Written by: Serge Le Tendre
Illustrations: Jérôme Lereculey
Coloring: Stambecco
Publisher: Le Lombard
Golias #4 Met de Dood in het Hart – Comic Book Review
The Greek mythology is something that, although it is several thousands of years old, still appeals to the imagination. There was lots of jealousy and intrigue among the gods, which always makes for very interesting stories. These gods didn’t only care about themselves though, as they were each responsible for different things in human life. Some even protected humans, or fell in love with them. Golias for example, the hero of this story, is protected by Artemis, daughter of Zeus and goddess of the hunt.
Golias and his friends are at sea when suddenly a heavy storm breaks loose and they crash into the cliffs. Luckily the fog soon lifts, and they see land ahead. When everybody is safe on the shore, Golias realizes that they have found the land they have been looking for: the island Ankinoë. Golias is prince of Ankinoë and should have been king by now, but his uncle Polynos killed his father claiming the throne and blaming Golias for his father’s death. Now Golias is determined to take revenge and become king. He plans to do that by using the mirror of truth, which will uncover Polynos’ scam, but when Artemis takes the mirror from him, he will have to find another way to unveil the truth.
When suddenly they see a young woman in the woods, chased by two centaurs, running for her life, Golias and his friends don’t hesitate one second and kill the centaurs. The woman, Versalis, is very grateful and joins them in their attempt to get closer to the city, and thus to Polynos. Unfortunately, by saving Versalis, they don’t only have Polynos and his men to worry about, but also the centaurs, who are out for revenge.
This issue is already the fourth album in the Golias series, written by Serge Le Tendre, which means that we jump in right in the middle of the story, in full action. They are caught in the middle of a storm, thus from the beginning their life is in danger. Despite it being the fourth issue, it is quite easy to follow the storyline, even without having read the former issues, as there is quite some information available.
The rest of the story is somewhat quieter and straightforward. We mainly see how Golias tries to come up with a plan against his uncle, and how he wishes to execute it. This is alternated with scenes where we see king Polynos get ready for battle, as well as scenes that show that the centaurs will soon be taking their revenge as well. The excitement doesn’t come so much out of Golias’ storyline, but is more due to these in between scenes, which show something is at hand, without Golias knowing.
All illustrations by Jérôme Lereculy look quite spiffy. The characters are drown with much care, showing off their muscular bodies. Lereculy often uses small strokes to emphasize facial expressions and body structure. The backgrounds are less detailed and are also often drawn with short strokes. Nonetheless, Stambecco’s coloring makes up for that, using many different shades to achieve beautiful looking skies, seas, forests and so on. The use of shadows also adds to the series’ nice look.
Other than that, the panels are arranged in an original way, sometimes overlapping, sometimes using clean edges and at other times just fading out. This is a fun way to make the comic book look more interesting.
Conclusion
Golias #4 Met de Dood in het Hart is the last issue of this cycle, thus already promising some kind of ending. Golias’ adventure wasn’t over yet, and his fight for the throne is depicted in a nice way, in which Stambecco’s coloring certainly contributed. The story itself is quite straightforward, without losing its interesting features. And of course, where gods are involved, you never know what the outcome will be.
Golias #4 Met de Dood in het Hart - Comic Book Review,
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