Trent, vol 3: When the Lamps Are Lit

Trent #3

by Rodolphe, Luiz Eduardo de Oliveira (Leo)

Trent is een eenzaat die in de mate van het mogelijke natuurlijk als
Mountie het uitgestrekte gebied van Canada onder zijn hoede neemt.
Een uitgangspunt die niet dient om doorsnee westernverhaaltjes of
gewone avonturierbelevenissen te vertellen, maar wel om met een
onderbouwde diepgang in de geest van een man en zijn eenzaamheid te
kruipen.

Genres: Comics, Westerns

48 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 1993

About the author

Rodolphe is the pen name for Rodolphe Daniel Jacquette. His works are primarily written in French.

Reviews

[Krishnakumar Mohanasundaram · Rating 4 out of 5]

Again with mind-blowing artwork and simple straight forward storyline.. this book works well...

[StrictlySequential · Rating 4 out of 5]

A STRONG **** from both creators!

[Simon Chadwick · Rating 5 out of 5]

The loneliness of the frozen north is taking its toll on Trent and so he finally makes the decision to return to Agnes and propose, only to discover that the home she once lived in is abandoned and that she’s married another. The next we see of Trent is him slumped in a frontier saloon, drowning his sorrows on whiskey. As he lays sprawled in his stupor masked criminals are torturing and killing locals to get hold of their money, although in his drunken state he does nothing to assist. When a gunfight breaks out and one of the crooks gets wounded and holes up in the town, Trent even goes as far as to help him. Something is not right with Trent’s world at all, but will it ever be right again.

Thanks in large part to Leo’s outstanding visuals, the two volumes to date have all managed to embrace the period and the vast expanses of frontier Canada with gusto, and this latest book is no exception. Beautifully rendered frames and spot-on colouring add to the cinematic air, and Rodolphe’s sparse dialogue and considered pacing give it all a gritty realism that has you empathising with Trent’s predicament and rooting for him to get a hold of himself. When the payoff comes it’s brilliantly done.

There may be no alien worlds or bizarre creatures in this, but what it has instead is a character you can’t help but invest in and a world as dangerous as any in of Leo’s colony planets where desperate people make foolhardy decisions and the innocent pay the price. Enjoying this series immensely.

[Ryan O'Pray · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is apparently the third in a series but I had no trouble dipping in. The tale involves a forlorn Mounted Policeman who wanders into a small town plagued by repeated violent robberies. The style of the narrative could be described as a noir of the Great White North (fans of fictions involving the Klondike Gold Rush would likely enjoy) and the art style with its hard edges and deep shadows lend succinctly to this. The hues in each panel are well accustomed to plot events and the pace is nippy all the way to the end, where it blips very briefly then ends nicely at the denouement.
I’ll be checking out more from this series.

[John of Canada · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quatre etoiles parce qu'il est Canadien!

[Czterysta Czterdzieścicztery · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tym razem przygoda Trenta naprawdę mnie zaskoczyła. Bardzo dobrze napisane, świetnie poprowadzone. Rysunki Leo coraz lepsze. Czegóż chcieć więcej?

[Marquise · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the best installments in the series, and to me personally the best Trent story together with the stories in issues 1 and 2.

The resolution to the plot puzzle had me fooled all along till the very end, despite the clue that now looks very obvious in hindsight.