Infinity 8 vol.8 : Until the End

Infinity 8 #8

by Lewis Trondheim, Patrice Killoffer (Illustrator)

The key to the mystery lies in the past, when the intergalactic confederation decided to organize the genocide of the Tonn Shärs, an alien species ​​whose temporal powers are far too powerful for the taste of other races. Only 88 Tonn Shärs, ​​including the captain of the Infinity 8, were kept alive and under the yoke of the Confederation. In the 30 years since this massacre, the 88 surviving Tonn Shärs pretended to be obedient, but patiently waited for revenge.

In this eighth and final reboot, the hour for vengeance has come. The seven previous temporal reboots allowed the captain to drop his mask: caught in a crisis of violence, he puts to death all the previous space liner agents... except for one: Lieutenant Reffo is saved by the time-traveling robot, Hal. Revived by their robot technology, Reffo develops a plan to prevent the captain from destroying the Confederation, by creating an army of the dead, raised from the necropolis itself. This plan will require the six previously-assigned agents: officer Yoko Keren, the impulsive Stella Moonkicker, the marshall Emma O'Mara, Patty Stardust, Ann Ninurta, Leïla Sherad, and even little Douglas. A crack team for a final conflict!

Genres: Science Fiction, Comics, Bande Dessinée

96 pages, ebook

First published March 13, 2019

About the author

The phenomenal Lewis Trondheim is never where you next expect him. As an artist and writer, Trondheim has earned an international following as one of the most inventive, versatile, and prolific graphic authors. From autobiography to adventure, from bestselling fantasy and children's books to visual essays, Trondheim's unique, seminal imagination consistently dazzles. His work has won numerous awards, including the Angoulême prize for best series with McConey and he also co-created the titanic fantasy epic Dungeon with Joann Sfar.

He is one of the founding members of the alternative publishing house L'Association, a proving ground for many of the greatest talents in European comics working today. He is also the editorial director of a new imprint called Shampooing, dedicated to comics for all ages.

Lewis lives in the South of France with his wife, Brigitte Findakly, and two children.

Reviews

[Chad · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the culmination of an extremely ambitious project. Each of the Infinity 8 volumes is a reboot of the same timeline. It's a special ability of these aliens who are trying to wipe out humanity. In this last volume, all is revealed and the heroes from the first 7 volumes team up to try and stop them. Reading this on its own is difficult. I really think the only proper way to keep all of this craziness straight in your head is to read the entire story straight through now that it is finished.

Received a review copy from Magnetic Press and Edelweiss. All thoughts are my own and in no way influenced by the aforementioned.

[Bill Coffin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Infinity 8 is best thought of not by a volume-by-volume basis, but when viewing the series as a whole. One can read all eight volumes in a sitting and a half, and really most of the volumes stand so poorly on their own that they really have to be judged collectively to be judged at all. Even by this completionist standard, Infinity 8 is a curious and underwhelming thing. It feels a bit like Valerian (if Valerian languished on the reject pile of Metal Hurlant) and trades on the concept of a luxurious, city-sized space ark that comes across a massive necropolis in interstellar space. The ship's captain is a strange alien that can "reboot time" by eight hours, eight times, so each volume of the series is more or less the same: a sexy female operative is summoned by the captain, endures sleazy come-ons by the executive officer, and is sent out to investigate the necropolis. Mayhem ensues, the ship is usually under dire peril, and eventually it all comes down to the captain rebooting things. The writers and artists tend to switch up by volume (Olivier Vatine has an especially good turn on the artwork in Volume 2, even if the writing in that one is, frankly, stupid and offensive), so the quality tends to vary a little. But the real problem here is that none of this really grabs us at all until the last volume when we finally understand what's going on. Expecting us to gut it out for seven volumes before finally getting to the real story is asking a but much, even if the eventual payoff is pretty interesting.

[Emilie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Je suis un peu déçue de n'avoir pas trop kiffé l'ensemble.
Il y avait tout pour me plaire : Trondheim-Vehlman-Boulet-Guibert-Zep au scénario, une ribambelle d'artistes de folie (Vatine, Boulet...), et une ambiance SF rétro avec des coiffures façon Emma Peel et des pistolasers.

Au final, je n'ai pas tout compris ce qui se passe. L'intervention de HAL (tome 7) sensée donner un éclairage à l'ensemble, m'a surtout embrouillée.
Mon préferé reste le tome 1. Je trouve les cadavres et les asticots un peu dégueus, mais j'aime bien l'intrigue et la relation entre Yoko et Sagoss.
Celui que j'aime le moins est le tome 2. L'antisémitisme comme ressort humoristique, c'est non.

[Francis Thibeault · Rating 3 out of 5]

Une fin un peu tirée par les cheveux pour une série qui avait un concept très intéressant à la base. J'aurais aimé avoir un rappel des événements précédents au début de cette bande dessinée, les autres tomes ayant été écrit il y a de cela un certain temps déjà... Au final, une bande dessinée qui ne se distingue pas vraiment...

[Jefferson · Rating 4 out of 5]

The final chapter in this series gives us an epic team-up of all the characters from the previous volumes and a lot of exposition that explains the plot, which unfortunately leaves little room for the moments of personality that elevated the earlier books. On the other hand, the story is beautifully presented, with some top-notch artwork and color.

[Ferenc · Rating 3 out of 5]

4/5 - Science Fiction
3/5 - Graphic Novels
2/5 - Characters
3/5 - Story

3/5 - Rating