Ioen

Ténèbres #1

by Christophe Bec, Iko

100 ans déjà… à vivre terrés comme des chiens derrière les hauts murs de la citadelle… 100 ans pour oublier les montagnes enneigées, les champs de blés… Frémir devant les gerbes de feu qui déchirent les cieux. Trembler à l’idée de voir surgir ces créatures ailées sanguinaires qui veulent nous chasser de nos fiefs. Et laisser plonger mon royaume dans les ténèbres… Mes généraux me portent, ces jours, de biens tristes nouvelles : Nord, Ouest, Est et Sud sont parsemés de cendres, de dépouilles fumantes et calcinées. L’armée de mon allié, le roi Ti-Harnog, vient d’être défaite : engloutis sous les glaces ses quelques 2000 soldats… Mais je l’attendrai jusqu’à mon dernier souffle, ceint de son armure de glace tenant dans ses mains vengeresses notre salut comme le prétend la prophétie. Il nous a libérés, il y a 100 ans déjà… Il a disparu dans la grande faille en les combattant, mais elles sont revenues. Il reviendra car un siècle s’est écoulé… Pourrait-il prendre les allures d’un garçonnet aux cheveux blonds ? Un petit bout d’homme si agile qu’il atteint de sa sagaie une cible à 400 pas ? Si invulnérable qu’il brûle mais ne périt pas… Qu’il vienne quoiqu’il soit : je l’attends !

Genres: Comics, Fantasy, Bande Dessinée, Graphic Novels

48 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2009

About the author

Christophe Bec is the writer of over fifty graphic novels. His flagship series as a writer, Shrine, has sold several hundred thousand copies worldwide. He is also the author of the comics Prometheus, Carthago, Darkness, Bunker, and Aéropostale.

Reviews

[Cookie · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was okay but nothing incredible. This one is clearly a volume setting up the story to come...

[Fátima Embark · Rating 3 out of 5]

Un 2,5 en realidad. Y por el dibujo

[Mel · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a lovely dark fantasy graphic novel. The art was well done, many pages lacked dialogue but rather just told the story through pictures. The setting was a beautiful walled city surrounded by lava that looked like something from a John Martin painting. The plot was about a kingdom that had been taken over be "creatures" which were really dragons but despite that it definitely felt more warhammer than D&D. There were two different stories, one about a young boy with strange powers and one the main city facing invasion. The only problem was that unlike, Ich de Drache, there were no important female characters at all. With the exception of the Black Company it seems almost impossible to have dark apocalyptic fantasy with strong women characters (this is where you all tell me I'm wrong and that X also counts).

[Vittorio Rainone · Rating 4 out of 5]

E' una storia di epic fantasy classicissimo, ma raccontata in maniera davvero efficace, anche se (ma sembra una caratteristica di Bec) sembra mancare in maniera quasi assoluta di ironia. C'è un forte senso di grandeur epica a (più che) compensare le mancanze in ironia e costruzione naturale dei dialoghi. E poi i personaggi: Ioen, l'uccisore di draghi, e il suo "fratello" e antagonista Arzamas, il re che non vuole cedere ai draghi e la figlia volitiva che ne prenderà l'eredità. Insomma: Tenebre è sorprendentemente ben scritto, si fa leggere con piacere e conferma il talento di Bec. I disegni di Iko sono belli, funzionali e sanno essere davvero spettacolari.

[Jesús · Rating 3 out of 5]

(For the whole series) A nice sword-and-sorcery reading, a classic prophecy story with some original points but also with a lot of easy-to-find influences

[Hubert Ricard · Rating 3 out of 5]

Voir tome 5

[Adriano Barone]

Un background malamente dissimulato da Superman, uno science fantasy convenzionale che neanche gli straordinari disegni di Iko riescono a sollevare. Pasticci cronologici (sempre che non abbia totalmente frainteso il succedersi degli eventi, a corte gli anni sembrano non passare mentre Ioen diventa adulto), qualche scopiazzatura grafica di troppo (i sicari vestiti alla Assassin's Creed) e nessun guizzo particolare rendono questa serie dimenticabile, nonostante Bec in Francia sia una superstar.

[Viviane Fortin · Rating 3 out of 5]

J'ai bien aimé les tomes de Ténèbres: les illustrations sont captivantes, les péripéties sont logiques et rendent le monde à la fois fantastique et réaliste. Ma seule déception est que la majorité des personnages épiques sont des hommes. Les femmes sont alors soit vulnérables, soit méchantes.