By Rodolphe, Leo & Marchal
Publisher: Cinebook
ISBN: 9781800441316
What began as the series Kenya, and continued in Namibia, makes a very welcome return with Amazonia. On the face of it, these stories look more like a gripping adventure yarn set during the dying days of the British Empire, rather than a science fiction mystery. It’s perhaps this unusual mash-up of genres that make the whole thing so captivating and readable, as the characters struggle to make sense of something they have so little frame of reference for.
Kathy, working for the British secret service, is now being sent to South America after a photograph surfaces showing a bizarre humanoid walking amongst a native Amazonian tribe. It’s something she accepts to do with reluctance, but her past encounters make her the ideal choice to get to the bottom of this.
But Kathy isn’t the only one looking. A group of Germans are on the trail too, and are willing to kill to get what they want. And all this just a few years after the end of World War II.
Although Amazonia isn’t illustrated by Leo, Marchal does an exquisite job of evoking his style. There’s plenty of exposition and set-up to rattle through, but it’s deftly handled, from Kathy’s boredom in England to her brawling in the streets of Manaus. By the final pages, she’s firmly entrenched in the rainforest and you’re right there alongside her.
The potentially alien humanoid’s design (it’s too early to call what it is) feels very 50s, so very much in keeping with the time period. It’s a good fit.
In a nutshell, a cracking start to another escapade. What are you waiting for?
And if you liked that: Episode 2 is out now.
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