Written by: Stephen Desberg
Illustrations: Henri Reculé
Coloring: Kattrin
Publisher: Le Lombard
Cassio Het Rijk van de Herinneringen – Comic Book Review
Throughout history, mankind has always searched for one thing: eternal life. While this may sound like the perfect life, there are many sacrifices that come with it. Who would be prepared to live through all the misery mankind bestows on itself? Knowing what we know today, it’s hard to imagine surviving civil wars, world wars, famine and disease, and losing all our loved ones on the way. Nonetheless, that’s exactly the life Cassio leads, and he would, unlike many of us, do anything to be able to age and die just like everyone else.
Many centuries ago, in the year 145 B.C., four assassins kill Cassio. Lucky for him, his mother was the Egyptian goddess Armahl and gave him eternal life. She gave him the gift to heal himself from within. After waking up again, he leaves Rome and travels to Efeze, to start a new life there with his beloved Valeria. Cassio also has a brother Tessio, but while Cassio’s father was a knight, Tessio’s father was a god. Thus he believes that he is almighty and should rule the world. He is furious with his brother Cassio because because of him, his mother got punished and his father got captured. Hundreds of years pass, and everyone forgets about the ‘god’ named Tessio, which only feeds his rage, but now the time has come to get back at his brother, and gain control once and for all.
Het Rijk van de Herinneringen (The Realm of Memories) is told in a very interesting way. The panels shift from one period in time to the other without a warning, often literally ages away from each other. At first this might make the story hard to follow, but after a while you start to get a clearer picture of who the characters are and what their relationship is. It also keeps things very interesting as you will have to really pay attention to be able to get the whole picture.
It’s fun to see, given the overused topic, that the story is still very inventive. This story by Stephen Desberg is very decent and told in an interesting manner. The constant switch between present and past will keep you alert, while the strong storyline will never bore. Even though this issue is the last one of the series, the flashbacks provide ample information, which makes sure this album can very well stand on its own.
Henri Reculé’s illustrations match the story beautifully and add strength because of the strong lines, the use of shadows and the dark colors. The action is very well translated into the images and the movements almost seem to be real. The images speak so well for themselves that they add an extra dimension to the story, which makes it so much richer. In books, authors often use very long descriptions to set a certain mood, and that is exactly what these images do too.
At the very end of the comic book, there is an image of a painting, which was the inspiration for the whole Cassio series. It may not be much, but yet again it adds to the class this series radiates.
Conclusion
Cassio Het Rijk van de Herinneringen has a very strong storyline, as well as illustrations that fit the story beautifully and add atmosphere and extra depth. It’s a shame to see that this is the last one of the series, but nonetheless it is fair to say that this series ends on a high.
Cassio Het Rijk van de Herinneringen - Comic Book Review,
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