Congo Bill

by Scott Cunningham, Danijel Žeželj (Illustrator)

L'Amérique gère et génère la violence planétaire, se rejouant en boucle Apocalypse now. Dans ce fort récit, où le rôle du colonel Kurtz est tenu par un King Kong hybride, le voyage initiatique du héros nous expose les récentes horreurs des massacres rwandais pour s'achever à rebours sur les sanglantes prémices de l'indépendance du Congo. Zezelj empoigne ce chaos organisé en le cernant d'une lumière crépusculaire, noyant d'ombre les regards, élevant son découpage au diapason de la tragédie. Aux péripéties bestiales répond son trait brutal, aux mutilations sauvages le staccato de ses cadrages. Porté par la démesure de l'histoire, l'enjeu graphique était de taille, mais sous la plume de Zezelj la monstruosité est comme apprivoisée : l'animalité est AUSSI une humanité

Genres: Comics

92 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2000

Reviews

[Drew Canole · Rating 1 out of 5]

Picked these issues up because the of enticing Richard Corben covers. Based on them I expected some giant gorilla animal battles. Instead I got a slow burn espionage militia story and the gorilla doesn’t show up until midway through the final issue!

[Matt · Rating 3 out of 5]

I forgot Richard Corben only did the covers when I came across this in my collection.
I got more out of it this time, since I've learned about Patrice Lumumba and the CIA... but we don't see the Golden Gorilla until the last issue? Bah.
The art bothered me. Zezelj was refreshing when I read the Captain America series. Now I found him annoying, like he used a sharpie to ink everything. Characters randomly had colored streaks on their faces.

[StrictlySequential · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mosquito ₂₄×₁₇+₆cm flaps¦ a.i. ₁₀/₂₀₀₀ ¦ d.l. ₁₁/₂₀₀₀ ¦ ₆₇FF/₁₀,₆₇€

The English original is stapled issues so I went for the steal on the French translation to keep my reading on shelves. That's how much I hate storing, "lost", in boxes. It's only the second time that I've do such a thing- the first being the too expensive Mobius "Silver Surfer" (written by Stan Lee).

[Pietro Bellini · Rating 2 out of 5]

Zezelj rende sicuramente meglio in b/n e la storia parte col botto ma scema insesorabilmente.

Niente di che.

[Robert · Rating 2 out of 5]

The cover is decidedly misleading, but the story is a good one, mixing real politics and history with typical espionage adventure in a rare-for-comics setting.

[Zoran Krušvar · Rating 2 out of 5]

Smearing colore over Žeželj's perfect black and white drawings is a crime.

[Bob · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful Žeželj art & fun pulp horror denouncing western imperialism in the DRC