go to The Big City to see a show. Pablo has a ton of reasons never to leave the woods. Their friend Ray (a Bigfoot) provides a bit of a distraction, as do squirrels.
Eventually, Luis heads for the city and Pablo, of course, heads after him. It’s not about the journey, really (though it is a bit), as much as it’s about being friends and hanging out together.
I couldn’t put down this simple, uneventful story; it had a lot to do with Gordon’s drawings, and something to do with how peaceful I felt reading it, squirrels and all.
