Niki Bañados describes her new comic Seeing in the Watery Underworld in the following intriguing terms: “A comic in which we descend 60 metres underground and meet prawnlike creeps with too many legs who think humans are creeps with too many needs.” It’s the kind of blurb that would already draw the average reader in without knowing anything about Bañados’ previous work. For those familiar with her practice already it will be simply an extra enticement to check out this new offering.
Seeing in the Watery Underworld blends something verging on magic realism with ecological deliberations. Bañados acts as central character and narrator on a quest to discover more about stygobites – colourless, microscopic creatures that resemble prawns and live in groundwater. Shrinking down in size in a stygobite PPE suit she descends through a borehole 60 metres underground to interact with these strange lifeforms and learn more about their existences.
As you can probably already tell Bañados uses absurdity as a delightful narrative tool to engage the reader’s interest and ensure Seeing in the Watery Underworld doesn’t deteriorate into simply a dry factual account of these tiny lifeforms’ existence. Once in their realm she interviews them about their role in the environment and finds herself in a strange existential conversation, comparing their simple lives with the complexities of humanity.
Visually the story moves from detailed realism, depicting the stygobites’ world, to more cartoony expressiveness that injects a fun irreverence into events. Bañados cleverly ensures, though, that more important messages surrounding how we perceive the natural world and the ways in which we prioritise our support for it in terms of superficial applications of worth (animals that are cute or “cool” for example) are never compromised.
Niki Bañados (W/A) • Self-published, AUS$16.00 (print), AUS$12.00 (digital)
Review by Andy Oliver
