Dans ce 3e tome de Namibia, la série réalisée par Leo, Rodolphe et Marchal, Miss Austin sort du coma après le grave « accident » de voiture dont elle a été victime et lors duquel le major a perdu la vie... Ce 3e épisode de Namibia nous replonge en Namibie à la fin des années 1940. On y retrouve Katy Austin qui, depuis son accident, a perdu la mémoire des événements récents. Elle n'est donc pas en mesure de raconter ce qu'elle a vu lors de sa mission, notamment la fameuse base souterraine. Sujette à des cauchemars, elle revit pourtant certaines scènes effrayantes qui, progressivement, lui permettent de retrouver le fil des événements. Au même moment, un mystérieux prophète venu des États-Unis et soi-disant capable d'accomplir des miracles fait de plus en plus parler de lui. Le MI5 est d'autant plus inquiet de cette popularité que ce prophète semble avoir un lien avec les événements de Namibie... Namibia est la deuxième saison de Kenya, une bande dessinée d'aventures fantastiques.
"...Brownies, biscuits and maybe some sandwiches?"
New twists and turns abound in Rudolphe's Namibia, Episode #3, Kathy Austin is still trying to work out the interwoven mysteries of the dead appearing near their graves and monstrous insects on the loose. Not everyone wants this mystery solved and, as in previous episodes of this graphic novel, she is still running for her life. I don't know. I'm not sure how seriously I can take this (and I'm sure it's not meant to be taken seriously), but it's been entertaining. 3.25 stars
This volume introduces religion into the strange mix of sci-fi elements that make up this story. The misogynist and racist character that was present in the first two volumes is absent from this volume, so I enjoyed reading it more.
Kathy Austin is in a coma in a Numibian hospital while in America a disabled preacher of a small Chicago church is gently manipulated to capitalise on his particular brand of faith. The figure doing the manipulating, however, is unlikely to be of a religious persuasion. In Britain an agent is dispatched to repatriate Kathy, but is intercepted, and replaced, in Cairo, while back at the hospital a smiling benefactor appears to miraculously and clandestinely heal Kathy, bringing her out of her coma and obliterating her injuries.
What was once a stumbling voyage of strange discoveries and weird happenstance is now a game of espionage and bluff, with various powers attempting to control, throw off or eliminate others. The wider implications are not obvious as it’s not clear who all the players are, but, with help, Kathy continues to make in-roads into the mystery as events become increasingly surreal.
In this book the tension and mystery is ramped up, not with more odd or extinct creatures, but with cloak and dagger activities and potentially misplaced religious fervour. Kathy remains a tenacious and unflappable central character, determined to get to the bottom of the enigma, although now she may be more deeply involved than she realises.
The skilful blending of genres here are delivering something both captivating and unique. There’s a suggestion as to where it might be heading, but whether or not we’re being wrong-footed for narrative purposes remains to be seen. I for one would love to see a Netflix adaptation of this.
See volume one for comments. A further layer of mystery is added, but it’s not enough to make me read on as the next instalments are not on Kindle Unlimited.
Where in the beginning the mysteries presented were still somewhat interesting and got me curious about what may be going on, now with the introduction of aliens into the picture they've lost me.
Picking up where Episode 2, while also introducing a new important component – the religious group the Sons of Ezekiel – Episode 3 takes the narrative of Namibia further into the realms of the supernatural.
It will be interesting to see where the series goes from here.