Jihad - Tome 1: La Horde

L'Empereur Océan #1

by Igor Baranko

Une saga qui mélange les genres, traversée par le sens du récit de Baranko. 3 VOLUMES PARUS - SÉRIE EN COURS. Tous les mille ans, l'Orient envahit l'Occident... Pour Ivan Apelsinov, auteur de science-fiction devenu dictateur de toutes les Russies, c'est une évidence : invoquer l'esprit de Gengis Khan et sa Horde d'Or lui permettra de créer un empire allant du Pacifique à l'Atlantique. Encore faut-il que les services spéciaux retrouvent le corps de la dernière incarnation de l'empereur Khan. Leur chemin va croiser celui du dernier Tchétchène. Seul survivant d'un holocauste, porté par sa quête mystique, il ne craint rien ni personne, et certainement pas les services spéciaux russes.

Genres: Comics, Science Fiction, Graphic Novels

46 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2003

About the author

Igor Baranko is a French, American and Ukrainian comics books writer.

Baranko's contribution to French-Belgian/French language comics legacy includes «L'Empereur-Ocean» (2003 - 2004), «Exterminateur 17: La Trilogie Ellis» (2003 - 2008,), «La Danse Du Temps» (2005 - 2006), «Maxym Osa» (2008 - 2009) and «Les Princesses Égyptiennes» (2010 - 2011).

Baranko's contribution to American/English language comics legacy includes «Pifitos: A Newly Found Unknown Poem of Homer» (2001) and «Skaggy the Lost» (2002 - 2003).

Baranko's contribution to Ukrainian language comics legacy includes «Повернення Мамая» (Povernennia Mamaya, 1993), «Святослав і вікінг» (Svyatoslav i vikinh, 1993), and «Мамай-змієборець. Кіква» (Mamay-zmiyeborets. Kikva, 1993)

Since 2013 Baranko lives and works in Asia, in Thailand working in collaboration with Russian Hindu thought leader Swami Avadhut (Georgi Aistov) and Ukrainian comics-writer Oleksiy Chebykin on a graphic novel series about Mahabharata called "Mahabharata Gods & Heroes". In 2021 Baranko and Chebykin plan on publishing the entire graphic novel "Mahabharata Gods & Heroes" in 3 volumes.

For Ukrainian-language profile see Ігор Баранько

Reviews

[Paul Spence · Rating 4 out of 5]

In the nearish distant future of this book, the former Soviet Union is in a state of collapse. Ivan Apelsinov, a mad, aging sci-fi writer, now runs Russia. A combination between L. Ron Hubbard and late-life Phillip K. Dick, Apelsinov has driven the empire into an era of drug-fueled mysticism with repercussions for the rest of eastern Europe. The ruin of Chechnya is overrun by UFOs, while elsewhere a pair of psychic police comb Kiev in search of the female life essence of Genghis Khan.

Originally published under in 2000 the title The Horde (the current, original title having been declared too controversial), Jihad is a remarkable, if remarkably strange, exploration of human struggles against mortality and the desire for heaven. Baranko develops the graphic novel through a rhizomic structure, the threads of which never fully cohere into a unified plot.

This is a bold narrative move on his part that risks losing his reader before the final payoff of the book. It largely works, helped by Baranko's richly colourful illustrative style. This makes his scenes of quiet meditation every bit as explosive and lush as his moments of gun play. For the patient reader, Jihad develops into a compelling and richly detailed alternate history of great depth.

[Javier Lanz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Aun cuando tiene elementos de extravagancia exagerada que, en algún momento, pueden distanciar al lector, he disfrutado de esta primera parte de la trama (más próxima, a mi juicio, a la historia-ficción que a la ciencia-ficción). Los europeos tendemos a considerar a Rusia un país esencialmente occidental, olvidando frecuentemente que su territorio se extiende fundamentalmente por Asia central. La conexión de la historia con Mongolia, con el chamanismo bön o el desarrollo de parte de la acción en la República de Tuvá son ilustrativos de este elemento asiático. La estructura narrativa (tres personajes sin relación aparente están destinados a converger en un punto de su búsqueda) genera una intriga interesante. Yo percibo un cierto aire a Jodorowsky, sobre todo en personajes como Iván Apelsinov o la monje tibetana de Kizil, aunque el misticismo no está en este caso tan imbricado en la urdimbre de la historia.

A mi juicio, el dibujo, que también es de Baranko, es feísta y no excesivamente detallado, pero sí resulta efectivo.

[moltodarth · Rating 2 out of 5]

Cómic europeo con un apartado gráfico bastante interesante, aunque la presentación de personajes y la trama me parecen muy confusas... espero q mejore en los 2 siguientes álbumes de la trilogía.

[Dkolacinski · Rating 4 out of 5]

In a near future with the Soviet Union in a state of collapse, mysticism, reincarnation and meditation bring the ghosts of the past into the future.

[Komuniststar · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kad san procita Hotprdu prvo mi je na pamet pa Bilal. Sličan crtež, priča na razmeđi mistike i naucne fantastike. Sve u svemu zadovoljan sam ovim stripom.

[tunc suerdas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jihad: A Political Fantasy

Lately I have been back into the comics again. I have been reading Jodorowsky for a while now and wanted a different path. Then I have stumbled upon “Jihad”. It was a new breath for me. Finished the series in a day. Great story.