The 74 woodblock engravings that make up The Inverted Line ($15.95 paper 0-88984-214-0, 176 pp., The Porcupine’s Quill) are only a small selection of what George A. Walker has produced over the years. The 40-year-old artist and Ontario College of Art and Design instructor has done hundreds more, including illustrations for the first Canadian edition of Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Judging by this debut collection of his work, Walker sees the world as a slightly quirky place, both macabre and childishly sweet. “I Dug Up Dylan Thomas for a Drink,” above, is based on a conversation Walker had with a friend about getting ideas from dead poets. Each engraving, regardless of its size or shape, appears on a single page, with the facing page used to provide short anecdotal comments. It’s a clean, straightforward format, reminiscent of picture-book design of old – although the no-fuss layout does take some of the spark out of these little studies.