Comic Artists and their Graphic Novels No.1:

WAKE

Country of Origin: France

The Master(s): Jean-David Morvan (story) & Philippe Buchet (art)

Original Title: Sillage

Synopsis:

Messrs Morvan and Buchet mix Bande dessinée, the Space Opera genre and a bit of Lara Croft to give birth to Navis: a sensitive, ill-tempered and sexy endling, i.e. the last surviving individual of an apparently extinct species: Humans!

It all began when an alien agent of WAKE (more about WAKE further on) lands on an Earth-like planet with the shady purpose of exploiting rather than exploring it, he is received by an (un)welcoming party: A topless, savage teenage girl called Navis and her pet tiger, or at least this planet’s version of a tiger. She lives in the wilderness, shelters in the ruins of an airship, considers the use of electric switches a great mystery, uses gears as slingshot projectiles and shouts “Poukram!” at the mishaps that befall her in the beautiful frames of Mr. Buchet.

What makes Navis interesting and challenging to the technologically superior agent (and all her future opponents for that matter), is the fact that her species isn’t listed in the databases of WAKE (just a little more patience) and her inability to emit or receive telepathic information, making her totally unpredictable.

But enough insight into the first issue. I’ll fast forward to the moment when, after much difficulty, our heroine is abducted from her home planet and is transported to the armada of spaceships that is WAKE (yes it’s time).

Practically, WAKE is a fleet (hence the name) of supernumery, varying spaceships  that orbit a black hole and which house and employ all sorts of extra-terrestrial forms of life, androids, A.I and a helluva lot of terabytes of data.

Romantically, WAKE can be viewed as a union of countless civilizations, on a mission to discover, explore preserve and protect every form of life and culture in the Universe.

But in reality, WAKE constitutes an intergalactic alliance of super developed species with the main objective of its own economic, political, military, scientific and cultural evolution (in that order). It’s governed by a committee consisting of representatives and headed by the Magister.

The most significant characteristic that every alien species has in common and developed to a certain degree is the ability of transmission, reception and detection of telepathic information.

Regarding sensitive diplomatic missions, WAKE has at its disposal a group of accordingly trained agents, which will sooner rather than later encompass the talents of the telepathically silent and therefore irreplaceable Navis.

Issue by issue, our heroine faces different, deadly and intelligent opponents, unravels great mysteries that envelop the world of WAKE, searches for her own peculiar origins and finds herself at odds with the nature of her missions, and the morality of the WAKE officials that assign them.

And so the adventure continues…

Pensées personnelles:

This graphic-novel loving blogger’s personal view is that WAKE seems to be (either deliberately or by coincidence) a space version of the European Union. There is obviously no direct reference but considering the nationality of the creators, one can’t help but wonder at the many similarities including but not limited to the vague pursuit of common interests and protection of the member countries in the EU and the member aliens in WAKE. The realistic and caustic way in which the code of ethics, actions and laws of this “Galactic Union” are presented is especially interesting.

The Characters:

        

Navis: The protagonist. ‘Nuff said.

     

   

Bobo: A dear friend to Navis. He belongs to the race of Migrolems, an almost non sentient species designed by the science staff of WAKE  with the sole purpose of labour. Bobo was the only one of his kind    that was able to develop independent thought thanks to Navis, and  since became her irreplaceable friend, colleague and advisor.

Snivel: A likeable robot that undertakes the duties of a household assistant for our heroine as well as those of a constant companion on her missions. On more than enough occasions Snivel’s fussiness helped Navis in tough situations. On the other hand, the occasions on which this fussiness was the cause of all the trouble are no less.

      The Magister: The head of the governing committee of WAKE and chief of the diplomatic missions.

Rib’wund: A general in the military corps of WAKE. He is Navis’ superior and friend.

Juaiz:A fellow colleague of Navis, a very capable and competent diplomatic agent in WAKE's service.

Enshu Atsukau: An consul with great political influence extending beyond WAKE that acts independently from the committee. Known to be a very gifted telepath with a shady reputation due mostly to his leisure activities. He is infatuated with Navis, and will go to extreme lengths to satisfy his desire.

9Pack:

• The artwork: As always in the franco-belgian fashion, well drawn, and extremely detailed with smooth edges and impressive spreads.
• The colours: Use of many shades, selectively. When appropriate, Mr. Morvan displays use of great colour diversity and when not, use of less bright palettes, as befit a modern metropolis.
• Characters with a certain ambiguity to them.
• The concept: An interesting sci-fi tale of the 9^th artform.
• The general plotline.

Beerbelly:

• Unfortunately not all issues are blessed by an airtight story or engaging new characters or thrilling plot twists. To (mis)quote U2: “Some issues are better than others”.
• Non-linear narration for the majority of the volumes.

Issues Published:

• 1: Fire and Ash (2000) ISBN 1-56163-267-8

• 2: Private Collection (2001) ISBN 1-56163-282-1

• 3: Gearing Up (2002) ISBN 1-56163-315-1

• 4: The sign of the demons (2003) ISBN 1-56163-341-0

• 5: (Alien Characters) (2003) ISBN 1-56163-341-0

• HS: Le collectionneur (2002) ISBN 2-84055-946-3

• 6: Artifice (2003) ISBN 1-56163-420-4

• 7: Maximum (In)Security (2004) ISBN 1-56163-420-4

• 8: Human Nature (2005) ISBN 2-84789-905-7

• 1+2+3+4 Premières Armes (2006) ISBN 2-7560-0451-0

• 9: Infiltration (2006) ISBN 2-7560-0303-4

• 10: Retour de Flammes (2007) ISBN 978-2-7560-0577-5

• 11: Monde Flottant (2008) ISBN 978-2-7560-1184-4

• 12: Zone Franche (2008) ISBN 978-2-7560-1592-7

• 13: Dérapage Contrôlé (2010) ISBN 978-2-7560-1997-0

• 14: Liquidation Totale (2011) ISBN 978-2-7560-2433-2

• 15. Chasse gardée (2012) ISBN 978-2-7560-2434-9

• 16. Liés par le sang (9/2013)ISBN 978-2-7560-3262-7
• 17. Grands froids (9/2014) ("Colder")

Available online: Hint-hint, nudge-nudge.

About the creators :

Philippe Buchet was born on May 7, 1962 in Juniville, Ardennes, France. He left school early and began his carreer working as a freelance illustrator in Paris and Reims, where he met Jean-David Morvan  and collaborated with him to produce his first B.D “Nomade” followed by the very popular and acclaimed “Sillage” (WAKE). His work on WAKE earned him multiple awards including:

·         1998: Best Colourist Award at the Solliès-Ville festival

·         2006: Youth Award (9-12 yrs)  for the 8^th issue of WAKE (with Jean- David Morvan) at the Angoulême festival

·         2008: The Essentiel Jeunesse award for the 10^th issue of WAKE at the Angoulême festival

Jean-David Morvan was born on November 28, 1969 in Reims, Marne, France. He studied arts at the Institut Saint-Luc in Brussels. He started reading B.D at the age of eleven, and published his first drawing in the reader’s letters section of the “Gomme!” magazine. While aspiring to become a B.D artist he soon realized that his gift lied with narration, and has since established his profession as a comics writer.

His main series include the very popular “Spirou et Fantasio”, which went on to be a successful animated cartoon series, “Sir Pyle” and “Merlin” all being collaborations with José Luis Munuera and "Sillage" (WAKE) with Philippe Buchet.

Awards

·         2002: Nominated for the Youth Award (9-12 years) at the Angoulême International Comics Festival, France

·         2004: Nominated for the Youth Award (9–12 years) at the Angoulême International Comics Festival

·         2006: Youth Award (9–12 years) at the Angoulême International Comics Festival

           Νominated for Best Youth Comic at the Prix Saint-Michel, Brussels, Belgium

·         2007: Best Youth Comic at the Prix Saint-Michel[1]

·         2008: Nominated for Best Story at the Prix Saint-Michel