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Die Wahrheit über Shelby #3
Bell's Theorem 3: Contact
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
October 5, 2019
This review is for the German-language version of the book, so I can't comment on the quality of the English translation.
Bell's Theorem (Die Wahrheit über Shelby) is a science fiction comic that successfully combines fast-paced action and graphic violence with philosophical meditations on the nature of reality. It's uncompromisingly dark and nihilistic in tone, with little in the way of humour and no really likable characters, but it kept me engaged with its compelling sense of mystery and its just-plausible-enough pseudo-scientific conceit. Although it's divided across three albums, it's a single story and it should be read as such.
I will note that sometimes the writing is a little bit clunky. Characters often talk to themselves in a way that's excessively expository, and at a few points omniscient narration jarringly appears out of nowhere. However, these issues aren't major enough to significantly detract from the reading experience.
The art is done in a kind of impressionistic watercolour style that I didn't much care for at first. However, as I read on, I grew to love it. It lends the comic a hazy sense of unreality that fits nicely with the story, and some of the panels are really impressive.
The third and final album, Contact (Der Kontakt), sees events culminate in a dramatic, action-packed climax. More questions are raised than answered vis-à-vis the story's central mystery and ultimately a lot is left open to interpretation, but this is done in a way that's definitely more thought-provoking than unsatisfying. As long as you can handle an ending that doesn't wrap everything up neatly and explain every mystery, I highly recommend this comic.
Bell's Theorem (Die Wahrheit über Shelby) is a science fiction comic that successfully combines fast-paced action and graphic violence with philosophical meditations on the nature of reality. It's uncompromisingly dark and nihilistic in tone, with little in the way of humour and no really likable characters, but it kept me engaged with its compelling sense of mystery and its just-plausible-enough pseudo-scientific conceit. Although it's divided across three albums, it's a single story and it should be read as such.
I will note that sometimes the writing is a little bit clunky. Characters often talk to themselves in a way that's excessively expository, and at a few points omniscient narration jarringly appears out of nowhere. However, these issues aren't major enough to significantly detract from the reading experience.
The art is done in a kind of impressionistic watercolour style that I didn't much care for at first. However, as I read on, I grew to love it. It lends the comic a hazy sense of unreality that fits nicely with the story, and some of the panels are really impressive.
The third and final album, Contact (Der Kontakt), sees events culminate in a dramatic, action-packed climax. More questions are raised than answered vis-à-vis the story's central mystery and ultimately a lot is left open to interpretation, but this is done in a way that's definitely more thought-provoking than unsatisfying. As long as you can handle an ending that doesn't wrap everything up neatly and explain every mystery, I highly recommend this comic.
October 12, 2019
Love the art and the strangeness but the story got way to bizarre by the end- I think it "got away from him" at some point after the first book which I believe that he finished before he had gotten to writing the ending.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews