L'échange

Alpha #1

by Pascal Renard, Youri Jigounov (Illustrator)

Cómic de espionaje en la línea de la tradición europea.

Genres: Bande Dessinée, Comics, Graphic Novels, Fiction

48 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1996

Reviews

[George K. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Όμορφο κόμικ, με την ιστορία να θυμίζει αυτές τις Αμερικάνικες κατασκοπευτικές ταινίες δράσης της δεκαετίας του '80 που μια στο τόσο απολαμβάνω να βλέπω, ενώ το σχέδιο είναι πραγματικά εξαιρετικό και αυτό που ουσιαστικά κάνει την όλη διαφορά. Η ιστορία δεν ενθουσιάζει κιόλας, ούτε έχει κάτι το καινούργιο να πει, αλλά προσφέρει δράση και ένταση. Πάντως το τέλος αφήνει αρκετά ανοικτά μέτωπα, έτσι τον δεύτερο τόμο θα τον διαβάσω λίαν συντόμως.

[Mirnes Alispahić · Rating 4 out of 5]

Espionage. Cold War. Russian mafia. Art. Erotica. Hommage to The Day of the Black Sun. All of that mixed into this great series that very much resembles the works of Van Hamme. Lets see how it will go, but so far first two issues are great.

[Merve · Rating 4 out of 5]

Alpha'nın Vol1'ini bitirdim bu da 2 dergiye denk geldi ama oldukça kalındı ikisi toplam 95 sayfa falandı - yani diğer çizgi romanlara göre kalındı diyelim.
✍️
Çizgi romanın konusu şöyle; bit kadın var Assia kendisi Rus ama sanata ilgisi var Paris'e gidiyor ama farklı bir işi de var sanat galerisinde Julien Morgan adında bir ressamla tanışıyor kendi çapında resimler yapan bu ressamdan Assia hemen etkileniyor ve haftayı birlikte geçiriyorlar.
✍️
Ancak Assia'nın yaptığı iş farklı, o buraya Rusya için para aklamaya geliyor ve bu değiş tokuş esnasında işler karışıyor bildiğiniz baya bir aksiyon oluyor ve sonra Assia Rusya'ya geri dönüyor. Julien'de peşinden 🤔 Ama parayı isteyen gruplar, CIA da onların peşinde ✍️
✍️✍️✍️✍️✍️✍️✍️✍️✍️✍️✍️✍️✍️✍️✍️✍️
✈️✈️✈️✈️✈️✈️✈️✈️✈️✈️✈️✈️✈️✈️✈️✈️✈️
Ben sevdim aksiyonu bol ve oldukça güzel. Devamını da en kısa sürede okuyacağım. Sanki kendimi bir Tom Cruise filmi izlerken buldum gibi birşey. Ama gerçekten seveceğinizi düşünüyorum. Tavsiye ederim.
4,5/5

[Krishnakumar Mohanasundaram · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting premise for a series beginning..

Despite the fact that Alpha, the series lead, appearing as a mere side character in the album, the pages set up a path very well..

We follow Assiya, a top Russian general's young wife, who is sent on a mission to sell 8 billion Russian rubles to a German banker..

Unknown to her, we see a team trying to intercept this deal and steal the money ( who actually succeed in it) and a CIA agent whose task is to get well with Assiya and make sure he gets her concern to display his artwork at her studio in Moscow...

When the unnamed team attacks and steals the money Assiya escapes them with just a gun wound and ends up in Alpha's home.. She spends the night with him and leaves without his knowledge back to Russia..

The CIA director briefs Alpha the real reason about Assiya's visit and why he was tasked to get well with her...

Supposedly Russian govt. has began to sell rubles for less American dollars to big Mafias around the world and with the (probably fake) promise to let them invest widely back into Russia..

So Russia increases the dollar stock and at the same time starts a very good relationship with all the Mafias.. which isn't received well by the CIA... Also is the fact that when Mafias realize that the rubles they have won't be useful (upon Russia unfulfilling its promise) it is going to start out an all out Madness...

Alpha is tasked with going to Russia and get back with Assiya and find who or what is trying to do this big level money marketing and what is Assiya's role in it...

[Simon Chadwick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Comics can be trivial and frivolous (and that’s not always a bad thing), but they can also be thoughtful and intelligent and Alpha certainly falls into that second category.

Assia is a young gallery owner from Moscow visiting Paris to secure new pieces, although she also has deeper, darker reasons for travelling, meeting up with some shady individuals to discuss enormous deals involving Russian currency. It’s a very serious and dangerous situation, but her innocent cover of searching out Western artistic talent is allowing her to make many such trips. Unfortunately, the amount of money involved, and the criminal organisations she’s selling to, aren’t going to go unnoticed.

While in Paris she stumbles into a painter, Julian Morgan, who flashes his portfolio at her and charms his way into her daily routine for the days before her return to Moscow. Julian isn’t all that he seems, and is in fact a CIA operative tasked with getting close to Assia, although he’s been kept in the dark as to the full extent of the mission due to still being a relatively unknown quantity in the field. All this changes when Assia attempts to exchange billions of roubles at a luxury spa and the meeting is stormed by gunmen. Assia escapes by the skin of her teeth, but the certified cheques and their huge worth appear to be lost. The only person Assia feels she can turn to in Paris is Julian, placing her in perhaps the best position for her safe passage from the city.

The volume is actually a combination of the original first two books, so the second half moves the action to Moscow where we meet Assia’s older and very well-connected husband who is in the heart of the Russian establishment. We also learn of the Russian mafia’s involvement and the desperate measures being taken to retrieve the billions of roubles. Suspicions are rampant, accusations are flying, and bodies are piling up, and into this maelstrom strolls Julian, freshly briefed of the wider situation, to reacquaint himself with Assia and get some answers.

This is what you want from a good thriller. Well-paced, well-plotted and well-executed. It heads down a path that’s unusual enough to grip your attention and avoids treading on the overly-familiar aspects of the genre. Julian, so far, isn’t gung-ho or cocky, nor is he one of those strong, chisel-jawed action men. He seems almost ordinary, a little fresh-faced, and quite likeable. A very different character from Van Hamme’s XIII, which I think is quite deliberate, giving us a character with youth and inexperience but with a growing competence and what appears to be a fantastic memory. He’s intriguing enough that you’re interested to see how he’ll grow and cope with the situation.

Pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed Alpha and, like Cinebook’s The Scorpion, wish I’d picked it up sooner.

[Hillingdon Libraries]

Find this book at Hillingdon Libraries

[Dony Grayman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Edición española. Tomo 1.