Alone v7: “The Lowlands”

Survival makes strange bedfellows…

The Credits That Walled In a City

An Action Thriller

I said in my review of the previous volume that the writer, Fabian Vehlmann, is good at giving solid visuals to the series artist, Bruno Gazzotti, to spice up even the most visually-uninteresting talking heads scenes.  There’s always something going on during them, or an interesting location to make the page worth paying attention to beyond just the word balloons.

He does more of that again in this issue, but those moments are further and fewer between. This book is half tense thriller and half action romp.  The kids are all trying to get the heck out of the Red Zone, and will use everything at their disposal to do it.

The complicating factor is the return of lots of the dead kids in a zombie-like state, their skin pale and their eyes blood red.  They approach slowly in a pack, covered in a foggy mist. It’s a great visual everywhere they go, from city streets to playgrounds to building rooftops.

As with many action romps, the kids often reach their objective only to have the rug pulled out from under them.  They have to regroup and choose a new course in a hurry to keep going.  This book is a real page turner that way.

Your Enemy, Your Friend

The interesting thing about Saul is how he ping pongs between friend and sadistic villain with such speed.  Part of that has to do with the rigors of staying alive and learning the secrets behind what’s going on in this new world.  If someone can help you with those two things, they’re a worthy ally.

Part of it is just the fickleness of youth.  Memories run short, and immediate needs often take precedence over long term planning.

But, still, I’d hate to find out that all the tagging from the prior volume was for naught.  Are we going to sweep that under the rug so quickly?  I have this funny feeling that we haven’t seen the end of Villainous Saul…

In the meantime, Vehlmann’s script takes a moment or two in this book to show us the differences and similarities between Dodzi and Saul.  They’re both leaders of people, but with different styles.  Neither one is exactly 100% right.  They come at their roles from different angles and their attitudes are wildly different.

Give Saul credit: He’s aware of that.

It’s not at all the usual villain’s spiel about “We’re more alike than you’d care to admit.”  He recognizes that they’re different people, but also that they’re trying for the same thing.  Dodzi might not like Saul’s ideas, but there’s merit in them.

Saul’s big downfall is his personality — he’s cocky and too sure of himself.  He goes to the extreme solutions perhaps too quickly.  He’s a charismatic leader in a very subdued way.  He sucks people in.

Dodzi is more frantic, less sure, but more well-reasoned. People believe in him because they see that he’s a good guy and that he has good solutions.

Seeing the two of them working together and trying to solve their mutual problems made for a great book.  Plus, there’s always the underlying tension of, “When will Saul flip to his normal bad self again?”

Reaching My Breaking Point

Much like television shows like “The Prisoner” and “Lost”, this series has always relied on its grand mysteries to keep people coming back for me.  Vehlmann and Gazzotti constantly tease things, but provide no answers.

(Unless that’s the answer?  Vehlmann returns to that theory in this book…)

I’m starting to reach my breaking point on that with this volume, however. I need some answers.  Vehlmann is still adding new things without explanations past “They’re scary and the kids will run from them.”

It makes for immediately entertaining action sequences and some character bits, but I need something deeper.

It’s time to start showing some cards.

The big cliffhanger for this volume might promise that.  But, then, I’ve been suckered in by that before.

Recommended?

Yes.  I’m starting to reach a certain frustration with the lack of answers. We’ve all been burnt too many times by stories that drag on and promise big things and hold the mystery for too long.  It leads up to an ending that inevitably disappoints.  I have some worries in that department.

However, I still like the kids and the art gets better with every book. (Someone please release an English version of “Soda“!) The action sequences are fun and the kids’ desperation feels real.

I’ll just engage in some blatant “sunk cost fallacy” here and stick with it.  I’ve read this far.  I’m not ready to give up yet.  At this point, Vehlmann will have to drop a twist that makes no sense to really turn me off.

— 2018.096 —

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Bonus Panel: “Alone” is Smurfy!

I love that this reference is well known enough in France that it can be name-checked without explanation.