Oldman, the latest of Kotoji editions, is pointing the tip of his nose!
Oldman
Author: Chang Sheng Publisher: Kotoji Release date: 29/01/2016 Number of volumes: 4 in China, finished series Price: 7,95 € Synopsis: Early seventeenth century, in a distant kingdom. By taking in and raising orphans, the queen proves to her subjects that even the common people will one day be able to claim the crown. Years pass, and the queen, whose face should have been covered with wrinkles, finds a second youth. So what is the secret of its youth? The wizard OLDMAN, imprisoned by the queen, holds the answer to this secret.
Good things come to those who wait
Locked in his jail, the illusionist waits patiently… Billy Oldman, that's what he calls himself, and today from his graying cell, he waits for the queen with firm feet, to show her a trick she is not ready to forget. But who can be this prisoner who moves his highness in person? His majesty seems to be endowed with a limitless youth, and the magician would know its origin. While he has decided that it is time for him to bow out of the royal prison, the Queen tries by all means to stop him. But it's a wasted effort, Oldman disappears… In passing, he goes to recover an ally of weight: the one nicknamed the goddess of the battlefields, Rebbeca. Although she has been stripped of her legs and arms, the old man believes that the warrior has her role to play. He will then go to Vincent, the master anatomist. He is said to be as perverse as he is gifted, he may be able to return his lost limbs to Rebecca. 
Oldman takes place in a universe close to the medieval. There is a landscape and medieval costumes, but with some avant-garde touches for the time (a rifle for example). If the principle of taking an old man as a main character shocks, it is especially the events that take place after the escape of the magician that leaves me perplexed. He tries to make a living by offering his services to a theater but close to the castle. Although a few months have passed since his flight, his approach remains very risky. The rest seems inevitable… 
The least we can say is that the mystery surrounds Billy Oldman: he knows the secret of the queen, but we do not know if he wants her evil or that she repents. The drawing is very beautiful. The Western characters are made with great care and realism and the landscapes are very detailed. The narrative is captivating and the story follows one another with a certain fluidity. Now it remains to know where the author wants to take us and we will have to wait until May to know more (release date of the second volume).
