Gail

Lone Sloane #4

by Philippe Druillet

Lone Sloane, tome 3 : Gail.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Science Fiction, Fantasy, Fiction, Bande Dessinée, Art

Hardcover

First published May 1, 1978

About the author

see https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philipp...

Reviews

[Kamakana · Rating 5 out of 5]

if you like this review, i now have website: www.michaelkamakana.com

211019: whoa. once again it is the art. story sets up scenes, maybe leads readers, but it is best ‘looked at’ rather than ‘read’. format great, huge splash, tilts, style. i really like several double-page splash that are definitely more images than stories. i think you want to look at this when you have no narrative anxiety, no character rounding, for both plot and lone himself are archetypes, set in the era of 40 years past... before my time but timeless...

[B.J. Swann · Rating 5 out of 5]

Some of Druillet's greatest work. If you can't dig this art, you probably don't deserve to have eyeballs.

[Paul Black · Rating 2 out of 5]

I remembered the fabulous pictures from my college years four decades ago. Now as I read it, I find most of the pictures incoherent and bursting with polychromatic static. There's lots of minute ink blobs (details, in some sense of the word), but it was hard to tell where, say a spaceship ended and the background started. Of course, that melding may be a deliberate feature, like the organic ship in the Alien movie franchise. But I don't care to spend five minutes on each frame figuring out what's what. The information content is one or two basic items per frame drowning in masses of haphazard shapes, lines, and patches of color.

Since there was little plot or writing, it felt sparse and disappointing. I disliked the occasional swearing and nudity, too.

Maybe if I took time to explore and drink in the richness of each frame . . . Maybe if I had learned to be excited by mere appearance of Sloane . . . Maybe . . .

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story is not much: Lone Sloane gets captured and sent to the worst prison colony in the universe. Of course, his erstwhile allies the Space Gods intervene and Sloane instigates a revolt, which eventually pits the prison warden against the Imperator Shaan, and rips apart the oppresive galactic government. Pretty predictable stuff. But of course, the art is where Druillet truly excels. His intricate two-page splashes of bizarre, baroque spaceships and planets never fail to amaze me. I read the dialogue and narration in a few seconds, but then I sit awhile and just soak up the art.

[drown_like_its_1999 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sloane infiltrates and overthrows a penal colony at the center of a conflict between two galactic powers, while a shadowy underground force manipulates events behind the scenes.

What an absolutely gorgeous mess of a book this is. Continues the visual tour de force that has been Lone Sloan this far with another entry of spectacularly detailed compositions, playful layouts, and jaw dropping spreads. This book adds to that formula some really distinct spotty coloration, almost like spray or aged film but neon in palette. There's also some integration of photography here, which was honestly more silly than anything (but still fun).

While the plot is rather broad and trite, it could have been a serviceable vehicle for the incredible art if it wasn't also so clumsily told and opaque. Deus Ex Machinas abound (Sloane summons demons out of nowhere), technobabble ridden prose aplenty, and run-on sentences fill nearly every text bubble. Sadly, this does drag the experience... at least until you turn the page and say "well would you look at that!"

[Somnium · Rating 5 out of 5]

Naš je usud da udaramo na strah koji nas razara. Moj duh ga se gadi, ali moje meso me tera njemu... Ja sam zver!

Ne umem najbolje dočarati, ali ovaj deo mi je najbolje legao iako je dosta haotičan i s naprasnim krajem. Prvi put sam poželela da je Sloun duži. Kao da osetih i neki krik Noći u njemu ("ponovo vidim! pogledaj, doktore!"). Moglo se ovde dodati strana, pojasniti i razraditi više, bilo je prostora no, to nije urađeno. Nekako mi ceo ovaj deo odiše i haosom i tragedijom. I razumem ga i ne razumem.

Arhitektura u pojedinim Drijeovim svetovima/planetama (naročito ovde) mi je totalno organska, kao da diše, da se transformiše, metastazira, ne režira, ali ima ulogu i odrađuje posao. Ono što mi je opet upalo u oči jesu sitne nepravilnosti i nedoslednosti koje narušavaju osnu simetriju pojedinih struktura. Verujem da je namerno, bilo bi to previše slučajnosti.

Na nekoj od stranica nam je otkriveno da je sve ovo nekome borba za goli život, nekome za smisao (Smrt nije suštinsko pitanje! Za žive jeste!), nekome borba za vlast/prevlast, a nekome ništa drugo do igra sama. I u toj igri Sloun je opet pion nekih velikih i moćnih entiteta (možda božanstava?) u njihovoj dokolici. Slounov komentar "vezali su me kao roba, svinje!" me tako podsetio na jednu scenu iz Magbeta:
Za direk su me svezali; pobeći
Ne mogu nikud, već, k'o medved svezan,
Moram da bijem boj.

Priča oko ova dva entiteta mi nije baš skroz jasna. Na početku im je sve igra, a onda u jednom trenutku vape za "suncem" - Ne možemo večito živeti u senci. I mi želimo sunce koje obasjava vaša lica! Tražimo li previše, pseto?! Ti si proklet poput nas, Sloune! Smrt je neophodna! Verujem da se donekle i misli doslovno na neko sunce, ali da to ipak ima neko drugo značenje. Možda i njima treba nekog smisla koji su u toj večnosti i hladnoći izgubili, možda su željni malo toplote i ljubavi? Sloun u jednom momentu kaže da su ipak pobedivi jer zapravo imaju srce, pa mi deluje da ih moć i besmrtnost još uvek nisu lišile baš svega. A da li su i koliko našeg junaka?!

Dok kucam ovo, nešto razmišljam koji je to put prevalio Sloun i da li sada zaista nalikuje ovim hladnim i bezdušnim entitetima. Ako se prisetimo:
- prvog albuma, Sloun je u njemu jedan običan naivan lik,
- u drugom shvata da je čovek koji je otet i koji svojom sudbinom više ne upravlja, već je oruđe drugih koliko god se trudio da to ne bude,
- u trećem nam saopštava da se ne boji smrti, da ga ubijanje više ne potresa, ali da mu prolivanje krvi za veselje budala nije zabavno i onda na kraju trećeg dela odgovara Jerlu da nije bitno više ko će prevladati, jer je u pitanju samo farsa od revolucije na veštačkom i trulom svetu gde svako želi samo da se domogne "većeg komada buđavog sira, dok imperatorova moć nije čak ni uzdrmana".
- na kraju četvrtog dela vidimo Slouna koji posmatra onu krvavu arenu na Deliriusu, onaj pokolj i krvoproliće kom je i sam doprineo i kaže kako neće učiniti ništa, već će ih sve prepustiti njihovom ratu, a on će samo gledati taj poslednji spektakl.

Ne mogu reći da je počeo da uživa u nasilju i haosu koji i sam seje, pre da je na isti oguglao, postao indiferentan, jednostavno mu se jebe ko će u tom procesu biti osakaćen ili zanavek izgubljen. On zapravo nalikuje svojim tvorcima, ali ga ne mogu osuditi. On je njihov produkt koji se oteo kontroli, koji ih ne poštuje i ne sluša, već im uzvraća istom silom, sirovom i divljom energijom bića osuđenog da luta između dva sveta i da nijednom više ne pripada.

Sloun je zapravo izuzetno tragičan i moćan lik koji pomalo nalikuje i svom autoru. Međutim, dok iz Drijea isijavaju i bljuju nemoć, jed, bes i vrisak, Sloun postaje sve ravnodušnije, stoga opasnije i jezivije biće koje u miru i tišini bezizražajno posmatra kako svetovi gore (i to vrlo često uz njegov doprinos).

I za kraj ovog dela ostavila bih dva citata:
Dosta zajedljivih i praznih reči! Sve sami lakrdijaši!
Sada je na drugima da žive. A ja, potražiću Jerla, pa ću nastaviti putovanje preko univerzuma, pronaći ono što sam izgubio, negde, opijeni, završićemo živote... opijeni i prokleti.

[Rick Ray · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Gail" marks an increase in the sophistication of the storytelling, but with this entry comes a lot more unnecessary convolution. Here we find Lone Sloane taken to the penal colony of Saint Marie of Angels, which serves as the site where warlords and merchants hire slaves to make up their armed forces. The most brutal purveyor in the slaves of Saint Marie of Angels is the tyrant of the planet Gail, Iriam Merennen. Iriam has a whole mythos to him as described in the opening text crawl of this album, but very little of it ultimately matters to the story at hand. Iriam has cultivated a vast empire for himself but a few opposing planets and systems remain in his way of total conquest. One of these opponents is the Imperator Shaan, a villain to Lone Sloane in the previous couple adventures. Thus, Lone Sloane finds himself in the middle of a conflict between two brutal imperialistic dictators.

Like I said, the story is pretty complicated with multiple factions at play and only a brief page count to make it all make sense. Of course the main draw is Druillet's artwork which brings the ambitious scale to life, but I do think there are periods where too much being packed in can lead to some diminishing results. "Gail" gets close to being unreadable, but it still packs a punch at times. I enjoyed "6 Voyages" and "Delirius" a fair bit more, but "Gail" is still mostly a good time.

[Otto Hahaa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kuvat on viisi tähteä, tarina ei. Tämän kaltaisten juttujen takia vuosia sitten Euroopassa keksittiin ligne claire, kuten musiikissa piti progen jälkeen tulla punk. Mutta siitä joskus toiste jossain muualla lisää.

Tämä taitaa olla eka lukemani kokonainen Druilletin tekemä albumi. Kauheasti tapahtuu, mutta onko missään mitään järkeä? Ehkä on, mutta en ole lukenut edellisiä osia. Ehkä ei. Ehkäpä keskityn kuviin. Aion kyllä lukea muutkin Lone Sloane -tarinat, jos niihin törmään.

[LuckyVV · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lone Sloane se retrouve sur la planète Gail, au milieu d'esclaves lobotomisés et marchandés. Pas le meilleur de la série au niveau des illustrations, mais un beau volume tout de même en compagnie du chien aux yeux rouges. Et toujours de superbes couleurs !

[Christopher · Rating 5 out of 5]

Everything I like about Druillet. Big, bombastic sets and scenery. As always, there's not much story to it. The protagonist is characteristically over the top, masculine, violent ruffian fighting his way through the story. The art and design are always extraordinary.

[Zach · Rating 3 out of 5]

Okay, so the art in Gail is 5 stars, it is still the powerful, powerful Druillet standard. But I don't know if I was daydreaming or what; I could not make heads or tails of the story. The story is totally secondary in these Druillet works, but still. . . . huh?

[Oliver Bateman · Rating 5 out of 5]

A thinly plotted, sparsely worded, and thoroughly hallucinatory sorta-conclusion to whatever Druillet has been doing with the character of Lone Sloane. This one has some phenomenal layouts, even if Delirius has more going on in terms of story

[Erik · Rating 3 out of 5]

Decent story but the art and design are more incredible with each volume.

[Victor · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 1/2 stars.

[Scotty Putty · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful art
So imaginative. Not quite sure what's going on lol. Very short

[Brian Ferguson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great art, but completely lost on the story.

[Luke Stevens · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nother Druillet banger :)

[StrictlySequential · Rating 4 out of 5]

242×317 ¦ A.I. 06/2000 ¦ D.L. 07/2000 ¦ rear:₁-chaos ¦ 89F

Visual: *****

Narrative: ****

[Marcas de B. · Rating 5 out of 5]

9/10—Another incredible work from Druillet. Once again, the story is good, but not 9/10-worthy; the art more than makes up for the discrepancy. Gail is a joy to look at, and you could be satisfied with just looking at each page and never having read a line of dialogue. The visual worldbuilding of Druillet is power enough by itself.

[zoagli · Rating 1 out of 5]

I’d like to write that without Lob (writer of “Délirius”), Druillet is all style and no substance, but it’s worse than that. In “Gail”, the images are meaningless. They feel hurried, unfinished, plagiarized even. What a waste.

[Bob Fish · Rating 4 out of 5]

Talked about this one here :
https://youtu.be/P_FYeWoSzqY
:)