Customer Reviews

The Dream Art Of Rick Veitch Volume 3: Crypto Zoo (Collected Rare Bit Fiends) (v. 3)

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Comicbook writer/artist started a truly quixotic project back in the '90s: it was a dream diary in the form of a monthly comicbook, entitled "Roarin' Rick's Rarebit Fiends." This is the third volume of a series that collects his best material from the comics... and this one is easily the most personal and, in my opinion, the best.

Veitch adapts material from a crucial turning point in his youth, when he first began recording his dreams. The art is simply astonishing -- and Veitch manages to accurately capture a "dreamlike" quality in his work.

Through often bizarre and disturbing images, we catch glimpses of a young man who's wrestling with moral and philosophical questions as he tries to find his path in life. Even if you've read the original comics issues, there's additional material here -- including notes explaining how Veitch's dreams mapped onto the reality of his situation and how, in some instances, they seemed to predict his future! Most of the book is in black and white, but there are a few gorgeous color pages (from a rare "Heavy Metal" story).

Deeply moving, inspirational, a feast for the eyes and mind, this book is indispensable for anyone who's involved in "dream work" -- the exploration of one's spirituality and psychology through their dream images.

The other two books in this series are called RABID EYE (Vol. 1) and POCKET UNIVERSE (Vol. 2). However, you don't need to read them in any particular order.

This third collection of Rick Veitch's remarkable series "Roarin' Rick's Rare Bit Fiends" is a stunning work of both art & psychological exploration. Detailing a crucial period in the then-young artist's life, which was clearly on a collision course with oblivion, it reveals how an ego-shattering torrent of dreams help him to turn his life around, get in touch with both his true nature & his true life's calling, and set a new, creative, rewarding course that continues to this day.

As Veitch himself warns the reader, don't mistake this for some vague, feelgood New Age nonsense meant to comfort with self-delusion rather than wrench free the soul. He doesn't sugarcoat the sometimes painful & terrifying path to self-knowledge that his dreams demanded, nor does he shrink from revealing his life at its lowest points. But he can afford to do that now. He's come a very long way indeed!

I agree with Veitch that the comics medium is ideally suited for this sort of dreamwork. Film might come close, but the combination of text & drawing on the printed page allows the reader to savor, to contemplate, to turn back in time if need be -- all perfect for studying the rich, symbolic images of the human psyche. It should encourage others to pay more attention to their own dreams, and to find ways of expressing them in tangible form.

Make no mistake: this book, along with its previous two volumes, deserves a place of honor on the same shelf as the work of Carl Jung & his followers. There's so much more going on within our minds than we realize, coming to transcendant flower every night in our dreams. Most highly recommended!