Nicholas (nwhyte) wrote,
Nicholas
nwhyte

Amoras: vol 1, Suske + vol 2, Jérusalem, by Charel Cambré & Marc Legendre

This comics series is described as a spinoff from the classic Flemish strip Suske en Wiske - but it's a bit odd to describe it as a spinoff when the main characters are the same, only a bit older than we are used to seeing them, in a comic aimed at the more mature reader than Suske en Wiske's target audience. Since it's set later in the characters' timeline than the mainsequence, one can't call it a prequel either. A "laterquel", perhaps?

Anyway, in the midst of a global ecological crisis (set in the present day), Suske and Wiske are accidentally propelled forward in time by Professor Barabas's machine to the island of Amoras in the year 2047 (they first met there in a strip published in 1947), where post-apocalyptic tribes are battling it out for control of, er, something, and the evil villain Krimson (also a staple of the main sequence) appears to be pulling the strings in both time settings. Suske becomes separated from from Wiske (who is gravely injured and apparently dead, though we know better) and falls in with Jérusalem, a violent and attractive young woman. Back in our timeline, Jerom attempts to rescue the kids and deal with the useless Lambik and hopeless Sidonia.

Despite having only a passing familiarity with Suske en Wiske, I caught a lot of the nods to the series' established characters though Wikipedia assures me that there are many more. Charel Cambré's art is really very good - moving the characters who are so familiar in ligne claire style forward to a more realistic (and more mature) portrayal. There is a particularly good sequence of a tsunami in the second volume, with Suske and Jérusalem clinging to a giant clock face as the waves rise and fall. It's not great literature, but I'll follow the series to the end.
Tags: bookblog 2015, comics, dutch, writer: charel cambre, writer: marc legendre
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