Christophe Bec

Carthago is a tour of a waxworks in homage to B-movie serials, hitting all the tropes along the way. Like B-movie cinema, many "exhibits" present a perspective wholly impossible to any of the characters involved in the scene: an exterior shot of a submersible, for example, in an undersea cave facing a megaladon and no light save that from the sub itself. A great many of the panels are cinematic in composition, suggesting the comic was an excuse to draw otherwise unrelated visuals. And they show more are fun to see, but taken again and again, along with the sketchiest of plot and character to hold it all together, is like bingeing in a candy store, a feeling of gluttony or sickness begins to set in.

By happenstance, I watched The Mandalorian around the same time, prompting some comparison. The Mandalorian series focuses on story (something Disney does generally, however successfully it turns out in individual cases), whereas Carthago focuses on set pieces, cinematic scenery, and hardware -- then strings together various characters as a connective tissue for visuals, almost as afterthought or packaging.

Some of the reason it fell flat for me may be stylistic preferences. Had the same material been presented in more of an elliptical aesthetic (thinking AEON FLUX), I might well have enjoyed it more. show less

Siberia 56 should be a damned film project. Someone make this into a movie/TV hybrid project stat!. Take your Alien/Prometheus worlds and mix with your Pitch Black/Riddick, sprinkle in a bit of Event Horizon, Dune, and little Ghost of Mars.. That is the amalgamate feel that Siberia 56 gives. It is presented as a collection of three comic volumes: The 13th Mission, Morbius, and The Pyramid

Siberia 56 is a terrible planet. It is a candidate for colonization ONLY because it has an atmosphere show more compatible with Human life. That is close to all it has going for it. The tropic belt ranges from 14° to -40°, with consistent lightning storms, erratic knife blade mountain ranges, and hostile life forms that live under the ice. If you get closer to the poles, the temps drop to -330° with wind sheer close to 200mph.

The novel opens on the 13th mission, a group of replacement pre-colonists who are dropping into the atmosphere for an eight year stint on the planet. They are eighty million light years from earth, so many of them are resigned to simply being home. Nearly a hundred years of pre-colony research has been happening and yet they still hit road blocks. In this case, multiple engine failure and a crash landing a hundred and fifty files from the HQ.

While stomping through the snow on a 15 day hike to civilization, the crash survivors stumble across the frozen corpse of a Silhur, under ice razor toothed worm about the size of a Naval Destroyer. Bitten and torn apart, they are left to wonder what could possibly accomplish this action and never be seen in a century of research.

They do not have to wonder for long. As they are terrorized by a beast who leaves a frozen wake of body parts, they locate several artifacts from a multi-million year old civilization who appears to have left a calling card for any who follow in their footsteps.

Goddamn good.

Seems like there is a trend forming where I am reading graphic novels translated from French to English. Some were English, translated to French then back to English, but I am digressing. This French graphic novel is beautifully crafted with intense images and an indepth plotline. As the volumes progress, and you are more vested in the plot, the story text becomes significantly more verbose. Christophe Bec and Alexis Sentenac have built a beautiful object here. The English translation by Ivanka Hahnenberger was precise and had I been unaware this was a translation, I would not have questioned it.

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Disclosure- This Graphic Novel was provided to me for review purposes by the publisher. The publisher however does not know that I have planted subliminal thoughts into their conciousness and will be expecting them to cook me pancakes any day now. We will see who comes out on top in this trade. Had their novel been unfavorable in my viewing, I would have provided clear critique to this point, no matter how delicious the breakfast foods delicately fed to me and my wife in bed. Bring mimosa. show less

I received this from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I'm a sucker for space exploration stories, especially the kind that provide no way out for the explorers, as much and as long as they try to survive everything a new world throws at them. I think it's not necessarily the unknown dangers they face so far from home, but the reactions and the interaction between the characters as they face something so far outside of the imagination.

Siberia 56 hits nearly all of the necessary show more points for me, and it was very nearly 5 stars. Deadly invisible monsters, deadly visible monsters, crooked leadership, and an extremely hostile environment made this quite enjoyable, and quite tense. The artwork played well into this, too,as it captured the harsh bleakness of the planet.

I'll definitely be looking for the next volume! show less

Stunning art and a fascinating story!

As a big sci-fi fan did I truly enjoy reading this graphic novel. I did get Prometheus vibe now and then while I read it. Which was only nice since I liked the movie.

The Siberia is Earth’s 56th colony and the volume includes three stories which are all connected with each other. I did think that the first story was the best with the shuttle crashing on the planet and the surviving members having to trek over the plane to safety. A trek through a frozen show more world with dangerous alien creatures. The next two stories both show past expeditions and the continuation the storyline in the first story.

Siberia 56 is really great and will without a doubt appeal to sci-fi fans!

I want to thank the publisher for providing me with a free copy through NetGalley for an honest review! show less