Wake: The Sign of the Demons

Rating:
Summary: Two For One
Review: Navee, the lone human amongst the countless aliens of Wake, is back in two of her toughest adventures. There is actually a scene overlap between the two stories to help cement the time frame of the second.

Sign of the Demons has Navee and other Wake agents looking into the disappearance of a previous team on a world ripe for contact. This world, much like Wake, has numerous races with the First Five being in charge of the others. Navee's quest teaches her about a downtrodden race, liberty and treachery. Then end is slightly unresolved concerning the fate of one of the characters but the resolution on the planet is quite satisfactory.

The second tale, (unreadable title), plays like a tribute to Mother Teresa. Navee's celebrity makes her a target of reactionaries trying to help the plight of their impoverished people. Their race is the majority on Wake but most live in shanty towns set up in garbage scows. One nun is working with them to try and improve the lot of at least a few. Navee tries to become a reactionary celebrity to help them. In the end she learns the lesson the nun had to learn long ago. A pretty good tale but I was a little unsure where the reactionaries were able to get their expensive supplies.

A good double-dose of space opera and humanity. A fine addition to the series and possible the strongest.

Rating:
Summary: Two For One
Review: Navee, the lone human amongst the countless aliens of Wake, is back in two of her toughest adventures. There is actually a scene overlap between the two stories to help cement the time frame of the second.

Sign of the Demons has Navee and other Wake agents looking into the disappearance of a previous team on a world ripe for contact. This world, much like Wake, has numerous races with the First Five being in charge of the others. Navee's quest teaches her about a downtrodden race, liberty and treachery. Then end is slightly unresolved concerning the fate of one of the characters but the resolution on the planet is quite satisfactory.

The second tale, (unreadable title), plays like a tribute to Mother Teresa. Navee's celebrity makes her a target of reactionaries trying to help the plight of their impoverished people. Their race is the majority on Wake but most live in shanty towns set up in garbage scows. One nun is working with them to try and improve the lot of at least a few. Navee tries to become a reactionary celebrity to help them. In the end she learns the lesson the nun had to learn long ago. A pretty good tale but I was a little unsure where the reactionaries were able to get their expensive supplies.

A good double-dose of space opera and humanity. A fine addition to the series and possible the strongest.

Rating:
Summary: Great sci-fi story and artwork; lousy sense of politics
Review: This is a really terrific French science fiction comic book ("graphic novel" if you prefer). Great artwork; terrific overall concept, characters, stories. I especially like the alien "SWAT team" that zip-cords in to rescue Navee; all the armored-up troopers each have extra arms, legs, tails, flippers, etc. Hilarious and cool at the same time.

This book contains two semi-separate episodes. Both are good stories, but Morvan (the writer) made what I think is a pretty repugnant decision for the second one. He created a race of oppressed aliens who become terrorists and then has Navee undergo a really cliched "liberal-guilt" experience--seeing children playing gutters, people rooting through garbage, etc--before coming to "understand their violence.".

The whole thing is a pretty thin facade for a statement on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict with the oppressed aliens supposed to be the Palestinians. Whatever one thinks of that real-world conflict, this sci-fi treatment of it is pretty crude. It all but directly says, "Poverty is a valid justification for brutal violence." Wrong, wrong, wrong.

Rating:
Summary: Great sci-fi story and artwork; lousy sense of politics
Review: This is a really terrific French science fiction comic book ("graphic novel" if you prefer). Great artwork; terrific overall concept, characters, stories. I especially like the alien "SWAT team" that zip-cords in to rescue Navee; all the armored-up troopers each have extra arms, legs, tails, flippers, etc. Hilarious and cool at the same time.

This book contains two semi-separate episodes. Both are good stories, but Morvan (the writer) made what I think is a pretty repugnant decision for the second one. He created a race of oppressed aliens who become terrorists and then has Navee undergo a really cliched "liberal-guilt" experience--seeing children playing gutters, people rooting through garbage, etc--before coming to "understand their violence.".

The whole thing is a pretty thin facade for a statement on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict with the oppressed aliens supposed to be the Palestinians. Whatever one thinks of that real-world conflict, this sci-fi treatment of it is pretty crude. It all but directly says, "Poverty is a valid justification for brutal violence." Wrong, wrong, wrong.