Proposed by 404 Comics, the very personal series of Chris Samnee and Laura Samnee arrives halfway. Discover in the chronicle how the two sisters manage to survive in this ravaged world of Jonna.
From the belly of the earth…
As soon as you open the book, you are surprised by the quality of the edition. Everything is designed to provide the reader with a pleasure of reading. In this new chapter, writers Chris and Laura Samnee take direct continuation of the previous volume: Nomi, a woman with a metal arm and Gor, her companion with a scarred face argue because a monster has destroyed their haven of peace and the precarious community they had formed. Meanwhile, the two young heroines of the series, Rainbow and Jonna, dated one of the survivors.
The trio enters a cave that leads them to an underground city. These young girls, faced with adversity, will emancipate themselves, showing the need to find their place in today's cruel world. The arrival of Rainbow is far from warm because, without money, she feels hungry. Indeed, the danger comes more from men than monsters. Some want to take advantage of Jonna's warrior skills who does not fear wrestling as it proves during a gladiatorial fight. The two are resourceful and they love each other, support each other and make their deep differences complementarity. The eldest can speak while Jonna emits only grunts. The eldest comes to save the youngest but Jonna is far from passive in the escape… This volume is thus conceived as a variation of the biblical account of Jonah in the whale. Returning to the center of the earth, the two sisters discover Jonna's origins and parentage. As in the original text, the heroines will have to confront their inner self. The girls discover the incubation place of monsters and much more in a last page that makes you want to read more quickly.
…Outwards
In the middle of the book, the heroines leave the city and discover a new setting in the open air. The series regains an ecological dimension: a man practices sustainable fishing and Jonna's actions ravage an entire space of nature. Light is not synonymous with freedom but with new dangers because monsters are more numerous. There are certainly fights but without blood, and humor defuses the gravity of the situation making Jonna a book accessible to all ages. Jonna is also a drawing lesson by Chris Samnee and colorist Matthew Wilson. If there is little text, each box is full of meaning. A double-page is not merely illustrative but we see the wanderings of Rainbow in this unknown cave city in search of food. Do not read his adventures in the middle of the day because the various foods furiously make you want to eat. The excessive onomatopoeias make the sounds feel. The faces are very expressive but without any caricature: Jonna's rage on her face is impressive. Chris Samnee knows how to feel the differences in scale between tiny humans and gigantic monsters.
Chris Samnee and Laura Samnee feared a downturn in this volume 2. It is not. Jonna always charms the reader with the alliance between the visual splendor and the humanity of her heroines. We will be there to talk to you about the finale of this saga scheduled for January 2023.
You can find on these links a chronicle of the first volume as well as on We Live a series on children but much more adult.
