Geek Syndicate
The Review:
COMIC REVIEW - XIII Vol 10: El Cascador
Here we are again back in the Franco-Belgian comic scene courtesy of Cinebook, and what a corker I’ve got for you his time! The set up will be familiar to anyone who’s read, seen or heard of The Bourne Identity, which the unfailingly accurate Wikipedia cites as the direct inspiration for this incredible comic series. A man is washed ashore suffering from acute memory loss. As he tries to unravel the secrets of his past he faces danger, finds he has extraordinary skills and knowledge and, in the process, discovers he is embroiled in conspiracies of the highest level. Played by all sides for all kinds of reasons, he just wants to get to the truth about his past. How he does so is just the beginning of his epic story. I first came across this amnesiac mercenary about ten years ago when I picked up a Playstation 2 game called XIII. It was a first person shooter but it had a real style all of its own, using a comic-based graphic design and cel-shading technology, it had oodles of storytelling tricks and a plotline to die for. I never fully completed it (and have long since passed it on) but the opening scenes always stayed with me. I was excited to discover that the story was an adaptation of a comic book series and thrilled to be sent a volume for review. The fact that it is written by the spectacularly talented Jean Van Hamme puts the icing on the cake. However, the fact that this is Volume ten gave me pause for thought. Jean Van Hamme does a bang up job in bringing us up to speed from page one though. The whole saga is a long complicated story, and should ideally be read in order, but it was great to discover that everything I really need to know for the tale of ‘El Cascador’ is contained in this one volume. Sure there are mentions made of past events and one or two assumptions that have to be made about character relationships, but the quality of the writing makes that a pleasure, not a chore. The whole point of this kind of tale is unravelling the truth after all... The artist here is William Vance and he does a fabulous job throughout. His opening page has all the detail and realism of Philippe Francq’s work in Largo Winch, but with the added beauty of a painted skyscape against which the evil corporate empire stamps its mark. SPOILERS AHEAD! Once the big bad business boys have set up where McLane (a.k.a. XIII) is, we are plunged straight over to the hellish island prison of Roca Negra for a bit of hero-torture. Rain drenches the first twenty pages, dirtying up the action to cinematic effect. I have never seen the environment characterised to better effect, and the ensuing rescue mission beats the hell out of most POW movies. Once they’ve e