Borderline TP Vol 1

Borderline #1

by Chris Trillo

by Chris Trillo & Eduardo Risso Originally published in Italy, Borderline is a 600-page epic created by Risso and writer Chris Trillo. Described by Harvey and Eisner Award-winning creator Risso as a '

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels

Comic

First published January 1, 1994

Reviews

[Gav451 · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wonderful Argentinian epic. This was on sale so I thought I would give it a go and I have to say the first volume is a bobby dazzler.

Dark and idiosyncratic, the graphic novel rocks along in exciting and unexpected directions. I have to say I like the characters and their differences, I like the post apocalyptic world created and I'm enjoying the nuances.

The art is wonderful. Black and white and chock full of detail. The style is a heady mix of shadow and line drawing. Sometimes the artist goes for iconic images and a brevity of style to accentuate the pace of the action and then in other panels there is a breathtaking combination of silhouette and intricate drawing.

This is only the first volume so I cannot comment on the plot arc but thus far the characters are complex with dark back stories and there aspects of their lives and characters that really draw you in.

This has been a really pleasant surprise.

[Jason · Rating 4 out of 5]

Even if the story sucked, this would totally be worth reading (looking at?) for the mind-blowing inks. I'm thinking 100 Bullets has moved up on my to-read list a few notches (not that it was low before, mind you). But guess what? The story doesn't suck at all! In fact, it's pretty compelling! Apparently it took a long time to get this Argentinian series translated into English. What else are they hiding from us down there?

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

Post-apocalyptic sci-fi - two rival organizations control the world (or as much of the world as we see), but tensions between their leadership leads to a complicated series of one-ups-manship. Crash, aka Lisa, is the top agent of one of the sides. Ten Year, aka Blue, aka Emil, is the top agent of the other side. Lisa and Emil have some shared history which affects their willingness to follow through on some jobs by the end of vol. 1, but how their feelings ultimately change or do not change the power structure of the world won't be revealed in this volume. Perhaps next one.
If you read 100 Bullets, you know what you're getting from Risso, although he looks particularly good in black and white. His characters are perfect for a dark, dystopian world, with their ugliness, mutations and bizarrely cartoonishly grotesque designs. The mood is creepy and messy and shadowy.

Trillo's script is pretty enjoyable. I like the tension and borderline-violent romance between lieutenants Mike and Jack (both women, by the way), and the complicated reasons for striking at a rival organization are well played. I still wasn't completely blown away though, or grabbed by Crash and Ten Year's personalities. The groundwork laid so far is interesting, but I'm not sure if I'm sufficiently enticed to come back for another volume.

I wonder how many more volumes the series runs? That might have an impact on how willing I am to finish the series.

[Mee Too · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like dystopian stuff so this would have had to be really bad for me not to finish. That being said it wasn’t really good either.

I think the style and art were unique (to me), the story however felt a bit confusing. This may be due to poor translation, just cultural differences or both. It could also just be a style of writing im not familiar with.

Either way decent read and I'm looking forward to vol 2.

3.3✨

[Shawn Ingle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mixed feelings on this one. I generally don’t enjoy black and white art in this medium but I’m a fan of Eduardo Risso so I wanted to give this a try. The story is fairly slow paced. I considered DNF but stuck with it. I’ll continue to the next volume but if it doesn’t get noticeably better I’ll stop there.

[A. David David Lewis · Rating 2 out of 5]

Warmed-over Frank Miller worship with a dash of Mobieus thrown in just to keep you turning the pages. Italian, Argentine, or otherwise, it’s not worth your time.

[Mark · Rating 3 out of 5]

DPL hoopla

[Texhnolyze · Rating 4 out of 5]

La fantascienza in Borderline serve solo come ambientazione, a Trillo - di solito - non interessano i generi, li usa come veicoli per una serie di disparate problematiche sociali. Non si tratta di una decostruzione di generi, ma il tutto è filtrato attraverso la sua particolare sensibilità e dunque in Borderline non troveremo il tradizionale worldbuilding coerente, preciso e con basi scientifiche. In ogni caso, per dare delle coordinate, potrei dire che il mondo rappresentato è simile a quello di Fuga da New York di Carpenter, solo molto più malato e punk, oppure a quello di Alita senza le derive cyber. E’ un mondo spietato, crudo e violento, con la classica e netta distinzione tra classi.

I ricchi comandano e vivono nel Castello, rappresentano l’indifferenza e l’individualità del capitalismo, mentre i poveri, gli Infralumpen, vivono nell’immondizia, sono dei degenerati, costretti a sopravvivere vendendo i loro organi per comprare le 2 droghe che vendono le 2 fazioni: il Consiglio e la Giunta.
Queste si contengono controllo della zona di confine, sembrano agli antipodi superficialmente però le loro ideologie combaciano in profondità; per esempio uno vende la droga “sociale”, che ti fa credere che il mondo sia un posto migliore, mentre l’altro vende una droga “spirituale”, che ti spinge a credere in un paradiso al di là della vita terrena, ma in entrambi i casi il loro scopo è tenere sotto scacco i poveri, destinati ad essere eterne marionette mentre i fili sono sempre gli stessi.

Continua qui:
https://lazonafatua.blogspot.com/2022...

[Jeff · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first volume of Risso and Trillo's Borderline is a great find, particularly in regards to Eduardo Risso's stunning black-and-white pen work. I had never heard of either of these Argentinian creators before picking this up at my local comic book store, but one look at Risso's drawing was enough to hook me. Although Trillo's story is a somewhat generic post-apocalyptic romp (not devoid of some unique charms), Risso's dramatic use of solid black and white (with very little shading or other tonal transition) is almost on the level of Jaime Hernandez (of Love & Rockets fame), one of the undisputed legends of the form.

[Shaun · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yay for Argentine comickers! I seriously recommend this one to fans of AKIRA or the original Battle Angel run. It is chock full of apocalyptic dystopian goodness. They also play some fascinating subtle narrative tricks with the art. I will definitely be hunting down and reading the rest of these.

[Zanne · Rating 5 out of 5]

19.99

[Anthony · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great storytelling work. Love the panels, angles, shadows, negative space, black & white style.

[Ed van der Winden · Rating 4 out of 5]

Story: 3 stars. Art: 5 stars.