The Tribute

by Benjamin Legrand, Jean-Marc Rochette (Illustrator)

“Before Avatar came The Tribute” From the creative team behind the award winning Snowpiercer, comes the comic which is widely cited as being the inspiration for James Cameron’s Avatar — The Tribute!

A soldier must go native to access a strange source of energy, but before long, he finds himself fighting to defend the alien world.

A team of scientists and soldiers land on an alien planet with the hope they will find a new source of energy. The expedition is vital for the survival of humankind as an intergalactic war is raging, and the team must battle a hostile climate and protective, indigenous species to unravel the mysteries of this extraordinary planet before it’s too late.

This thrilling fiction mixes classical and experimental forms and is widely considered a French sci-fi cult classic.

Genres: Comics

160 pages, Hardcover

Published December 12, 2023

Reviews

[Alexander Peterhans · Rating 3 out of 5]

A science fiction story that starts out interesting, with hints of Stanislav Lem, if you'll allow me to throw around a big name. A confrontation between humanity and something quite alien, which is hard to understand and quantify.

But in the final third it becomes overly confusing, hard to follow what is happening. I quite like the art, it's rough but there's some quite arresting images.

(Thanks to Titan Comics for providing me with a review copy through Edelweiss)

[Ricky Lima · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not a fan. Art was great to look at but I had no idea what was going on.

[Rick Ray · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Tribute details the adventures of a team of scientists and soldiers who land on a hostile alien planet in the hopes of mining a new source of energy to save mankind. The expedition proves challenging as the team deals with the unrelenting climate and dangerous creatures that inhabit the planet. There's a strong pulpy sensibility to this that makes it enjoyable, even if the action adventure tropes are laid on thick. The influence on James Cameron's Avatar is immediately apparent from the opening pages, and just like the film, the visuals of The Tribute do the heavy lifting. Jean-Marc Rochette heavily utilizes landscape panel layouts to establish an almost cinematic quality to the story that just makes this read like a cult sci-fi classic. Characters and their motivations are an afterthought here, all that matters is the highly kinetic pacing and stunning visuals. It's a fun enough time for sure, but the story won't stick with you.

[Chad · Rating 2 out of 5]

Apparently this was a major influence on Avatar and I get it. It has some of the same basic story. The storytelling is kind of obtuse considering these are also the guys who created Snowpiercer. I had a hard time keeping track of characters or exactly why certain things were happening. The poor coloring didn't help either.

[Victor · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 1/2 stars. Love the art, story was obviously intended to be longer and felt unnaturally truncated.

[Guillaume · Rating 4 out of 5]

Grosse claque visuelle, c’est sombre, c’est oppressant et parfois ça explose en couleurs fauves.
Histoire bien solide aussi, comment l’homme bousille la nature épisode 3758.
Déconseillé à ceux qui aiment les récits qui les prennent par la main.