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Okko #3-4

Okko: The Cycle of Earth

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It is the Winter of 1109 in the official calendar of the Pajan Empire. Okko and his faithful companions - the mysterious masked Noburo, Noshin the monk and young Tikku - arrive at the City of the Blasting Powder. While seeking a guide to help them cross the perilous chain of the seven monasteries, they meet a skillful Mow of the Wind. Okko and his companions seek the Forbidden Libraries of the Eighth Monastery on the Roof of the World, but the way is dangerous, and the ancient powers of the Earth demand a blood sacrifice when awoken.

106 pages, Hardcover

First published February 6, 2008

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About the author

Hub

62 books33 followers
Pen name of Humbert Chabuel.

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5 stars
149 (29%)
4 stars
218 (42%)
3 stars
119 (23%)
2 stars
21 (4%)
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0 (0%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 53 reviews
Profile Image for Jeff.
760 reviews33 followers
July 13, 2022
The second volume of the collected Okko is even better than the first, with a more engaging story based on a reclusive sect of necromantic monks. Hub decorates this creepy tale with all the trappings: forbidden libraries, female samurai, and combat bunraku (puppets). It's all a lot of goofy fun, but Hub is a genuinely talented illustrator, and his lush, colorful panels are adorned with plenty of action and beautiful landscapes in the style of medieval Japan. This is a great export from the European comics scene, and it's a treat to follow a series as competently executed as is Okko.
Profile Image for Andrew Hale.
1,069 reviews6 followers
May 21, 2026
"The raven represents man's basest instincts. Though rarely used, it can designate lunacy, unholiness, sometimes even heathen madness. It is thought a dire omen..."

"One day you too will learn to commune with eternity in but a few seconds."
- narrator

As the writer and artist, Hub has given a really interesting adventure series with Okko. Volume One, The Cycle of Water, deals with demonic shapeshifters from the sea, while Volume Two, The Cycle of Earth, deals with once-honorable necromancers desecrating that which should be left in the earth. I did have a hard time knowing which character was talking from the blurbs on occasion, and some of the more chaotic scenes were just that: chaotic. Even so, very entertaining and thoughtful content. I hate that I most likely will never get to own Volumes 3 and up (to 5 I think). Have you seen the prices? Sheesh!

In an unknown year, an aged Tikku makes a long journey with his apprentice for unknown reasons, narrating his adventure with Okko and crew in the year 1109. The commoners suffer the wars of the powerful empires, and the soldiers lay dead upon the battlefields where healers become more and more disenfranchised with every squirmish. Forgotten knowledge and hidden monasteries, noble actions sometimes become dark deeds when madness consumes the soul.

The Cycle of Water
The Cycle of Earth
The Cycle of Ice
The Cycle of Fire
The Cycle of Emptiness
Profile Image for Pavel Pravda.
619 reviews9 followers
April 6, 2021
Zpočátku jsem měl pocit, že Cyklus země bude horší než předchozí Cyklus vody. Po téměř dvacet stran hrdinové komiksu bez pořádné či pochopitelné motivace bloudili horami a já jsem už ani nedoufal, že mě to začne bavit. Ale začalo. Nakonec se to ukázalo být akčnější než předchozí Cyklus a rozjela se příjemně mystická řežba. Celá série má velmi specifickou atmosféru. To vyprávění je v něčem velmi zvláštní a já nedokážu přesně říci v čem. Možná je to v tom, že přestože si k hrdinům příběhu vytvoříte vztah, tak se o nich nic osobního nedozvíte. A nebo je to přesně naopak - přestože se o nich nic moc nedozvíte a neznáte jejich minulost, tak i přesto si k nim vytvoříte vztah. No je to zvláštní, ale bavil jsem se.
Profile Image for Alexandre.
42 reviews
March 22, 2026
Belle poursuite de l'aventure avec des intrigues plus poussées. Big up a Nuuk ❤️
Profile Image for Karissa.
4,371 reviews220 followers
July 2, 2015
This is the second book in the four book Okko graphic novel series. The illustration in this series has been top notch; this volumes continues some wonderful world-building and has a very well done plot.

This book follows Okko and his companions Noboru (crazy fighter in mask), Noshin (the sake loving monk) and Tikku (young boy from the first book) as they continue on their quest to hunt down the pirates/demons that took Tikku’s sister. In this book they arrive at the City of Blasting Powder and find they must navigate a series of seven dangerous monasteries. During their travels they find that the monastery they seek lies outside of the sevens monasteries and is a mysterious eighth monastery on the Roof of the World. At the eighth monastery they must find the Forbidden Library if they are to continue on in their quest.

My favorite part about this graphic novel was the amazing illustration and the excellent world building. The whole story takes place in the Pajan Empire which has a very Asian feel to it. The characters are all mysterious and interesting. The majority of the story is told from Tikku’s point of view (he narrates the story but from the future looking back into the past).

There are some crazy demons and the characters stumble upon a number of perils during their journey; so as you can imagine there is a lot of action in this story. We also meet a new female samurai and she was a great addition to the story.

I do have a couple of complaints. There are a lot of characters in here that look similar, so sometimes it is hard to keep track of who is who (you really really have to concentrate and pay attention). Additionally text and drawings are a bit small and hard to see/read. I have to read these books under really good bright light or I have trouble seeing detail in the drawings. I am reading this as a hardcover, so it should be full size.

This story ends at an excellent point and I am curious to see what the third book, The Cycle of Air, has in store for us.

Overall this was a very well done fantasy graphic novel. The illustrations are amazingly detailed and beautiful and I love the world created here. The characters are mysterious and engaging as well. The characters do look a bit the same and there are a lot of them, so sometimes the story is a bit hard to follow. I would recommend this series to fans of historical fantasy graphic novels. If you like Okko I also recommend Vinland Saga which is a historical manga that I love even more than the Okko series.
Profile Image for Arnaud.
493 reviews6 followers
July 28, 2023
Graphics as great as ever, and a twisted plot around the Mon of Crows
Profile Image for Greymalkin.
1,407 reviews
March 3, 2017
I had high hopes that once it got past the "establish the characters and world" clunkiness in the first book we'd get a bit more complexity or better pacing. But alas no. I kept waiting for there to be some sort of entertaining twist or something but no, it's just a slog to the end of a plot that you can see the answer and resolution to in the first few pages. Huh, there are 7 temples? What are the chances they are going to have to go visit every single one and yet not find what they seek until the last one gives them a clue? 100%, apparently.

The female characters were even more frustrating in this book, though at least there were some, and they got to speak and at one of them even got through the whole book without having to show her naked breasts but... eh. That's not exactly parity. The art continues to be pretty good but lacks dynamism, trying to make up for it with lots of swooshy lines and words not in speech bubbles, but it's almost impossible to follow the action panel to panel and it skips and jumps oddly in time and location. It would be fine if it's a stylistic thing (like trying to imitate woodblock prints) but it's not. I can see why some enjoy this, there are elements that are fine, but it's not for me.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Václav.
1,159 reviews43 followers
March 19, 2018
I felt in love with Okko lore and looked forward to second book. The art is rock steady, the same sharp perfectly drawn lines with spot on colouring with changing vividness from pastel-bright to pale colours (and I love how the undead and "evil monks" looks). The story is always excellent, but first half I had bid of a struggle with dialogues, long texts (not necessary bad) are stiff and not so easily digested as in first book. On top of that, the part with travelling over mountain monasteries has plenty of them. Even this was bit of a struggle, the book as whole is very nice, the story is beautiful with both heartbreaking and heart-warming end. The style of storytelling from young monk's point of view (in his elderly years now), adding nice closure over other characters and how their destiny was, is very comforting. This is beautiful.
Profile Image for Marco Silva.
Author 1 book11 followers
April 7, 2018
Once again a good story with good art is delivered. I recommend this book. It's a pity that there are not enough people reviewing this saga on their youtube channels. The fact that it is a french bande dessinée says a lot, unfortunately. Hope to see this adapted to an animated series one day. I still haven't understood what with the cocoons inside the battle bunrakus...
Profile Image for andrew y.
1,244 reviews13 followers
December 14, 2016
Forget Ninjai. I'd kickstart this r-rated animated epic so hard it'd make Double Fine Adventure look like an amateur project.
I'm not sure what that means either but this is excellent.
Profile Image for Matthew.
586 reviews9 followers
April 23, 2024
Another amazing adventure.

Fantastic art, backgrounds especially. But the whole thing has a charming, amiable style.

I think I prefer this volume, due to the snowbound mountains, the cliff side monasteries, the ancient libraries, the ghouls, the sorcerers, and the wood elementals.

We learn a little bit about Noshin’s alcoholic past, get one hint about Okko, and still know not a thing about Noburo.

The quest begins with a cryptic, dying message, and leads the heroes into the mountains in search of a secret order of monks who bear the sigil of a raven.

SPOILERs


Okko and friends visit each of the 7 monasteries in turn and then, with the help of a rat man, discover a hidden 8th monastery and from there track one of the evil monks to an abandoned mine — the “attic of corpses.” Ultimately they discover that the monks are necromancers; they plot to take over Pajan with an army of undead. The sight of these skeletal fiends in armor charging through snow is splendid. The concluding battle, which features a bright red “scarab” puppet armor, is resolved by the heroic sacrifice of the little rat man, who did more than anyone to achieve the goal, despite receiving considerable ill treatment.

/SPOILER

Like many BD, this is a story that succeeds on the strength of its art and concept designs. The plot moves quickly, always keeping things fresh, has a strong central mystery, and highlights terrifying enemies. All designed to facilitate the art.
Profile Image for Tony.
1,792 reviews100 followers
November 29, 2025
I absolutely loved the first book in this series, and eagerly snapped this one up. That one introduced the titular ronin, and his travelling companions: a consistently tipsy priest, a masked oversized warrior who seems to be able to regenerate, and a young novice priest whose sister was kidnapped and they are trying to find. The first book took place largely on and around water, and here the feudal Japan-inspired setting shifts to mountains.

Seeking information about the disappearance of bodies from battlefields, they arrive at a mining city and encounter some deadly basket-masked sorcerer-monks. From there, the story takes them on a trek through the mountains to visit seven different monasteries. Along the way, they pick up new allies in the form of a one-armed lady samurai and her talking rat-companion, and hire a mercenary to guide them. Battles with the undead ensue, as they play a game of cat and mouse with more basket-masked sorcerers, only to eventually arrive at a secret eighth monastery/archive.

The story mixes action, magic, and sneaking around perfectly, reminding me of the best kind of D&D adventures. There is some word-dense backstory crammed into the final third or so of the book, but generally it moves along nicely. Like most translations of European BD, this combines two shorter books to provide the complete story. But what makes the series special is the artwork -- absolutely gorgeous in creating a sense of place, with incredible attention to detail in each panel. Where most books treat backgrounds as empty spaces that the reader's eyes will gloss over, this has stunning amounts of interest, with servants, decor, and texture lurking at every edge. Love this series!
Profile Image for Mayank Agarwal.
872 reviews41 followers
December 24, 2017
This can be read as a standalone without any problem but it’s better to read Volume 1 first. For those not familiar with the setting the story is based on a medieval-themed Japanese style kingdom only it’s full of mystic arts, magic and puppet controlled robots.

This volume is better than the first one, we get to discover more of the interesting world. New characters have joined our adventure seeking group, while we still have not yet discovered the past of our core group. I for one would like to know more about them, who and what they are, a little dig into their past would be welcomed. This story has more humor and intrigue as compared to previous one. Loved the ending, it had a nice clever touch to it.

The best part of the Graphic Novel is still the art, each of the page with its 5-7 panels deserve a page by itself, they are that detailed and well-drawn. The art is refreshing as it’s very different from the earlier volume which was based on an island, sea-based adventure; this time around we are in snowy mountains. Looking forward to what is stored in the next volume.
Profile Image for Salamah.
650 reviews3 followers
January 2, 2020
Very good graphic novel story. It is full of adventure, fighting and strange monsters. Noburo is my favorite character as he is funny as heck! The problem is that I read book 2 and did not realize there was a book 1. The other problem is that I cannot find book 3 anywhere!!! I am still going to read book 1 though and then write a proper review for book 1 and 2.
Profile Image for Mee Too.
1,343 reviews6 followers
June 3, 2025
Is this the same Hub that wrote ‘Ducks backyard’ ? It was a children's book and the writing was incredibly better. The story telling is just not working well and the fight scenes are horrendous. But hey, art is still beautifully done. Also i don’t comprehend how the elements are actually integrated into the story enough to be in the titles of each book.

3.2✨
Profile Image for Nicholas Siebers.
334 reviews2 followers
May 21, 2018
I liked this one more than the first one, although it still feels rushed at times, with important doings happening in panels that are too small to make the story clear. I did enjoy it, and will keep going with the series.
Profile Image for Rafaela Oliveira.
1,061 reviews8 followers
June 10, 2020
Magnifique l'histoire du petit rat, j'ai été touchée. Normalement, je n'aime pas les rats, mais la c'était pas possible de ne pas l'apprécier. Noburo qui survit a la mort, m'a trop impressionnée aussi, j'aimerais bien en savoir plus sur son histoire.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Kate Dostálová.
302 reviews2 followers
November 30, 2020
Okko, Noburo, Nošin a Tikku se vydávají do sedmi klášterů, aby našli tajemné mnichy, kteří mají ve znaku havrana. Žádný takový řád by však neměl existovat. Najmou si průvodce po horách a vydají se na cestu. V horách se začnou dít zvláštní věci a dozví se i pár podivných legend.
Profile Image for Ira Livingston.
505 reviews8 followers
July 25, 2017
Hub continues his story of the world of Feudal Pajan, still engrossing but not as good as the first volume.
Profile Image for Pogue.
419 reviews8 followers
April 28, 2018
I am going to have to look for the other books. I liked the myth of this story.
Profile Image for Johnny Mattei.
10 reviews
July 14, 2018
AMAZING!

I can’t stop seem to put this book down, it’s so good and beautifully illustrated. I can’t wait to finish the series.
Profile Image for Jorge Schumacher.
Author 1 book37 followers
May 29, 2020
Graphic Novel de fantasia ambientada no Japão feudal, com arte muito boa e história bem contada.
Profile Image for Adam Šilhan.
686 reviews8 followers
February 26, 2021
Přijde mi hrozně samoúčelný styl vyprávění, kde moudrý stařec celé album vzpomíná na příběh. Zvlášť, když tam není nějaká zřejmá paralela s dobou, ve které vzpomíná.

Jinak je příběh hezky čtivý.
74 reviews
October 30, 2025
Scenariusz: 3/5
Rysunki: 4/5
Ocena: 3.5/5
Momentami za dużo tekstu w pojawiających się wspomnieniach.
Profile Image for Stephanie.
1,159 reviews48 followers
June 25, 2016
(l’analyse française au-dessous)
Okko, Noburo, Tikku and Noshin, in search of Little Carp, find themselves at the city of Bakuyaku where the last festival before winter is in full swing. While there, they seek out a guide to take them over the mountains towards the north of the country – until a man comes desperately to Okko with a tale of mysterious people with the mark of the crow. With his dying breath, he asks Okko to warn his lord Setzuka Bashimon…

I found the initial journey from one monastery to another somewhat tedious, but I also know that this is a normal and necessary trope in the great histories and fables like Okko. But, with these little journeys before the expanded group arrives at the mountain Roof of the World, we meet the incredibly strong women Cutting-the-Wind and Setsuka Bashimon – two singular, strong, and – more surprising in this society – autonomous women. When the expanded group comes to the Roof of the World, the story became much more interesting, and I had a hard time putting it down.

The adepts of the sect wearing the emblem of the crow are an evil enemy but at the same time, interesting. Let’s give a warm welcome to zombies in this book! What will it take to destroy such an enemy, who has this power over death? What will be the sacrifice in order to win?

I also like that we read this history from the adult eyes of Tikku, with his reflections at thoughts. What’s more, the art is very detailed and beautiful.

J’ai trouvé le voyage initial d’un monastère à un autre un peu ennuyeux, mais je connais aussi que ceci est un trope quotidien et nécessaire dans les grands histoires et fables comme Okko. Mais, avec ces petits voyages avant que la groupe agrandie arrivent sur le montagne Toit du Monde, on rencontre les incroyablement fortes mesdames Fauche-le-Vent et Setzuka Bashimon – deux femmes singulières, formidables, et -- plus surprenantes dans cette société -- autonomes. Quand la groupe agrandie s’approche au Toit du Monde, l’histoire est devenu beaucoup plus intéressant, et j’ai eu du mal à m’arrêter à lire.

Les adeptes du secte portant l’emblème du corbeau sont un ennemi mauvais mais au même temps, intéressant. Bienvenu au mort-vivant dans ce tome ! Qu’est-ce qui est nécessaire pour détruire un tel ennemi, qui a ce pouvoir sur la morte ? Quel en sera le sacrifice pour gagner ?

J’aime aussi qu’on lise cette histoire des yeux du Tikku comme adulte, avec ses réflexions et pensées. En plus, l’art est très détaillé et beau.
Profile Image for Paula ϟ.
284 reviews23 followers
May 13, 2014
This volume is the next story arc, The Cycle of Earth, for our ronin, Okko, and his gang of adventurers. It takes place over a harsh winter of Panjan. The artwork is beautiful once again, just like the first volume. I loved the rough-around-the-edges Skyrim feel this story presents. Okko and his companions travel through great heights past temples, ruins, and abandoned mines to track down the clues that will enlighten them on the path to their quest. In this story, the gang is investigating a secret sect of monks who bear the sign of the raven. There is mystery, sorcery, adventure, and a looming peril. I loved the pacing of the plot and it was easy to follow along with. Noshin, the monk, is absolutely hilarious. So far, this is a really unique series and I can't wait to read the next volume.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 53 reviews