Abandoned amidst a hostile wilderness, Paul has been rescued by a biologist, Mr Amid. The scientist is studying the pearls that are Altair's true wealth - and more particularly the plants that produce them and that appear to be dying off. Amid offers to take on Paul as his assistant, but the young man is still looking for his father. As he follows the trail, Paul becomes tougher and more inured to life on his new planet - and to human nature.
Luiz Eduardo de Oliveira (born on December 13, 1944 in Brazil),[1] more famous under his artist name LEO is a Brazilian comics creator.
After having graduated as an engineer in mechanics, Oliveira left Brazil because of the military dictatorship that was in power at the time. He went first to Chile, but the following year saw the Chilean coup of 1973. This led Oliveira to leave, moving to Argentina, from where he finally returned to Brazil in 1974.
He found work as an illustrator in the advertising industry of São Paulo, before once more leaving Brazil, in 1981, this time moving to France, hoping to illustrate comics. However as the Franco-Belgian comics industry was in recession at the time, he was forced to work in advertising once again, although he managed to get the occasional piece published in L'Écho des savanes and Pilote. In 1986, with the assistance of Jean-Claude Forest, Oliveira began contributing to the youth dedicated magazines of Bayard Presse. He illustrated true stories for Okapi magazine. He then recounted Mahatma Gandhi's life in the album Gandhi, le pèlerin de la paix, for Astrapi.
In 1988, the comics writer Rodolphe asked him to provide the artwork for his stories. Their collaboration proved fruitful, producing 8 albums of material for their Trent series and 5 for their Kenya one.
In 1993, Oleveira finally achieved an old dream when Dargaud agreed to publish his first solo series: Aldébaran. In 2000, after 5 volumes of Aldébaran, he launched Bételgeuse, which was nominated for the Prize for a Series at the Angoulême International Comics Festival in 2004.
The hapless protagonist continues to stumble his way through an interesting and alien world. It's too bad that the humans on this world are the least interesting things about it.
Paul’s been rescued from his dilemma in the pearl beds and is even offered a job as a result, but it’s the search for his father that still occupies his mind. Declining the job he’s now stuck with little money, and to make matters worse a run in with a previous acquaintance sees him getting robbed. It’s only the intervention of Hank the bounty hunter searching for his father that gives him an excuse to move on.
Following a solid lead they arrive at a farm only to discover that Paul’s father has recently died, and the whole trek has been for nothing. Paul returns to the nearest town in the hope of getting a flight home but with money low and a long wait for the flight he needs a job. It’s the first good break he gets, where he has an opportunity to shine, but a shock is waiting around the corner.
There’s a moment in this book, shortly after the arrival on the farm, where Icar’s creature design is both hideous and perfect. There are a few beasties present in this book, although the cover creature doesn’t actually get a look in within the pages. Instead this book involves a lot of wandering about ramshackle towns and the places within. As a result this one feels a little less like an alien world and more like a road trip through the outback or New Mexico. There’s solid plot reasons why this is happening, but for me that’s the least captivating part.
No disrespect to Icar but this would be a richer experience if it was Leo’s pen doing the illustrations as well as the writing, but to Icar’s credit he’s carving his own niche with his own style. I still can’t help but wonder what Leo’s vision of this planet would have been having read so many of his other books.
There’s clearly a greater mystery at play here that we’re about to find out more about as this issue takes the time to set that all up. Quite where they take us next remains to be seen, but judging from the cover of the following book it’s got some Stepanerk action in it.
Recent Reads: Distant Worlds Episode 3. More of Leo and Icar's BD SF travelogue. Paul continues to search for his father, at the same time learning about his new home and his fellow colonists. Something peculiar is happening and it's being ignored by everyone.
Paul continues to search for his errant father, but ends up working in a holographic strip club. The best bits are the weirdest: an eerie cube hanging in the air, manta rays with the faces of grumpy men.