Discover a new planet with the children of Belzagor

While exploration science fiction is a hit on platforms, it is spreading in comics as shown by the recent release of Belzagor's children at Les Humanoïdes Associés.

A decolonized world

This dytic is the sequel to Return to Belzagor. The reader enjoys a new exploration in this former Earth settlement. In the previous series, the planet Belzagor had been returned to the two native species. The landscape remained very colonial with a new village and a settlers' farm. However, the rules are no longer dictated by the colonizers but negotiated with the natives. Modern communications are therefore forbidden because they disturb the natives.

The first boxes seem to show a planet returned to harmony. We observe forest landscapes, a volcanic eruption and then a female looks like a green elephant giving birth. But, this scene is actually not wild because these creatures communicate and worry. The next page is a brutal break with an Earthly ship arriving on this planet. Indeed, humans who came to plunder this territory made the choice to stay there to live peacefully. Seena and Eddie Gundersen are fully integrated into local life. Eddie has given local names to his twin twins and calls himself Gurugundy. He became a prophet of interplanetary recognition as he was initiated into some of the secrets of Belzagor. He communicates with the indigenous peoples and submits to the elephant chief. People come from far and wide to listen to his prophecies and hope for a miracle using local venom. However, Eddie refuses to lead and would prefer an egalitarian cult. The images, however, show a sect with submissive followers. Her life as a couple is nevertheless complicated because Seena accuses him of being a bad father and letting her do everything.

A tale of extraterrestrial action

Children of Belzagor is an adaptation of Robert Silverberg's The Depths of the Earth. The author is known to science fiction specialists for The Man in the Labyrinth and The Inner Ear. This sequel was written by screenwriters Bruno Lecigne and Sam Timel. The first is an author of a dozen popular novels and was publishing director at Les Humanoïdes Associés. He teamed up with Timel, a comic book writer known for Milan K. and Redhand. The drawings were entrusted to Adrien Villesange who started in cinema as a storyboarder before embarking on comics.

Together, they build an action narrative around strong characters. Kurtz is a woman leading a military squad. In the previous story, a dying man, Jeff Kurtz, stole the woman's body to survive. He is hated by the earthlings' ambassador on Belzagor who had married this woman. As in the first series, Kurtz hates Eddie but he came for him because this cult is, among other things, contrary to ancestral beliefs. He is also motivated by a greed to recover the venom that brings in convinced people from all over the world. In parallel, Eddie is chosen by the locals to carry out a mystical quest. The newborn baby at the beginning of the story bears marks indicating a curse. Eddie must take the cub to the Lands of Ice, and in exchange, the leader refuses to support Kurtz's mission.

The children of Belzagor launch a respectful sequel to Robert Silverberg's work by mixing science fiction, action and adventure. The authors also propose a reflection on decolonization and identity in a multicultural world.

You can find chronicles of science fiction releases at Les Humanoïdes Associés with the sequel l'Incal and Arkhé et Laïlah.