Article originally written by Steve Ponzo
Poor Sailor is the story of a man who abandons his simple domestic life for the perils of the open sea. It’s a timeless tragedy where the temptation of adventure ends in heartbreak and ruin.
Sammy Harkham’s first graphic novel is inspired by Guy De Maupassant’s short story At Sea, which tells the tale of a fishing boat captain who chooses to sacrifice his brother’s arm instead of a catch. Harkham builds around that incident and masterfully weaves an eerie and emotional tale filled with thunderstorms, gangrene, pirates and shipwreck. 
Poor Sailor is unique in size, style and content. A single image adorns each page in this 6-inch square hardcover book. With sparse dialogue and simple art, the images invoke a true sense of space. The single-image pages help to delineate the passage of time throughout the story. It’s a brilliant storytelling devise where each page turn can move the story forward by moments or months. It’s a truly impressive feat to tell a story single image by single image, yet Harkham pulls it off with skill only found in the upper echelons of comic book creators. Like the story itself, the artwork is simple and graceful. He is able to capture everything from quiet reflection to uncompromising violence in all but a few steady lines. 
Sammy Harkham is best known for his highly regarded comic anthology Kramer’s Ergot, which he edits, publishes and contributes stories to. Poor Sailor originally appeared in a slightly different format in issue four of Kramer’s, but as a stand-alone story, its beauty and depth are truly felt.
Harkham pushes this cautionary tale to its limits, as the book becomes a testament to human suffering and endurance. Poor Sailor is a story of mistakes that lead to devastation. Yet, in the end we’re given a glimmer of hope. The simple reminder that life goes on. 
