Intelligent Designer: Paul Hornschemeier

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CARTOONIST PAUL HORNSCHEMEIER is concerned that he's boring you.

His latest opus, "The Three Paradoxes," spawned from an idea he had to do a story about the Greek philosophers Zeno and Parmenides, which, he dryly jokes, would have been even more appealing than the final product.

The book is anything but boring, with a sprawling story that leaps from conversations between the author and his father, flashbacks to childhood and a downright adorable take on the Greeks.

"I sort of had this realization that here was this great story where this person tried to defend the theory of his elderly lover," said Hornschemeier, who will be at Atomic Pop in Baltimore on Thursday. "That theory was that sort of nothing changes, which, of course, had the implication that they could sort of always be together, which I thought had this strange poetry to it."

Hornschemeier, who has been nominated for multiple awards for his works like "Mother, Come Home," had been discussing this idea with his father (both he and his dad have philosophy degrees) on a recent trip back to the southern Ohio town he grew up in.

That trip became incorporated into the story, tying in hometown memories with heady philosophical discussion. Of course, the discourse is produced in a faux cartoon comic from the '60s, weathered and beaten up for authenticity.

Hornschemeier developed a mixture of artistic styles to complement each section, from a retro four-color tribute to "Bazooka Joe" comics for the childhood flashbacks to a '70s vision drawn and aged to mimic comics from that period, giving each part its own aesthetic.

"I do tend to draw in different styles — I think out of defeating boredom. I would try to set up a panel to look like a '70s Marvel Comic and the framing would be one of my comics. At a certain point, no matter what you do, you're not going to escape yourself."

Hornschemeier has no reason to escape himself, turning out important graphic novels that are intelligent and beautifully rendered — the kind of work that makes you think about life and how to live it.

Call it cerebral. Call it academic. Just don't call it boring.

» Atomic Pop, 3620 Falls Road, Baltimore, Md.; Thu., 7 p.m., free; 410-366-1004.

Artwork courtesy Fantagraphics