Did you think the future would be green and peaceful? Failed, Gurvan shows that war will be cosmic and eternal… to the point of forgetting the causes of the conflict. What would happen if a soldier discovered the reality of war?
The story of the beginnings of a warrior
The world has changed a lot in the future proposed by Gurvan. We are no longer born why but the eponymous hero is a clone soldier of the Earth Coalition produced by a machine in a Matérédu. It must be said that the context is totally controlled by the military. Scientists select the genes of the best fighters of the past to create the best soldiers. The size of interceptor pilots is adapted to the cockpits of spacecraft while ground troops are short-tempered but disciplined. The career and destiny of human beings are decided from the design stage by artificial intelligence. Babies are tested and euthanized in case of default. The people, thus created, are then trained to become effective weapons of war.
In a highly standardized world, Gurvan is different. Endowed with the genes of an interceptor pilot, he understands the theory but fails miserably in war conditions. At each sortie, he avoids death without succeeding in shooting down an enemy ship. Yet he was totally convinced by the social organization and the merits of war. His friends laugh at his naivety. Sybal is more realistic about the limits of their society. By efficiency, clone models have only four faces. Sex with female soldiers is prohibited. Sybal nevertheless wants to enjoy life before she dies. Indeed, soldiers rarely survive after seven years of fighting. Those who make it get a retreat to a landed colony.
Gurvan is a dreamer convinced that this dream will save him. He wants to survive to leave the fake world of war and find nature on Earth. However, the first confrontation collapses his ideal. War makes no sense and gradually, comics show the reality behind the propaganda. The model but not very talented pilot goes out of the protocol: he makes the mistake of wanting to understand. It is the encounter with an enemy soldier that will shake Gurvan's certainties.
Gurvan or pacifist science fiction
Gurvan marks the new co-publication of Humanoïdes Associés and Critic editions , which bring out the titles of the Black River Anticipation series. This new release is based on the novel by P.-J. Hérault, one of the first works of antimilitarist space opera. The adaptation is by screenwriter Mathieu Mariole. By his talent, the tension does not come from a possible victory but from Gurvan's investigation: what does this conflict really hide? Following the revelation, the story reflects on free will: what is the innate part and what is our share of freedom?
Gurvan initially presents a smiling fascism. The clones, all coming from the same matrix, are equal. Natural selection becomes scientific eugenics. The differences no longer exist and everyone wears the uniform of his unit at all times. Survival depends on solidarity. We can also think of the Roman legion where the poorest of the Romans could obtain at the end of their service a land in the provinces.
By the choices of colorist Hugo S. Facio, this optimistic face of evil is very well rendered : the colors are soft, soothing and realistic. The designer Livia Pastore has a classic style where we find a lot of detail in the background and in the realistic shapes of the faces. Their roundness contrasts with Gurvan's point. This can be seen in the research on the characters and ships proposed in the sketchbook at the end of the book.
Gurvan is a very dense narrative. Not only are the adventures numerous, but the portrait of a clone looking for his way takes its time to offer a science fiction moment alternating action and reflection. A great success for this new co-edition.
Find on the site the chronicles on Hitler's Last Secret, another work by the screenwriter Mariole and The Children of Belzagor, another work of science fiction at Les Humanos.
