THE POSTMAN FROM SPACE

This graphic import from Québec is science fiction for anyone who finds Star Wars too invigorating.

In the early Star Wars movies, the backgrounds were usually more interesting than what was happening in the foreground, and this graphic novel borrows the same technique. As Bob the titular postman shuttles letters from one planet to another, he’s always passing something astonishing: a world shaped like an enormous dog bone or a post-office space station shaped like a mailbox. This irritates him, because Bob likes his postal route dull and routine. Any change gives him a stomachache. Fortunately, nothing that happens here is remotely exciting, though Bob is increasingly annoyed by these mundane postal glitches. He trips in the mud or gets chased by dogs. The main exception is a lengthy parody of The Little Prince, which will be funny only to those who recognize the source. The scenes in the background, however, are stunning, with impossible, Escher-style architecture and a mail cart that hovers just above the ground. (Bob, fittingly, is a bland shade of white, but other characters have green skin or puce beaks.) The drawings are so masterful that they become a sort of understated joke. The more marvels Bob sees, the more desperate he is to end this day of mishaps. But even Bob has to pause, a few pages from the end, and admire the sheer beauty of the world outside his window.

The space vistas are spectacular, if readers overlook the tedious postman in front of them.