Hermann Huppen (1938–2026)

Arranque de una nueva serie con presentación del protagonista. Tengo debilidad por las historias de fuga y persecución, así que eso ya le da puntos a este tomo, que además, transmite muy bien la sensación de estar perdidos en la bruma con ese dibujo y color. Como defecto señalaría que igual debería cuidar un poco más la documentación (Los pictos no aparecieron hasta mucho después del 84 y un legionario como el protagonista no era nada excepcional en aquel entonces) pero no es un show more detalle que deba pesar tanto en una obra de ficción como esta. show less

http://nwhyte.livejournal.com/2779852.html

I asked a friend some time back which Flemish comic series he would recommend, and without too much hesitation he named Jeremiah, an extended story about the odyssey of Jeremiah and his buddy Kurdy through a post-apocalyptic America. So I got this volume, whose title translates as "The Rifle in the Water" and then lost it for several years, finding it only the other day in a big household cleanup.

I have to say I wasn't hugely impressed. Jeremiah and show more Kurdy encounter an extended family in the swamps, all of them pretty awful people with a secret to hide (there's a rifle in the water, and more besides). Lots of shooting and conspiring, but it didn't hugely engage me. I should possibly have tried the story from the beginning - or else just skipped it entirely. show less

To call this work a comic, is to do it injustice. It is what you should call a graphic novel, by the artist Hermann Huppen which many people undoubtedly remember from the Comanche and Jeremiah series.

I had the opportunity to get in to it with a review copy provided by the publisher (many thanks I should add) and I was not disappointed, considering my own previous experience with the works of Huppen.

The story sets in Tanzania, with the main character Darier Ferrer being much more in tune show more with his chosen environment than many common aspects of human behaviour. He's a man who has chosen to prefer life other than that of or with man, and he stands for it. Accompanied by a female journalist, that combination leads to tension which leads a life of its own in this story. It is however not something that overshadows the rest of the tale, nor does any part of the story get in the way of the gorgeous art - or vice versa.

The preference of creature over man is something which sets a definite part of the theme, and anyone who has ever spent long times alone, particularly in areas like the remote territories of Tanzania will recognise the choice. Anyone else will recognise it as well, and gain a very interesting perspective. Another strong element in it is the strong but subsurface conflicts which span both nature and man in many places in Africa - what you could call the case of "balance of power versus balance of interests". Something which has its own kind of impact on both nature and man alike.

I cannot help but comment on how the artist has represented this life other than man. Tanzania is not simply the background for the story. It is more than just a part of it, it bleeds through every page and rightly so. Cruel perhaps, beautiful definately, and it has been captured in an expression of art which does it justice. Something very rare, especially these days. Especially since the author manages to avoid the very unfortunate but all too typical schism of the "mzungu" being stuck between those from outside, and those local. On the contrary, here's a man and a story which goes beyond that.

The work is gorgeous. The drawings, the scenes, it fits both sentiments experienced as it does those expressed. A pleasure to read, even more so to simply immerse yourself in. As I said, this is not a comic, this is a tale captured in art. I only wish the ending had not come as quickly as it did, but it is an appropriate one.

Read it, you will not be disappointed, and you will find yourself picking it up again. show less

Arranque de una nueva serie con presentación del protagonista. Tengo debilidad por las historias de fuga y persecución, así que eso ya le da puntos a este tomo, que además, transmite muy bien la sensación de estar perdidos en la bruma con ese dibujo y color. Como defecto señalaría que igual debería cuidar un poco más la documentación (Los pictos no aparecieron hasta mucho después del 84 y un legionario como el protagonista no era nada excepcional en aquel entonces) pero no es un show more detalle que deba pesar tanto en una obra de ficción como esta. show less