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Ravage #1-3
Ashes, Ashes
In a post-Apocalyptic future, all traces of technology have seemingly disappeared from the surface of the Earth. Two surviving bands face off against each other in tribal combat, while the Patriarch of the larger clan plans his attack to destroy the "infernal machine" designed by his opponent. Because he remembers how technology made humanity weak, and how it almost wiped us out 130 years before...
Flashback to the year 2052—an unexplained and unexpected natural phenomenon causes electricity itself to simply fail. And in its disappearance, civilization falls to its knees, almost instantaneously.
Adapted from the classic science fiction novel Ravage by René Barjavel, widely cited as one of the top-100 most influential sci-fi novels ever written, giving birth to the "apocalyptic dystopia" genre.
Flashback to the year 2052—an unexplained and unexpected natural phenomenon causes electricity itself to simply fail. And in its disappearance, civilization falls to its knees, almost instantaneously.
Adapted from the classic science fiction novel Ravage by René Barjavel, widely cited as one of the top-100 most influential sci-fi novels ever written, giving birth to the "apocalyptic dystopia" genre.
144 pages, Hardcover
First published October 5, 2021
15 people want to read
About the author
Jean-David Morvan
526 books73 followersJean-David Morvan is a French comic author, best known as the creator of the Sillage/Wake series.
After studying arts at the Institut Saint-Luc in Brussels, he first tried being a graphic artist, but eventually settled for writing instead.
His main series are 'Spirou and Fantasio', 'Sir Pyle' and 'Merlin', all with José Luis Munuera, and 'Sillage', with Philippe Buchet.
After studying arts at the Institut Saint-Luc in Brussels, he first tried being a graphic artist, but eventually settled for writing instead.
His main series are 'Spirou and Fantasio', 'Sir Pyle' and 'Merlin', all with José Luis Munuera, and 'Sillage', with Philippe Buchet.
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
November 20, 2021
A poor story about a luddite in a dystopian future, the Patriarch, who is forcing people to remain in the Stone Age without machines. Then most of the story is a flashback of what happened to society. It's 2052. The Patriarch is a young man in a Paris with flying cars and a girlfriend who sells out to become famous. After a solar flare ends the electrical grid, society quickly collapses. From there, it's a race to become the dregs of humanity as our antagonist murders everyone he sees to take their supplies. As the story progresses, it just gets worse and worse, the characters becoming more and more unlikable. The saving grace is the art. It's wonderful.
October 15, 2021
Hmmm... All I can say is I hope the original novel upon which this is based had a bit more subtlety – although given where we end up during this nonsense, I have to doubt it. We start in some future wastelands, when an aged Luddite, the Patriarch, is demanding that the new-fangled steam engine thingy is not finished, because he knows what it's like when humanity gets too dumb to stop working for itself and lets machines do it. Cut back to the year 2052 and France, where a beautiful woman is being made into a star by a base, obvious and sleazy mogul type, until all the machines everywhere pack up working, which includes the flying cars of course. Through the rain of destruction, it's up to Dwayne Johnson, er, sorry, no – an average student type, actually, to rescue her.
Don't get me wrong, some of the elements of this book are fine, but a lot aren't, and pretty much all the qualities are in the illustrations. The Patriarch appears to come back to life, and generally be an indestructible 129-year old, so those sections are quite clearly piffle, but it's the scenes in France that are the worst, tending towards the heinous. It's so bloody obvious and overt – ooh look, there's a load of flying cars, ooh look, there's a maglev station, where our younger Luddite dislikes the architecture (and lack of control he feels on the 20-odd minute trip the length of France). Subtlety clearly goes out the window when a plane goes through them – a high-rise's windows, that is. What follows is typical of one of those "... Has Fallen" films, where all the "known landmarks" get demolished – you know, as opposed to all those unknown landmarks.
And there's still room for further, really quite lame, switches, in what happens with the survivors bringing their Mad Max game on overnight. Add everything there to the extended scenes of joyless ennui the sleazy mogul had brought, and this really becomes a most skippable read, before descending even further into something purely laughable. It is quite amazing how this book shows the race to the bottom – much as the Patriarch might have warned. So yes, the artwork is really commendable, but boy this is a kind of trash that is seriously not worth your time of day. One and a half stars.
Don't get me wrong, some of the elements of this book are fine, but a lot aren't, and pretty much all the qualities are in the illustrations. The Patriarch appears to come back to life, and generally be an indestructible 129-year old, so those sections are quite clearly piffle, but it's the scenes in France that are the worst, tending towards the heinous. It's so bloody obvious and overt – ooh look, there's a load of flying cars, ooh look, there's a maglev station, where our younger Luddite dislikes the architecture (and lack of control he feels on the 20-odd minute trip the length of France). Subtlety clearly goes out the window when a plane goes through them – a high-rise's windows, that is. What follows is typical of one of those "... Has Fallen" films, where all the "known landmarks" get demolished – you know, as opposed to all those unknown landmarks.
And there's still room for further, really quite lame, switches, in what happens with the survivors bringing their Mad Max game on overnight. Add everything there to the extended scenes of joyless ennui the sleazy mogul had brought, and this really becomes a most skippable read, before descending even further into something purely laughable. It is quite amazing how this book shows the race to the bottom – much as the Patriarch might have warned. So yes, the artwork is really commendable, but boy this is a kind of trash that is seriously not worth your time of day. One and a half stars.
January 13, 2022
'Ashes, Ashes' with story by Jean-David Morvan is a graphic novel about a world in turmoil and the group that survives it.
The story starts in the future with an old, but still powerful, man known as the Patriarch leading a group of people in the wilderness. We flash back to how he got there and see a vibrant Paris in the near future with flying cars and technology everywhere. There is a subplot about The Patriarch's girlfriend that seems more important than it turns out to be.
I have so many questions after reading this, and I really don't care if they are answered. The Patriarch is obviously anti-technology, but it's never completely clear where this comes from, and then he is not when it comes to advance medical tech. The art is actually decent, but the story is a muddle of things.
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.
The story starts in the future with an old, but still powerful, man known as the Patriarch leading a group of people in the wilderness. We flash back to how he got there and see a vibrant Paris in the near future with flying cars and technology everywhere. There is a subplot about The Patriarch's girlfriend that seems more important than it turns out to be.
I have so many questions after reading this, and I really don't care if they are answered. The Patriarch is obviously anti-technology, but it's never completely clear where this comes from, and then he is not when it comes to advance medical tech. The art is actually decent, but the story is a muddle of things.
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.
July 17, 2022
Well, the art is really good but the story...
At first, the authors bring us into a world where all modern knowledge is lost. There's a Patriach, who's a luddite and tries to stop every attempt at modernisation. There's another group of people who try to make things better for everyone.
Than flashback to what happened years before, when the world was similar to ours. We meet a young Patriarch, who's still a luddite, trying to save his beloved Blanchette from the catastrophe. He was an unpleasant character at the beginning; he was an even more unpleasant character in the middle; he was a pain in the a** at the end. So annoying because he's the only one who knows what to do and what's best for everyone.
So, there's a the big catastrophe, a lot of survival, some weird nanotechnology and a great ending. Really, the ending was perfect. It boosted my rating up one star, alongside the beautiful art.
Yep, not going to back anything by Magnetic Press in the future. I don't know how but they manage to translate into English the worst of the French BD.
At first, the authors bring us into a world where all modern knowledge is lost. There's a Patriach, who's a luddite and tries to stop every attempt at modernisation. There's another group of people who try to make things better for everyone.
Than flashback to what happened years before, when the world was similar to ours. We meet a young Patriarch, who's still a luddite, trying to save his beloved Blanchette from the catastrophe. He was an unpleasant character at the beginning; he was an even more unpleasant character in the middle; he was a pain in the a** at the end. So annoying because he's the only one who knows what to do and what's best for everyone.
So, there's a the big catastrophe, a lot of survival, some weird nanotechnology and a great ending. Really, the ending was perfect. It boosted my rating up one star, alongside the beautiful art.
Yep, not going to back anything by Magnetic Press in the future. I don't know how but they manage to translate into English the worst of the French BD.
January 17, 2023
The premise is compelling, but given the short space to explore the story, the author relies on some tropes and cliches to keep things interesting and moving forward. I have recently rediscovered Bande Dessinee (BD), which is published normally in large gorgeous panels. I read this digitally to take in the artwork, which is magnificent. It gets bloody rather quickly, in fact I almost feel there is not enough time for the characters to appreciate that society has collapsed before they start murdering their neighbors- although the author wants the reader to believe that our heroes are ahead of the curve. I would love for my two teenage boys to read it, but it's problematic handing someone a digital copy to read. They still prefer books and I'm resistant to reading BD digitally.
September 12, 2024
Ashes, Ashes. Jean-David Morvan
Intense, intelligent, post-apocalyptic French tale.
"Even if you survive today, you won't escape the revolution that's coming!"
"I'd like you to remember this day for the rest of your life.. the day I made you.. a star!"
"I have to get through.. no matter what.."
"Heading out in a group of just four of us would be risky. I'll find us some travel companies."
"This place reminds me of something.."
"One final trial.. to see if we're truly worthy to rejoin the world of the living."
Intense, intelligent, post-apocalyptic French tale.
"Even if you survive today, you won't escape the revolution that's coming!"
"I'd like you to remember this day for the rest of your life.. the day I made you.. a star!"
"I have to get through.. no matter what.."
"Heading out in a group of just four of us would be risky. I'll find us some travel companies."
"This place reminds me of something.."
"One final trial.. to see if we're truly worthy to rejoin the world of the living."
January 26, 2022
Great art but story and characters are a let down. Little explaining why the main charactera are the way the are and like another review says, you are left with more questions than answers at the end and not in a satisfying way.
December 18, 2021
A story about a dystopian future. It was slow and confused me at parts. Personally I would not recommend it.
April 30, 2022
The last page is great. The rest? Not so much.
January 8, 2023
Started out okay, after that it slowly went downhill until the end when it blew up entirely. A 2 is being generous.
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January 15, 2023Thought provoking
French survivalist leads group to safety and builds a Luddite society - packs a lot in 138 pages. There are some forgivable shortcuts - artwork and ideas keep it moving.
French survivalist leads group to safety and builds a Luddite society - packs a lot in 138 pages. There are some forgivable shortcuts - artwork and ideas keep it moving.
April 2, 2024
If you ever read The Walking Dead and thought, “this would be so much better if it were written by a sixteen-year-old with a fantasy of masculine perfection,” this book is for you. If you’re a normal person, you may find it silly. Art is great, though.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews