Written by: Jean-Christophe Chauzy
Illustrations: Jean-Christophe Chauzy
Coloring: Jean-Christophe Chauzy
Publisher: Casterman
De Rest van de Wereld #2 Na de ramp – Comic Book Review
With the second and already last part of ‘De Rest van de Wereld’, we’re thrown back into an apocalyptic scenario where the World is seemingly coming to an end, not by zombies, aliens or another supernatural event, but rather by our Earth itself. Giant earthquakes and storms have caused Marie and her family to go through many hardships, and when they finally found a safe haven, it was slowly becoming infected by poverty and our natural human greed that caused many people to die, simply to make sure the ‘leading few’ would have enough food and other commodities to survive. Making a break for it, Marie, her two sons and a young ally are once again on their own.
Overall the story follows the same trajectory as it did in the first issue, but resources are running out, people are turning more feral, and of course, a woman and her two sons and another young friend aren’t immediately safe from looters. After staying in a town that somewhat resembled a community, things went sour again, as the ‘strong’ had been wiping out those they felt were useless, in order to save up food and other materials. Again, the family, plus one, are on their own, and with snowfall in September, surviving becomes even harder. When they encounter an old lady, who states they should avoid towns if they want to survive, they follow her advice, but sometimes it feels like they can’t go on like this.
The pace of this series is rather hard to describe, and this album in particular might be the hardest. The situation of Marie and her children is already properly laid out in issue one, and thus now there’s more time to spend on their survival as well as their goal(s). People who flip through this issue simply to read the story and moderately enjoy the illustrations will take not much longer than a normal comic book, but those who like to study the illustrations properly will have enough ‘additional’ content to explore. This diptych is very good in using the power of suggestion, thus not focusing that much on things that go on around the main characters, but from time to time, Jean-Christophe Chauzy lifts the veil and allows us to let things sink in properly.
Illustration-wise things haven’t changed all that much, except for the characters that have become wearier, and the weather outside has shifted to a more winter-ish setting. The latter causes the light to fade even more, and makes things even more bleak. You’ll be treated to a very detailed setting, with the environments being of a rather stellar quality, especially when you start watching the details, you’ll find surprises hither and thither. The colors are fairly dull, adding to the overall grim atmosphere of this album. All of this in combination with the somewhat rough outlines of every drawing, makes ‘De Rest van de Wereld’, a tragic, yet interesting adventure.
Conclusion
De Rest van de Wereld #2 Na de ramp is one of those series that proves to be extremely sad and grim, but compelling at the same time. This is a tale about survival, in a scenario that’s not completely unthinkable, and it shows patterns of how human beings would act in many disastrous scenarios, scenarios that are currently pestering our world. The overall apocalyptic scenario, with a hefty dose of realism makes this series strike closer to home than you’d initially expect. If you’re in the mood for a story, without too much text, that is still able to overwhelm you, this series is worth looking into.
De Rest van de Wereld #2 Na de ramp - Comic Book Review,
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