Optical Allusions

by Jay Hosler

Optical Allusions is the cure for all those clamoring for a painstakingly researched, scientifically accurate, eye-themed comic book adventure! Wrinkles the Wonder Brain has lost his bosses' eye and now he has to search all of human imagination for it. Along the way, he confronts biology head on and accidentally learns more about eyes and the evolution of vision than he thought possible. And, as if a compelling story with disembodied talking brains, shape-changing proteins, and giant robot eyes wasn't enough, each tale is followed by a fully illustrated, in-depth exploration of the ideas introduced in the comic story. Following in the tradition of his first two books, "Clan Apis" and "The Sandwalk Adventures", Jay Hosler's "Optical Allusions" uses humor and adventure to weave an unforgettable story about the wonders of seeing.Written and drawn by science cartoonist Jay Hosler Ph.D., published by Active Synapse, 128 pages, 7" x 10", perfect bound, full color matte cover, interior pages are black and white, ISBN 9780967725529.

Genres: Science, Comics, Graphic Novels, Nonfiction

127 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2008

About the author

Dr. Jay Hosler is an Associate Professor of Biology at Juniata College and an award-winning cartoonist who writes and draws comic books about biology and natural history. His work has been called "ingenious" (The London Times), "goofily inventive" (The New York Times), and "entertaining and slyly educational" (The Comics Journal). His works include Active Synapse classics such as Clan Apis, The Sandwalk Adventures, and Optical Allusions. You can visit Jay's website for a more in-depth introduction to this multi-talented cartoonist-biologist-professor-daddy.

Reviews

[Stewart Tame · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm constantly delighted by Jay Hosler's work, and have been a fan ever since reading Clan Apis years ago. Optical Allusions is about the biology and evolution of eyes and vision, with some nods to Greek myth and legend for good measure. Wrinkles the Wonder Brain works as a lab assistant for the Graeae sisters, a trio of scientists who share a single eye among them. Wrinkles accidentally drops the eye into a vat of distilled imagination, and is sent in to retrieve it. This launches him on a journey of discovery that is highly eye-centric. Each chapter concludes with several pages of text going into more detail about the concepts covered, and ends with several study questions. Yes, this is a graphic novel AND a textbook. I don't mean that in a negative way though. I'm reasonably savvy when it comes to matters of science, and I still learned a few things I hadn't before. The combination of using comics to introduce the concepts and more traditional textbook style to reinforce them works surprisingly well. It does tend to put the brakes on the comics narrative, though, but I found that to be no worse than a minor irritation. Recommended!

[Kayote · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book alternates between light hearted comics and science prose chapters. Wrinkles the brain is looking for the Magic Eye he lost somewhere in human imagination. Along the way he'll eat a thousand years of little mini wrinkles with Darwin, fight a giant robot eye with a cow-themed superhero, and meet Clio the muse of history-my favorite character-- (and Cassandra the blind fish). The comics are fun on their own, and I admit my first read through I skipped all the non-comic bits, but they all have some bit of science in there somewhere. Darwin is the predator that attacks such that an eye is adaptive, and you can beat an atomically accurate eye if you know how to swim and stay in the blind spot. The science prose digs in to really explain what's going on. While the prose chapters kinda look like textbooks, they are the well written kind. My only complaint with the book is the ending was a little lame--if that's what was going on, why didn't they just make 3? :P (I guess the grant only covered one?) Recommended as an entertaining lark through part of science I didn't know I wanted to read about!

[Todd Glaeser · Rating 5 out of 5]

Admittedly, I haven't read the hard science text pieces that describe the concepts in the comic section. Maybe I will someday. But that doesn't affect the five star score at all. Another great book by Jay Hosler.

[Erin Becker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Simply amazing. I'm fighting the urge to buy copies for all of my friends. Caveat, I may be slightly biased due to this being tangential to the subject of my thesis.

[Elizabeth]

As seen in the American Scientist: https://www.americanscientist.org/art...

[Brandy · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book with a hundred tags. I just can't really say where it best belongs.

Hosler's latest edu-comic focuses (ha) on the eye: how we (and other animals) see, how light works and how it's interpreted via the eye and brain, and how eyes developed in various species. Hosler alternates between the comic story of Wrinkles the Wonder Brain, traveling through time and the universe to find a magical eye he dropped, and prose non-fiction sections that explains the science Wrinkles just encountered. The comic is sweet and funny and cute; the prose sections are surprisingly lively. And relatively short, which will help.

The intended age, though, is a bit of a muddle to figure out: the comic is probably great for fourth or fifth graders; older readers might find the drawings a little too cutesy to look like it's geared for them. The explanatory chapters, on the other hand, are mostly at a bright middle-school level (he explains the material very well without dumbing it down, but it's still a lot of scientific terminology), but students would really benefit from having at least the beginnings of a biology course under their belts. All the same, the story and the writing are engaging enough that I think kids will still take to this one.

[Brent · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a cartoon story dramatizing the science of eyes, vision, and life science.
Of the great Jay Hosler's work published by Active Synapse, this was the biggest surprise, most relevant to me as my vision fades in middle age, and at least moderately funny. I do think this is suitable for upper elementary and high school age readers, and I know I learned from the science essays here.
I really like Hosler's cartoon storytelling. I was tickled by Clan Apis and his dramatic cartoon depiction of bee colonies. I am still in middle of Sandwalk Adventures and the cartoon story involving Darwin. This is worth checking out - thank you, my public library - and worth rereading.
Recommended.

[Stephanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

In a comic book fashion, the evolution and operations of the eye are explained. Hosler has a great sense of humor and knows how to meld science and story telling. This is not my favorite of his books, but its intended use was not my light, nighttime reading. It was written to be used in the classroom--even comes with discussion questions at the end of each chapter. And for that purpose it probably gets 5 stars. I wish all my science classes had incorporated books like this one. I'd have retained much more info.

[Brian Clopper · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another clever book where science is snuck in. Love the last line!