When we first laid eyes on the dark colorful energy embodied in the illustrations of Brazilian artist Pedro Franz, the images reminded us of what might accompany the notebook-written ravings of a mad man (though our sentiments couldn’t be meant in an nicer way).

Franz’s work finds the most success in the artist’s technique – a sort of erratic gesture drawing style accented by the illustrator’s abstracted application of colour. The final product is immediately arresting, a kind, controlled insanity which is perhaps best described as “urban decay on acid.”

The same style continues with the artist’s self-written and self-drawn 12-part comic book entitled, “Promises of Love to Strangers While Waiting for the End of the World.” Now in its third installment, the comic follows multiple characters as they encounter the urban realities of drugs, sex, and violence. Franz’s work is certainly alarming, possibly because it almost translates as prophetic.

- James Lavapie