SUPERDEEP
In SUPERDEEP, Nashville-based artist and illustrator Aaron Martin leads readers on an immersive journey into a dream world brimming with esoteric symbolism, occult wisdom, and the silent power of the subconscious. Known for his ethereal, surrealist style and a practice deeply influenced by Native American heritage, naval lineages, and his love of nature, Martin has crafted a 200-page visual epic that invites readers to navigate their own hidden realms. Without a single word to guide them, readers are encouraged to interpret the story’s many symbols, patterns, and interactions on their own terms. Like an ancient codex, SUPERDEEP offers layers of meaning, with its mysteries unfolding in response to the reader’s willingness to explore and discover. At its heart, SUPERDEEP follows four characters—Toya, CW, Belle, and Zero—each on a journey through the unknown. The characters’ paths are winding, shifting, and profoundly personal, yet they intersect in unexpected ways. Martin likens the story to a shared dreamscape, where faces change and familiar places transform in the blink of an eye. From dense forests to stark, surreal landscapes, every page immerses the reader in scenes that feel both grounded and otherworldly, capturing the essence of dreams where time and identity blur and deeper truths emerge. Through his characters, Martin explores universal archetypes and invites readers to reflect on the nature of identity, self-discovery, and transformation. Each character in SUPERDEEP embodies aspects of the psyche that Martin sees as timeless archetypes. Toya, with an intuitive understanding of nature, represents a spirit of exploration and curiosity. CW, intense and thoughtful, serves as a seeker of hidden truths, unafraid to confront the dark undercurrents of the unknown. Belle’s compassionate yet guarded nature reflects a balance between empathy and personal boundaries, while Zero—elusive and enigmatic—embodies the shadow side of the psyche. Together, they create a collective symbol of the human experience, where growth often requires traversing shadowy paths, making sacrifices, and questioning reality itself. One of the recurring themes in SUPERDEEP is the interplay between nature and the subconscious. Martin draws on his lifelong love for natural landscapes, particularly the forests and rivers that have shaped his worldview, to create surreal environments that mirror the characters' inner journeys. The presence of nature in the novel is both grounding and mystifying, with trees that seem to breathe, rivers that reflect more than mere surface images, and animals that act as guides—or perhaps warnings—along the way. Eyes peering out from foliage, shape-shifting creatures, and endless stairways suggest the mysteries lying beneath everyday perception, representing layers of the subconscious waiting to be discovered. Martin’s detailed, intricate illustrations serve as a visual language for the story, incorporating symbols from various spiritual and philosophical traditions to resonate on a subconscious level. His Native American heritage, particularly his affinity for symbolism and nature, adds a rich, historical texture to the imagery. Readers may notice recurring motifs, like the spiral and the triangle, which hold meanings both personal and universal. Spirals, for instance, hint at cyclical journeys, while triangles may represent the connection between body, mind, and spirit. These visual cues are scattered throughout the pages, rewarding readers who take the time to observe, connect, and interpret.
The structure of SUPERDEEP is deliberately nonlinear, much like the shifting landscapes of dreams. Events unfold without traditional plot points or dialogue, encouraging readers to approach each panel as a new experience, free of expectation or explanation. This nonverbal storytelling allows the narrative to function as a mirror, reflecting the reader’s own thoughts, emotions, and associations. Martin’s hope is that each person who opens SUPERDEEP will find a unique resonance within its pages, hearing, as he puts it, “the voice inside each person who narrates their own dreams.” The story’s absence of words heightens this effect, allowing readers to delve deeply into their interpretations without the constraint of prescriptive language.
At the core of SUPERDEEP lies the archetype of the “sleeping giant,” a symbolic figure representing dormant potential and unexplored depths within each character—and by extension, each reader. The sleeping giant functions as a guide for the characters, an invisible force pushing them toward growth and self-discovery. For Toya, CW, Belle, and Zero, encounters with the giant spark moments of introspection, confronting them with their innermost fears and desires. This figure, much like a spirit guide or ancestral force, embodies the wisdom of the subconscious, reminding the characters of their connection to something greater than themselves.
In SUPERDEEP, readers are invited to experience the novel as both a movie and a codex, a dual-purpose journey that can be enjoyed on various levels. Those who wish for a cinematic experience can let the visuals wash over them, enjoying the novel as a sequence of stunning images and surreal scenes. For others, SUPERDEEP offers a more interactive experience, a puzzle to solve and interpret. Clues are scattered throughout, from repeated symbols and mirrored compositions to visual hints hidden in the background, encouraging readers to engage more actively with the story. This multi-layered approach reflects Martin’s desire for his art to speak directly to the subconscious, stirring memories, ideas, and emotions that may lie hidden beneath the surface.
As the characters navigate the realms within SUPERDEEP, readers may find themselves transported to familiar places—a recurring forest, a hidden cave, or a star-filled sky—that feel distinctly dreamlike. Objects within the story take on symbolic meaning, acting as anchors that ground the characters in their reality or as talismans guiding them toward self-realization. Each scene is designed to invoke a sense of “otherness” that Martin describes as integral to his work, an elusive quality that blurs the line between what’s real and imagined. By exploring these inner landscapes, Martin hopes to open doors within readers’ minds, inviting them to question what lies beyond the known world.
The journey within SUPERDEEP is solitary, yet deeply communal. Martin’s intention is for readers to recognize themselves in the characters, each representing different aspects of the psyche—the curious, the compassionate, the searching, and the shadowed. The graphic novel encourages readers to reflect on their own internal archetypes, to explore parts of themselves that are often hidden or forgotten. Through Toya, CW, Belle, and Zero, readers witness the process of embracing each layer of the self, confronting shadows, and discovering hidden strengths. These encounters are as much an invitation to self-awareness as they are moments of transformation within the story.
For Martin, SUPERDEEP is both a personal and universal offering, an exploration of unconscious truths that resonate across cultures, time periods, and individual experiences. His ability to create such a rich, layered world speaks to his mastery of visual storytelling and his deep understanding of the subconscious. As an artist, Martin sees himself as a bridge between worlds, bringing forth images and symbols that stir the soul and ignite curiosity in the unseen. With SUPERDEEP, he invites readers not only to view art but to participate in it, creating their own journey within the dreamlike pages of the novel.
In a world where words often limit interpretation, SUPERDEEP offers an expansive space for personal discovery. It is a call to embrace ambiguity, to find meaning in mystery, and to explore the inner worlds that connect all of us. Through his visual codex, Martin leaves readers with a reminder that the universe is vast and that within each of us lies a sleeping giant, waiting to be awakened.
