Fausse garde

False guard #1-3

by Merwan

Le jeune Mané est plein d'envie, plein de force. Deux qualités premières si l'on souhaite s'adonner au Pankat, un art martial dur développé en véritable philosophie de vie par ceux qui le pratiquent. Errant dans Irap, siège des plus grandes écoles de Pankat, Mané va vite faire ses preuves et profiter des conseils d'Eïam, l'un des plus grands maîtres qui soit. Mais saura-t-il résister aux sirènes criminelles de Féssat, ancien condisciple d'Eïam, qui tente de porter les pas malléables du jeune homme vers l'illégalité ? Cruel dilemme pour Mané... Car les règles de la vie ne sont pas toujours aussi simples que celles d'un combat de Pankat...

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Fantasy, Bande Dessinée

200 pages, Paperback

First published April 19, 2009

About the author

Merwan Chabane est diplômé de l'École Nationale Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs. Après un passage par l'École des Gobelins, il fait ses premières armes dans le milieu du jeu vidéo, mais également en réalisant des story-boards pour différentes séries d'animations.
En 2002, il se fait remarquer avec son film de fin d'études, « Biotope », court-métrage d'animation multi primé qu'il écrit et réalise. Soutenue par le CNC et Arte, cette expérience se poursuit avec la réalisation d'un autre court-métrage d'animation, « Clichés de soirée » sélectionné pour le prix du cartoon d'or 2009.
En 2007, il est contacté pour collaborer au long métrage des « Lascars » en tant que story-boarder.
Il publie en 2009 la bande dessinée « Fausse garde » aux éditions Vents d'Ouest, la version retravaillée et exhaustive de sa première BD « Pankat ».
Puis il publie également chez 12BIS le premier Volume de la saga d'aventure « L'Or et le Sang » qu'il dessine sur une mise en scène de Fabien Bedouel, coécrite par Maurin Defrance et Fabien Nury. Il entame ensuite la création d'albums, seul ou en collaboration, comme avec Bastien Vivès, par exemple.

Reviews

[Chad · Rating 2 out of 5]

A young man comes from a small village to this large city that is the center of Pankat. It's basically MMA. While training he also gets involved with a former student and rival of the school's master. He seems to be pretty crazy killing people at random while speaking about how awful the victim was, although we rarely see any evidence of it in the story. The story outside the tournaments was very muddled and confusing other than vague social justice goals. The story was also too long and drug out for what little plot developments there were.

[Alexander Peterhans · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like Merwan's art a lot, he has a beautiful eye for expression and atmopshere - the city in False Guard comes alive, and although it's a cliche, the city becomes its own character.

I'm less a fan of Merwan's writing. It's easy to compare this to Aster of Pan mainly because Merwan seems to really like building a story around some kind of fantasy sport/competition, and those parts are easily the least gripping or interesting.

That said, the story is solid. Come for the art, um, and also stay for the art, I guess?

(Picked up a review copy through NetGalley)

[Geoff · Rating 3 out of 5]

Even when Merwan misses he is doing really interesting stuff with his art and stories. This one is an MMA fable, mediating (I think?) on art vs. commerce, sport vs. entertainment, selling out vs. changing society, team vs. the individual, students vs. teachers all in a vaguely medieval Arabic city state obsessed with fighting sports. The art was amazing but the plot didn't work for me entirely, because I just couldn't buy in to the protagonist being willing to murder people and not asking for more details around what the heck was going on with the seemingly anarchist plot. Also, unlike his earlier post-apocalyptic dodgeball series, the fight scenes just weren't dynamic or interesting for me. That said, it was a glorious failure to me and I'll read anything else of Merwan's I can get my hands on.

**Thanks to the artist, publisher, and NetGalley for a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

[Leighton · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

False Guard by Merwan is a graphic novel blend of science fiction and fantasy that will appeal to fans of Gladiator or Fight Club. The story revolves around Young Mane, a young man engaged in the martial art of Pankat. He goes from school to school training in Pankat. Unfortunately, Fessat a former student turned criminal wants Young Mane to join him in a life of crime. According to the synopsis, the plot revolves around the "young warrior full of dreams and confidence hoping to rise to the ranks of celebrity in the popular Pankat competitions."

Overall, False Guard is an intense, action-packed graphic novel that will appeal to anyone looking for an andrenaline-filled read. One highlight of this book is the manga-inspired art. It reminded me of a lot of shonen or boys' comics that I've seen, such as Naruto or HunterxHunter. Although the art style is great, the subject matter of this book didn't appeal to me personally. I took off 2 stars, because I personally don't enjoy reading books with lots of fight scenes. I'm sure many people will find this book interesting though. If you're intrigued by the description, or if you're a fan of graphic novels in general, you can check out this book when it comes out in November!

[Theediscerning · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm a bit slow on the uptake sometimes, but I'm beginning to think I just don't like Merwan books that much. This one is similar to his much more enjoyable (if still not great) Aster of Pan - https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... - but instead of sci-fantasy dodgeball this time it's a boxing kind of martial art, called apparently Pankat. But for me his pages are too busy, and far too wordy, and just adding that to a bog-standard rags-to-riches combat sports scenario does not make for anything I'm terribly interested in. Even during the fighting scenes (yawn) he manages to splodge copious dialogue all over the page (double yawn). Also it's very, very difficult to tell one character from another, and the art and colouring is very uneven here, becoming much broader for a chunk near the middle due to it being created over several years and him trying out a tablet for his illustrations. I might need a pill or two before trying him again.

[Adriana · Rating 3 out of 5]

First off, the art is impressively detailed and colorful. A little too colorful at times, but I appreciated the colors because they were sometimes the only thing I could identify characters with. As dynamic and spectacularly detailed as all the action scenes are, that same dynamism is what makes it hard to follow the action. It all makes for visually impressive panels that make the story hard to follow.
The story itself is pretty straightforward. An outsider with dreams of joining the big leagues in the most respected sport in the land arrives in the big city to join the most legendary gym, but racism and class divide keep getting in his way. He meets a bad influence that has past connections with his new trainer, and then things get emotionally complex from there.
I guess complex really is the best word to describe it. It's a story that can be read in many layers and get different things from it depending on how deep you're willing to go into the story. It's not my cup of tea, but I do see how it has the potential to really pull readers into Mane's story.

Happy thanks to NetGalley, Diamond Book Distributors, and Magnetic Press for the early read!

[Eric · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really impressive comic, Merwan said he didn't feel comfortable writing a story about martial arts before taking classes and learning it himself, that commitment 👏 every character here is fully fleshed out, npc do not exist, the dialogue feels as if there is years or decades of history between them, fantastic story and artwork just beautiful world building, loved it !! Highly recommend

[Tony · Rating 2 out of 5]

I picked this up after flipping through it because I really liked the feel of the artwork, and the stone/mudbrick/wood architecture of the setting looked really interesting -- gave me vibes of the old "Dark Sun" D&D world. Unfortunately, it's kind of a confusing mess... The plot revolves around a teenager named Mane who shows up at this huge city seeking to join one of the major martial arts schools (the book presents a fictional martial art called "pankat", which seems to be very similar to various forms of Asian kickboxing). As he wanders the streets trying to survive, he encounters a kind of outlaw dude and they sort of connect until he ends up gaining entry to the elite fighting school.

From there, the story seems to want to tell the story of Mane's rise within the fighting ranks, along with his sneaking out and hanging out with the outlaw guy for reasons that are entirely unclear. For a book that revolves around martial arts combat and devotes so many pages to fight scenes, it's pretty odd that the rules are never explained, not of the fights, the tournaments, or how one advances within the school. Similarly, there's some kind of rebellion, insurgency, terrorist, something going on, which Mane is drawn into -- but what it's about or what it's aims are remain unclear throughout. He never asks -- and it never goes beyond some vague "rich vs. poor" talk. It certainly doesn't help matters that clearly time passes over the course of the story, but it's impossible to tell if it's weeks, months, years?

Unfortunately, while I like the overall style of the artwork -- watercolors, ink, gritty textures, etc -- it works much better for the setting than the characters. I often had a hard time telling supporting characters apart, and at a certain point the whole story was so confused that I stopped even trying. There's also some significant color variations that I don't think are intentional, but who knows? There's similar muddling with the main character, as he's generally a complete self-centered jerk with motivations that are entirely unclear, but it's clear the author is trying to make him sympathetic at times. All in all, this was a disappointing mess.

[Bernie Gourley · Rating 4 out of 5]

This graphic novel is set in a fantastical world that combines the culture of a Southeast Asian live-in gym, a setting suggestive of “One Thousand and One Nights” supersized to mega-city scale, and some novel creative elements of the author-artist’s imagination. The protagonist, Mane, is a fighter who dreams of making it big in the big city. On the bright side, despite the prejudices against him as an outsider, Mane has the drive and talent to be a champion. However, in a universe of single-minded people (professional fighters,) his energies are split between the gym and his desire to fight for social justice. It turns out that the man leading him into a guerrilla battle against the societal elite, Fessat, is an old intra-gym rival of the gym-owner / coach, Eiam, for whom Mane is fighting.


The story is largely about Mane’s attempts to reconcile these two aspects of himself, and the travails of the bifurcated mentorship he receives from Fessat and Eiam. The fictional martial art of Pankat bears resemblance to Muay Thai / Lethwei / Pradal Serey Southeast Asian style kick-boxing, with a combination of MMA elements to appeal to the present-day reader and some creative details to make it feel more exotic.


For the most part, I found the story and character development compelling. There were some points at which it felt like there was a disjoint between the emotional displays being made and the events at hand. It’s hard to put a finger on what was off, it just felt a bit overwrought at times. Besides a desire to create a visceral story, this is probably meant to reflect Mane’s stress level, but it felt forced at times. It’s also true that Mane is a complex character – at times sympathetic and at other times an impetuous jerk.


If found this book to be enjoyable and engaging.

[Nina · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a beautiful book but far from perfect. I enjoyed it, but even while doing a surface-level read I found some things nagging at me.

Firstly, the art is great and is pulling this up another star. The expressive anatomy in the fight scenes is inspired and Merwan has a great hand for using the perfect colors to indicate light conditions.

Moving on: the plot mechanics are hard to follow. Many of the scene changes feel very abrupt. The rules of Pankat are not explained, and the social-justice-insurgency part isn't explained either, so I was unsure of what to think about Fessat at the end. What bothered me the most here is that you can see time is passing (based on how Mané gets bulkier and suddenly has a girlfriend), but we have no idea when the time skips are. We also never get to see him properly bond with the other boxers, even though they appear quite close at the end. I was especially confused by how he seems to make up with Gaudí with no cause. And (spoiler alert) at the end when he buries the clothes and says "I'll make you proud", whose clothes are they? Who is he talking to? When all is said and done, it turns out we don't even know very much about our protagonist's motivations.

Thematically, there's two major issues. Firstly, every single woman in the story is only shown in a role of support for the male characters. They are fiery and delivering wise advice, but we know nothing about them as people. Secondly, I am not a scholar of this topic, but the whole thing smacks of orientalism. I think either Merwan or the gentleman who did the preface even describe it as "oriental". Not good, I fear.

All in all, it is a neat adventure, but feels more underdeveloped than a Hollywood movie (which is kinda saying something).

[Mars Dorian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Unique story about a young and poor boy desperate to become a MMA-type fighter in a fictional tournament. And at 200+ pages, it reads like a cinematic graphic novel.

The artworks starts with strong outlines and rather stiff drawings and loosens up by the middle of the book. Fighting scenes become more dynamic and flowery. Interestingly, the designs also become more fantastical, with later parts of the book showing unique architecture and colorful symbols & clothes for the various fighting teams.

The MAJOR problem of the book is the dominant side story, where the main character joins a washed-up fighter and criminal planning a terrorist attack. The reasoning behind is vague, and the confusing side plot takes away from the main plot. It's a baffling choice by the creator to include it.

Still, Fausse Garde (or "Pankat"as it's called in German) is a fun and unique fantastical fighting sport story with morally grey characters.

[Soobie has fog in her brain · Rating 1 out of 5]

That was bad!!

I really don't have a clue about what I read. A blonde guy comes into the city to practice pankat, a martial art. He's accepted into a school but he meets a weird guy and he's more interested in working with this guy rather than his sport.

No idea how pankat works and the author doesn't explain it. I didn't care about the protagonists, didn't care about the story and didn't care about the environmentalism in the book. As a whole, the story didn't make any sense.

The preface mentions the importance of women in this story. But there are no women. There's a prostitute, who sometimes keeps company with the protagonist, and there's a mother, who's bedridden. You know, I wouldn't have noticed this absence because, really, it's a male comic (drawn by a man with men in mind) but the guy in the preface pointed it out and I started counting the women... Prostitutes and sick, old mothers...

I hate the art and the colors, too.

One more reason to drop Magnetic Press. I've read a lot of their stuff and it's mostly one-star material for me.

[Wayne McCoy · Rating 3 out of 5]

'False Guard' with story and art by Merwan is a graphic novel about a young man who wants to join an elite martial school in a different town.

A young man named Mane shows up in Irap to join the Pankat school there. He falls in with some shady characters, and learns that the leader of his fighting school has dangerous plans.

I did end up liking this but the art was kind of similar and I had a hard time telling characters apart. It got easier as the book went but took a while. There are also some pages with way too many panels on them to get the whole story in. The art is good and this graphic novel includes the author's character designs and a cover gallery.

I received a review copy of this graphic novel from Diamond Book Distributors, Magnetic Press, and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this graphic novel.

[Radwa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hmmm. I liked other works by Merwan more than this one.

It had an interesting stting: a young man leaves his family and town behind to go to a new place and enroll in the biggest school of Penkat (a fighting sport in this world), but he finds himself torn between two sides of life in the city: the penkat school and the rules of its master and the vigilante man who takes him under his wing.

I never understood Mane or his motivations and why he sometimes chose the Penkat master Eiam and other times chose the side of Fessat. He was always a troubled and hesistant character and it was hard to relte to him

[Micah Taylor · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’m not sure the point the story is trying to make. It seems like commercialism/ the wealthy are trying to exploit the purity of martial arts/ take advantage of the lower class, but the people fighting against them are terrorists. There are no good guys. There are many characters stuck at pivotal points, but we don’t really see any of them take decisive actions. It’s a pretty meandering book. Merwan’s later work is much more developed, in character and art style.