#lying and scheming

[ahb-writes]

Comics Review: Trapped on Zarkass

Trapped on Zarkass by Yann, Didier Cassegrain

action

offworld

scifi

terraforming

My Rating: 4 of 5 stars

Marcel Dorcel is a convicted criminal with three exes, a mind that's keen on identifying political subterfuge, and enough experience surviving the wilds of Zarkass that she makes for the best (worst) tour guide one could hope for. In her own words, "just because I'm ballsy doesn't mean I'm stupid." But then again, if one were not relying on Marcel to ford the wilds during the apparent crumbling of the local human outpost, then who?

TRAPPED ON ZARKASS is exquisitely colorful and richly indecent, what with its focus on an odd-couple pair who is absolutely terrible at doing precisely whatever it is they're supposed to be doing. Marcel is the guide and bodyguard; Louis Doisy is an entomologist sent undercover from the local human government. Louis is supposed to be investigating the wreckage of an unnamed adversary's ship, but as often happens in sci-fi exploits, the woman has her own agenda at hand. En totem, navigating jungle flora, all the while surviving encounters with giant spiders, carnivorous butterflies, and hostile populations of roach-people puts this duo on high alert from cover to cover.

One imagines the task of surviving a mysterious planet of hostile others would be equally exciting and terrifying, and TRAPPED ON ZARKASS delivers on both accounts. Is tracking down and investigating an intergalactic crash site on a wayward Earth colony worth the effort? After dropping into the luscious greenery, all bets are off.

Not to say the story makes it easy for these characters to have a good time. Marcel is crass and butch and doesn't really give a shit, but she's a felon who can't quit digging a deeper grave for herself. If she and her partner can pull off this mission, then she'll sleep in a real bed for the first time in 20 years. Louis is snotty and upper-class, but her ambition tends to outweigh any sense of danger lurking over the next cliff. A person with a secret agenda and with nothing to lose tends to harbor the most gall. Marcel and Louis hate each other from the outset, but if they're going to survive the bush and make it back to civilization before everything turns to crap, then they must swallow the irritation they have for one another, one thorny affront at a time.

TRAPPED ON ZARKASS is a beautiful book and demonstrates the best character art many contemporary European comics have to offer: angular but dimensional character designs that don't take up more space than they need to; brilliant and moody coloring; environmental designs and background artwork with layers of informational detail; compelling character expressions that never give away too much. Cassegrain has a style that offers comfort and order on one level (e.g., balanced page composition, smart character blocking) and desirable anarchy on another (e.g., designing messy and dangerous slums, ruins, battle sequences, caverns).

One finds it difficult to disassociate the comic's superlative design quality from its narrative spectacle. For example, it's one thing for readers to come across a lying and scheming indigenous queen and her chosen warrior, but it's another thing entirely to see the warrior stride into frame while mounting a massive cicada and wielding a war axe. It's one thing for readers to learn the local roach-people use the mucus of large lion-caterpillars to protect their skin, but it's another thing entirely to see the locals grieve the loss of their partner-beasts, then throw themselves to their death, glimpsing the emerald splendor of this far away planet for a final, sharp, and fleeting moment.

The book's flaws are niggling but not imperceptible. Notably, Marcel's attitude vacillates unpredictably between caustic foolery and optimistic thuggery. The woman knows more about the planet Zarkass and its dangers than anyone around, but constantly berates the locals and draws ire from her allies. Her insults are hilarious (e.g., "snotty vagsack," "holy ovum," "deadballs," "bloody vulva"), but the butch woman's intense love-hate relationship with the universe makes for seesaw storytelling. As for Louis, the woman is a good foil, but her apparent knack for having helpful visions of next-step adventuring feels too contrived to be effective. Louis is funny because she's absolutely the last person one would want to rough it with in the bush; but perhaps that's the point. Nevertheless, TRAPPED ON ZARKASS wrings from its pages a tale of otherworldly sci-fi in which suspiciously opportunistic people from very odd, awkward, and asynchronous points of origin strive for survival.

❯ ❯ Comics Reviews || ahb writes on Good Reads

[crowlixcx]

[canisalbus]

To me, Machete kind of has the energy of a secondary villain/coldhearted side character in someone else's story that a lot of fans latch onto, moreso than the protagonist. Question is, would he be the villain in anyone's story?

Why, thank you! I'm actually glad to hear he gives off that vibe. I don't think he set out to become a villain but a lot of people certainly view him as one.

[melljam]

gitae is back as well !!!

[silusvesuius]

also i know artf*ght is essentially art trades for people with no social skills where it's not even guranteed you'll get something in return but people need to ditch that Conglomerate and just ask people to art trade like real men.

[mewtillidae]

posting a kremy every single day until new episodes of OUAW are out DAY 24

[themoonofblueside]

it's just so funny that ned is like "sigh i hate southron politics there is no one to trust i miss winterfell i belong to the north" while in adwd the north is like. fifteen different conspiracies for a different heir, at least two houses with associated with cannibalism or flaying people, everyone hating each other, not a single family united for the same cause or even same side, vengeance ideas that would make oberyn martell weep-

[deathandnonexistentialdread]

Kant becoming a car thief because of Style's infodumping about car parts and their values. Kant stealing cars but still treating them with care because Style taught him the basics of dealing with cars.

Style looking after Babe when Kant ends up arrested. Kant asking Style why he is not angry with him. Kant and Style still maintaining their friendship and closeness despite everything.

The fact that Kant stole cars while having a mechanic bff and Kant being very open to Style about the Captain's dirt on him regarding the car thefts is very interesting.

[grantmentis]

Takeover Tour Destination Guide: Boston Fleet in Seattle

[puppppppppy]

its so hard to watch time pass when things like careers and assignments exist. what do you mean im supposed to take that seriously

[horizon-penblade-art]

has anyone done this yet

[image ID: drawings of gem versions of the hermitcraft recap team. pix is a dumortierite, sloy/zloy is an unakite, and lyarrah is an anyolite.]

[likeadog]

shinsou brainwashes midoriya to calm down his rampaging quirk and then releases it bc hes a good sport and wants to fight honorably and monoma immediately jumps midoriya as if he wasnt just writhing in agony. truly his haterism is off the charts

[saturnniidae]

Some changeling & troll!Jim headcannons

Morgana had been considering making changelings for years, it wasn't a sudden idea; it was something she'd been planning for a long time

She even discussed it with Merlin at one point (under the guise of wanting to better 'unite' humans and trolls), and he proposed the idea of humans turning into trolls instead of vice-versa.

This is where the concept for the half-troll potion came from. What Jim became was essentially a modified version of a failed recipe for changelings that Merlin kept around in case it ever became useful.

Jim wasn't the first half-troll, he was just the first successful one. There was a chance it could've gone horribly wrong (as it has in past attempts) but Merlin took the risk anyway since he saw it working in his vision.

The reason Morgana's version always ended with better results was due to dark magic and Merlin's outright refusal to go there.

Because they were on a time crunch, Merlin substituted some of the rarer ingredients common in transfiguration potions with material from a preexisting changeling.

All they know about the bone used in the potion was that it came from a changeling. They never learned who, or what kind of troll they were, And subsequently have no clue as to what species of troll Jim was partially turned into. And Merlin didn't ever feel like helping them figure it out even though he probably could've with relative ease.

If they had more time for him to work on the potion, and if Merlin actually measured his ingredients instead of throwing them all in a blender, Jim probably would've come out less wonky (an even amount of fingers, among other things).

[daveythezompire]

spent all day on him and idk if hes any good

[eraserheadadult]

really underrated aya moment

[gardenstatetait]

Blocked, but also true Im going through life like this