The Labyrinth

February 17, 2020
Argon translates the often intimidating theories of Jean-Paul Sartre into simplistic, bouncy comics art in this breezy introduction to Sartre’s existential philosophy. A goofy, cartoony rat in a maze stops running long enough to ponder the meaning of life: is it enough to “chase the cheese,” or could there be more to existence? As he traverses the maze, new possibilities and questions arise. In concise, well-organized chapters, the comic finds bite-size approaches to expansive concepts like the nature of reality, the experience of time, ways of understanding the self and others, and whether freedom and choice are illusions. The metaphor of humans as lab rats is sometimes taken to amusing extremes, with the rodent protagonist holding debates with fellow rats and solemnly mulling over deep thoughts like “this piece lacks cheese because it’s me who lacks cheese” and the inevitable mixed-in Shakespearean “cheese or not cheese, that is the question.” The clip art–reminiscent drawings aren’t particularly distinctive, and feature much animal-gesticulating and occasional pie (cheese) charts, but they’re effective in illustrating even complex, abstract ideas with clarity. Designed for the studious and dabblers alike, this guide works as an accessible primer on one of the 20th century’s weightiest thinkers.

April 1, 2020

Debut Argon's first full-length graphic work condenses the key concepts of existential philosophy covered in Jean-Paul Sartre's Being and Nothingness in this charming, accessible allegory about a rat trapped in a maze. As the rat obsessively searches for cheese, he wonders whether death ultimately makes life meaningful or absurd, ponders whether the role his expectations and desires have in shaping his reality, and realizes he'll never find satisfaction as long as he's focused on satisfying himself. Some of the more complex or contradictory ideas here are illustrated through dialog with another rat--in one memorable exchange, our protagonist declares that "To be free is to have no limits," only for his counterpart to reply, "But without limits, everything would be possible and you would have no choices to make." This heady, heavy concept quickly becomes understandable as it's pointed out that a wall standing between the rat and his cheese isn't a problem...his problem is that he continues to want what he can't have, thus choosing to remain dissatisfied. Argon's illustrations are pleasantly dynamic; an introduction and afterword by two philosophy professors offer further insight into Sartre's ideas. VERDICT A great primer for anyone, but especially YA readers interested in existentialism

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