Known for paintings of intense complexity, Mike Wilks (British, b. 1947) challenges you to investigate each of his intricate images. Can you spot the jerboa in The Letter J? The oboe in The Letter O? The vixen in The Letter V? Or the zeppelin in The Letter Z? Linger over one of Wilks’s works and you’re ensured constant new discoveries.

Wilks began writing and illustrating books in 1975 and rocketed to fame with the publication of The Ultimate Alphabet in 1986. He went on to publish an annotated volume two years later, as well as The Ultimate Spot-the-Difference Book, The Ultimate Noah’s Ark, and more before establishing himself as a novelist with The Mirrorscape Trilogy, a fantasy adventure series.

Today The Ultimate Alphabet—alongside its annotated version detailing the more than 7,000 items drawn—is back in print as The Ultimate Alphabet: Complete Edition (Pomegranate, 2015). The two-volume edition includes each of the paintings here (plus twenty-two others, of course) and a fully annotated key to each of the works.