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Ralph Azham #2: The Land of the Blue Demons
In this sprawling adventure by award-winning cartoonist Lewis Trondheim, filled with heavily-guarded castles, apocalyptic red skies, flying beasts, and deep mythos, our protagonist Ralph Azham discovers he has a long-lost sister, Captain Rose Azham. She had a vision that the two siblings will fight to the death sometime in the future. To interrupt the family reunion, a King possessed by the wicked sorcerer Malick declares a vendetta against Ralph, after Ralph’s uncanny power to conjure spirits. Now, guided (and sometimes dragged) by spirits, Ralph and his loyal page Yassou must flee the puppet king’s forces through treacherous mountain passes to hazardous high seas… Nowhere is safe for Ralph and his scrappy entourage. But how long can he run for? And what of the rumors Ralph has been spotted in cities causing more chaos and destruction? The fate of the world, or the end of the world, might depend on Ralph’s next step.
- GenresFantasy
152 pages, Hardcover
Published October 25, 2022
5 people want to read
About the author
Lewis Trondheim
525 books241 followersThe phenomenal Lewis Trondheim is never where you next expect him. As an artist and writer, Trondheim has earned an international following as one of the most inventive, versatile, and prolific graphic authors. From autobiography to adventure, from bestselling fantasy and children's books to visual essays, Trondheim's unique, seminal imagination consistently dazzles. His work has won numerous awards, including the Angoulême prize for best series with McConey and he also co-created the titanic fantasy epic Dungeon with Joann Sfar.
He is one of the founding members of the alternative publishing house L'Association, a proving ground for many of the greatest talents in European comics working today. He is also the editorial director of a new imprint called Shampooing, dedicated to comics for all ages.
Lewis lives in the South of France with his wife, Brigitte Findakly, and two children.
He is one of the founding members of the alternative publishing house L'Association, a proving ground for many of the greatest talents in European comics working today. He is also the editorial director of a new imprint called Shampooing, dedicated to comics for all ages.
Lewis lives in the South of France with his wife, Brigitte Findakly, and two children.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
November 2, 2022
Wonderfully translated from the original French by Joe Johnson, and with truly magnificent colors by Brigitte Findakly.
Now that Ralph has discovered the truth behind not only the identity of the ruler of Astolia but also the fate of the other children marked by their superpowers as Blueys, he's decided that the enemy of his enemy must be his friend. With this maxim in mind, he endeavors to travel to the far-off land ruled by Vom Syrus, the warlord who'd struck so much fear into his little village in the first book in this graphic novel series, and bid for an alliance.
His curmudgeonly father decides not to come with him, having secret plans of his own. So Ralph strikes out with his best friend, the religious young mage Yassou, hoping to come up with a plan as they travel to Vom Syrus' domain. In the port city where they're hoping to charter a ship, they encounter trouble, in the form of both an alluring cat burglar turned ally, as well as the young oracles who roam the streets, collecting tithes and giving pronouncements on the fate of penitents. One of these oracles almost immediately accuses Ralph of planning to rob the church, which is enough in this town to get him thrown into jail. But no prison can really hold Ralph when he sets his wily mind to escape it.
As Ralph gathers allies in his quest to dethrone the king, he falls out with old friends, commits (occasionally questionable) acts of derring-do, and uncovers even more shocking truths than he'd anticipated. This all comes to a head when Malik finally apprehends him, only to have both their lives threatened by an even more ancient evil. Will Ralph finally find himself in a situation he can no longer slide out from like the greased anthropomorphic duck he is?
New readers to the series might need some time to warm up to how cartoony the art is in this truly gritty tale of dark fantasy adventure. It's well worth it tho. The juxtaposition serves to make the comedy feel lighter somehow and the tragedy therefore darker. Mr Johnson's translation work betters what he did with the first volume, such that you'd be hard pressed to believe the text wasn't written in English to begin with. Lewis Trondheim's story is elegant, smart and surprisingly heartfelt, tho you definitely should not start here with the series. Read Volume 1 first: if you like the machinations of books like GRRM's A Song Of Ice And Fire, you will enjoy the twists and turns here as well.
This is not a kids' comic, despite the art, but any connoisseur of adult fantasy will find much to appreciate within these pages. I certainly did.
Ralph Azham Vol 2: The Land of the Blue Demons by Lewis Trondheim was published October 25 2022 by Papercutz and is available from all good booksellers, including Bookshop!
Now that Ralph has discovered the truth behind not only the identity of the ruler of Astolia but also the fate of the other children marked by their superpowers as Blueys, he's decided that the enemy of his enemy must be his friend. With this maxim in mind, he endeavors to travel to the far-off land ruled by Vom Syrus, the warlord who'd struck so much fear into his little village in the first book in this graphic novel series, and bid for an alliance.
His curmudgeonly father decides not to come with him, having secret plans of his own. So Ralph strikes out with his best friend, the religious young mage Yassou, hoping to come up with a plan as they travel to Vom Syrus' domain. In the port city where they're hoping to charter a ship, they encounter trouble, in the form of both an alluring cat burglar turned ally, as well as the young oracles who roam the streets, collecting tithes and giving pronouncements on the fate of penitents. One of these oracles almost immediately accuses Ralph of planning to rob the church, which is enough in this town to get him thrown into jail. But no prison can really hold Ralph when he sets his wily mind to escape it.
As Ralph gathers allies in his quest to dethrone the king, he falls out with old friends, commits (occasionally questionable) acts of derring-do, and uncovers even more shocking truths than he'd anticipated. This all comes to a head when Malik finally apprehends him, only to have both their lives threatened by an even more ancient evil. Will Ralph finally find himself in a situation he can no longer slide out from like the greased anthropomorphic duck he is?
New readers to the series might need some time to warm up to how cartoony the art is in this truly gritty tale of dark fantasy adventure. It's well worth it tho. The juxtaposition serves to make the comedy feel lighter somehow and the tragedy therefore darker. Mr Johnson's translation work betters what he did with the first volume, such that you'd be hard pressed to believe the text wasn't written in English to begin with. Lewis Trondheim's story is elegant, smart and surprisingly heartfelt, tho you definitely should not start here with the series. Read Volume 1 first: if you like the machinations of books like GRRM's A Song Of Ice And Fire, you will enjoy the twists and turns here as well.
This is not a kids' comic, despite the art, but any connoisseur of adult fantasy will find much to appreciate within these pages. I certainly did.
Ralph Azham Vol 2: The Land of the Blue Demons by Lewis Trondheim was published October 25 2022 by Papercutz and is available from all good booksellers, including Bookshop!
February 4, 2024
The roguish Ralph Azham's adventures continue in "The Land of the Blue Demons" where he sets off towards the far-off land ruled by the vicious warlord, Vom Syrus. The earlier portion of this volume follows Ralph's efforts to get to Vom Syrus' domain alongside his pal Yossou. Arriving at a port city and hoping to charter (or commandeer) a boat for their journey, Ralph's efforts to raise (or steal) money lands him in trouble with local law enforcement. He's placed in prison but manages to escape alongside a plucky cat burglar with whom he starts a romantic tryst. The second half of the volume follows Ralph's subsequent quest to overthrow a despotic king while he finds new ways to stretch his own moral codes.
The cartooning by Lewis Trondheim lends for a very juvenile design that often feels at odds with the more mature themes of the narrative, but the juxtaposition works surprisingly well. It's in Trondheim's eccentric cartooning that some truly great visual gags are laid in, with the highlights in this volume being whenever Ralph utilizes a magic bracelet that lends him the ability to launch forward or even upwards to fly. The comedic bits here are impeccable and adds a charming layer into a story that otherwise reads like a dark fantasy series. It's a bold way to craft adventure comics but Trondheim goes full throttle here and it pays off well. A stellar entry that I personally felt was a step up from the previous volume by a significant amount.
The cartooning by Lewis Trondheim lends for a very juvenile design that often feels at odds with the more mature themes of the narrative, but the juxtaposition works surprisingly well. It's in Trondheim's eccentric cartooning that some truly great visual gags are laid in, with the highlights in this volume being whenever Ralph utilizes a magic bracelet that lends him the ability to launch forward or even upwards to fly. The comedic bits here are impeccable and adds a charming layer into a story that otherwise reads like a dark fantasy series. It's a bold way to craft adventure comics but Trondheim goes full throttle here and it pays off well. A stellar entry that I personally felt was a step up from the previous volume by a significant amount.
July 8, 2023
6/10 stars
Mildly intriguing and quitely subversive, entertaining but building up quite slowly, funny and sometimes incisive but not overly original, Ralph Azham is a solid offering from the European comic market. It's more of an intellectual than emotional read - the characters are never in the centre so much as their roles and positions in the great game of power. The only character that shows character is Ralph himself - and maybe Yassou, a little. The rest play their roles, admirably, it must be said, but never exceeding the scripted boundaries of their limited - though brightly colored - usefulness. And while Trondheim offers some insights into the nature of power, injustice, prejudice and the enduring character of social institutions, these are rather tame and self-consciously, playfully, restricted.
That said, Ralph's story is quite entertaining, engaging, and good enough to follow to the end, but I do not expect to be bedazzled by sudden fireworks (except those announcing the arrival of a magician).
Mildly intriguing and quitely subversive, entertaining but building up quite slowly, funny and sometimes incisive but not overly original, Ralph Azham is a solid offering from the European comic market. It's more of an intellectual than emotional read - the characters are never in the centre so much as their roles and positions in the great game of power. The only character that shows character is Ralph himself - and maybe Yassou, a little. The rest play their roles, admirably, it must be said, but never exceeding the scripted boundaries of their limited - though brightly colored - usefulness. And while Trondheim offers some insights into the nature of power, injustice, prejudice and the enduring character of social institutions, these are rather tame and self-consciously, playfully, restricted.
That said, Ralph's story is quite entertaining, engaging, and good enough to follow to the end, but I do not expect to be bedazzled by sudden fireworks (except those announcing the arrival of a magician).
February 24, 2023
Same review for this 2nd volume as for volume 1:
Hard to pass a definite judgement - this isn't the full story yet.
It remains very promising: a creative story that keeps on doing unexpected things without feeling contrived. My hunch atm is that I'll give 5 stars when I complete the full series.
Let's hope the final 2 volumes of the English translation will be published sooner than later.
Hard to pass a definite judgement - this isn't the full story yet.
It remains very promising: a creative story that keeps on doing unexpected things without feeling contrived. My hunch atm is that I'll give 5 stars when I complete the full series.
Let's hope the final 2 volumes of the English translation will be published sooner than later.
July 7, 2022
Arc Copy...Epic in story telling style and...quite a serious + violent "silly animal" story.
November 18, 2023
SOOOO fire
February 2, 2024
Volume 2 gets off to a strong start with Chapter 4. Ralph comes into his own. He is finally getting respect, he gets a girlfriend, and he now has a mission. In chapter 5 Ralph confronts his current nemesis (one of the strengths of the series is that each antagonist is never black and white). The nature of this new nemesis is developed in chapter 6, although not resolved until volume 3, chapter 7. All in all, I appreciated how this volume complicated Ralph's mission.
This volume also had another instance of Trondheim subtly weaving in a story element. I am thinking about when Ralph gets his magical sword, I didn't realize he had taken a sword until he started using it and, as so often happens, had to go back through the book to find out how he picked it up.
On a side note, this is something I forgot to bring up in my review of volume 1. There is a modest amount of violence. A theme of the book is how Ralph becomes accepting of the idea that violence is in certain situations required, if only in self-defense. As Ralph accumulates power-bestowing magical items his capacity for violence increases. Ralph often takes an impious comical disregard towards these items. Appropriate in consideration of his distaste for having power. He is happiest when he flees the whole scene of power, whether by drinking (some power is diminished while drunk) or when just runs away from it all (something he does more and more frequently as the story progresses).
This volume also had another instance of Trondheim subtly weaving in a story element. I am thinking about when Ralph gets his magical sword, I didn't realize he had taken a sword until he started using it and, as so often happens, had to go back through the book to find out how he picked it up.
On a side note, this is something I forgot to bring up in my review of volume 1. There is a modest amount of violence. A theme of the book is how Ralph becomes accepting of the idea that violence is in certain situations required, if only in self-defense. As Ralph accumulates power-bestowing magical items his capacity for violence increases. Ralph often takes an impious comical disregard towards these items. Appropriate in consideration of his distaste for having power. He is happiest when he flees the whole scene of power, whether by drinking (some power is diminished while drunk) or when just runs away from it all (something he does more and more frequently as the story progresses).
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews