"The Orphaned Nihilist Hospital for Dolls: Dispatch 1" Serial novella

‘The Orphaned Nihilist Hospital for Dolls” is a serial graphic novella inspired by some of my favorite types of books: surrealist fairy-tale picture books and dystopian literature.  

In the world of Greater Batvia, plagued by the Forever Wars that have waged a campaign of destruction, imagination has gone extinct and dolls have been outlawed. But when a mysterious woman and her two donkeys, Borges and Paz, arrive at the abandoned theme park Storybookland in the desolate zone of West Cordovia, a match is lit that ignites a creative revolution. Doll manifestos and coffee-drinking donkeys inhabit an abandoned world, making plans and smoking SWANZ Doll Cigarettes with gusto. 

“The idea for the book started in 2024. I was feeling very helpless with world events and I usually turn to sewing small dolls as a comforting hobby. I started to make some wired dolls for puppets to animate, when suddenly I was in a different world, the world of my childhood. I  remembered that feeling of my dolls having magical properties, acting as protectors, best friends, and little stuffed talismans with magical powers. I also felt deeply for the children in war-zones who were being deprived of that part of being a child, and whose protective dolls had failed them. But what if those dolls could help those children survive? What if our dolls have innate magical powers of protection, would they be able to fight evil empires? And in my book they can, and they do.”

8.5” x 11” softcover book, 42 pages. Signed and numbered first edition of 500. Comes with 11’ x 17”  “Storybookland” map and “Dolls Wanted” poster!

Written and illustrated by Camille Rose Garcia