Breakdown Press Big Pool.

by Chris Harnan

Genres: Art, Comics

224 pages, Paperback

Published July 28, 2025

Reviews

[Benny · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wanna put this whole book in my mouth

[Rick Ray · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not structured by a tangible or discernible narrative, Big Pool by Chris Harnan is a depiction of creation as shown by the use of varying art style and evolving media used throughout. The primordial soup that generates all of creation begins with the conception of simple geometric figures, all of which begin to sum into complex structures of varying dimensionality and intricacy. It's an ambitious project to be fulfilled almost entirely wordlessly, and Harnan's expert use of varying techniques and design choices is what makes it work. Pencils, markers, digital gradients, optical illusions, and more fill the pages of Big Pool, and a formative journey towards more rich art designs follows in a satisfying manner. But creation is followed not long after by decay, and even in that Harnan experiments a fair bit in stripping back down complex designs back into more basic forms.

A big experimental art piece with a fairly existential narrative makes this an intriguing thought exercise that I'm sure I'll come back to now and again.

[Bob · Rating 3 out of 5]

What to make of this impressionistic, not-quite-wordless journey from the dawn of creation to modern civilization and back again...? The images -- seldom specific, often completely abstract -- sometimes flow to create a brief section that can be followed narratively. Then something happens that I can't follow and we're someplace else in the history of human consciousness. BIG POOL is a big effort if you're looking for narrative continuity.

[DIktgymnasiet · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing!

[Cail Judy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a special book. I have tagged over thirty pages to discuss with Chris in our interview tomorrow. Keep an eye out for it at The Comics Journal in a month or so!

[Mabel Ward · Rating 4 out of 5]

my eyes liked this a lot it felt so weirdly spiritual and expressive