Neurocomic

Even if Farinella's artwork is pretty crude, the fact that he and coauthor Roa are bona fide PhD-holding neuroscientists assures that they know what they're talking about. Inspired by Alice in Wonderland, they depict the adventures of a young man who, by means of a pretty girl reading a book, falls into what seems to be a forest but is actually the brain. There he meets a couple of Nobel laureate scientists who explain brain morphology to him before sending him into a neuron, where more top researchers elucidate brain pharmacology. After inadvertently overindulging there, he plunges into a cell and, thereby, brain electrophysiology. Further episodes acquaint him with plasticity and synchronicity in the brain before he is reunited in an epilogue with the pretty girl. The information relayed is sufficiently genuine for the book to be a neophyte's primer on brain science, and the manner of its presentation is certainly exciting enough to sustain interest. Though Farinella's drawing chops leave something to be desired, this handy introduction to neuroscience is a handsome artifact.--Olson, Ray Copyright 2014 Booklist

Neuroscientist Roš debuts with a trippy graphic novel primer on how the brain works. An unnamed protagonist is lifted off the page and into what appears a strange woodland. There, he encounters neuroscience pioneer Santiago Ramón y Cajal who explains this forest is "not trees. They are neurons." In often abrupt, sometimes absurd transitions, the main character clips through scenes where scientists explain aspects of the brain: Charles Scott Sherrington details synapses, bizarre creatures illuminate the workings of neurotransmitters and drugs, Alan Hodgkin and Andrew Huxley discuss brain electricity aboard a submarine, and Eric Kandel describes memory and plasticity. The question of who is in charge of the brain leads to a philosophical discussion about the mystery of consciousness, and an epilogue gets into a meta-discussion of how the brain processes reading a comic. Farinella employs distinctive but cartoony character drawings, and scenarios thick with weirdness and surreal elements are balanced by typical scientific illustrations and symbols (maps, keys). It's a breezy explainer that balances both precise details and broad strokes, and will appeal to folks who enjoy a Larry Gonick--style approach to a complex topic. (Sept.)