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When a mysterious giant of a man arrives in a vast steampunk megalopolis, death walks beside him, leaving a trail of corpses in their wake. It’s up to a dysfunctional yet dogged police investigator to find the strange colossus and stop him before the bodies pile even higher… But soon the truth is discovered that this case is far more complicated than the detective could’ve possibly conceived: a veritable battle between nature and city is unfolding, whose very outcome could forever change the face of the earth.

144 pages, Hardcover

First published September 24, 2014

2 people are currently reading
54 people want to read

About the author

Jean-David Morvan

526 books73 followers
Jean-David Morvan is a French comic author, best known as the creator of the Sillage/Wake series.

After studying arts at the Institut Saint-Luc in Brussels, he first tried being a graphic artist, but eventually settled for writing instead.

His main series are 'Spirou and Fantasio', 'Sir Pyle' and 'Merlin', all with José Luis Munuera, and 'Sillage', with Philippe Buchet.

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Community Reviews

5 stars
14 (14%)
4 stars
34 (36%)
3 stars
31 (32%)
2 stars
11 (11%)
1 star
4 (4%)
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
Profile Image for Franz Katla.
396 reviews14 followers
April 26, 2016
Wow, the illustrations are amazing! The colours and the technique is something extra in this one. The illustrator really plays with perspective and helps the reader get a feeling for the story with the help of colours.

What is it about then? Well, its an story about humanity, enviroment, darkness and the old fight between good and evil but with ALOT more greyscales then I am used to see.

Its like a Blade Runner meets Nausicaa, meets ultra violence all in the same graphic novell.
I really looking forward to read next volym!
Profile Image for Amy.
57 reviews
November 17, 2019
If you're a fan of the old testament, only with 2 gods of war, eye for an eye type of thing and minus the free will ingredient, this is for you. The only problem solving skills are kill or be purified. Disappointing.
Profile Image for Alex.
591 reviews48 followers
May 5, 2015
Very slick. I liked the absence of dialogue in many sections, and the art was very pretty. Part Bioshock, a dash of Dark City, and some other weirdness mixed in added up to an entertaining comic.
Profile Image for Dávid Novotný.
593 reviews13 followers
April 25, 2022
Nice metaphor to fight between industrialization and return to nature. Interesting steampunkish like world that incorporate many modern inventions but still keeps some 'charm' of the industrial revolution. Story is swift, with right amount of action, but still could use some more page to better build the world and background, especially when ending is kind of left to reader's interpretation.

I really liked art, which was dynamic and fresh, despite the fact that sometimes it was like looking through fish eye. So big boo to ladies and gentlemen in Humanoids who thought that just placing English texts over original French ones in various panels would be good idea... maybe you made your job easier, but I hope this was the last comics you were allowed to touch and screw up.
Profile Image for Jefferson.
802 reviews7 followers
July 27, 2020
An interesting story about the intersection between delusion and religious belief, told with just the right amount of subtle ambiguity. My only complaint is that the visual storytelling was occasionally unclear and hard to follow.
Profile Image for Adrian.
1,456 reviews41 followers
May 1, 2021
You remind me of me, some 50 years ago... not you appearance of course. I was also quite lost, the first time I came to the city. It was during the great famine... I had just left my village for the first time. Today it's completely engulfed by the city... At the time, I would've given anything for a kind soul to teach me how to get by...

This was another Oxfam Bookshop find from the other week. An intimidating oversized hardback collection of the three volumes of Bramble. Once again, I wasn't aware of it prior to the purchase and didn't recognise the author or artist either. However, once again, the beauty of the art work and the 'blurb' on the back sucked me in.

In a vast steampunk megalopolis, a mysterious giant of a man leaves a bloody trail of corpses in his wake. What Edward Morniers, the dysfunctional yet dogged Police Investigator assigned to the case, will uncover is far bigger than anything he could have conceived...

The city is very much in the futuristic mechanical style that you'd find in Blade Runner or a dystopian nightmarish vision. The forest landscape, in contrast, is something out of a fantasy world, such as The Lord of the Rings. The story starts off as a journey of discovery. A gentle giant venturing into the city having witnessed a shooting star. It quickly shifts into a murder mystery when his above good Samaritan is found murdered. The style then takes on a Noir feel, with the much maligned detective being downtrodden at every turn.

However, that is just the beginning. The story is about so much more. There are waring twin gods, cultish devotees who blur the line between religion and obsession, good and evil, redemption, of a sort, and an ending that will leave you wanting to read it again. 4 1/2 stars.
Profile Image for Stephen Blake.
Author 12 books11 followers
April 19, 2020
A beautiful, grotesque book about the struggle between nature and industry/city. Is there anything original in this? In the story, probably not, but it is done very well and the images are striking. This is the tale of two Gods and the battle between them that has been raging for eons. The forest is beautifully rendered. The city is a steampunk/blade runner-esque metropolis. It's that combination that makes the images linger long after the book has been closed.
Profile Image for Shawn Ingle.
1,004 reviews8 followers
November 10, 2022
Hard to tell how much was lost in translation, this being originally written in French. Between that and the only written words being dialogue, it felt like something was missing at times. Both the story and the art are a wonderful cross between a dystopian steampunk, cyberpunk fantasy world. There's a lot going on here. I may have to read it again.
Profile Image for Joshua Sloan.
396 reviews3 followers
January 23, 2022
Great art (especially re: angles and depth), but the story and writing were a let-down.
Profile Image for Eastham Erik.
127 reviews5 followers
November 30, 2019
A beautiful world with grand scale of evil vs. good. A long time ago, two brothers created the world, each taking half. One focused on nature and the other the advancement of man. For centuries the technological worshipers have been waiting to free their god, but the side of nature has it's own herald.

Beautiful art and interesting characters make an enjoyable read. The ending however . . . not every story needs to end in a "?"
Profile Image for Rory.
89 reviews
May 18, 2018
A very cinematic and atmospheric graphic novel. Deserves another read at some point. Has a lot of interesting themes.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews

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