This first volume of the new 404 Graphic series, Big Under, offers an underground tour of the capital as collapses multiply. But all is not lost because Paris may be saved by a group of teenagers…
Big Under, a double tunnel in Paris
Big Under opens with a trip to the past in 1774. A district of Paris collapsed in ten months due to the dilapidated state of the old quarries and underground galleries. King Louis XVI charged Charles-Axel with solving this underground problem. For this, he founded the General Inspection of Quarries. We arrive suddenly in the spring of 2021 to discover the current offices of this administration. Like a miner, screenwriter Virgile Iscan builds two narrative threads for his first comic book. On the one hand, the reader of Big Under discovers Antoine, an engineer at the General Inspection of Quarries. This administration is now totally neglected. Everyone is losing interest in this service, which is essential to prevent Paris from collapsing in on itself. During a routine mission, Antoine leaves with three colleagues to study the landslides that occurred in the underground galleries. Their concern rises by noticing that these events are multiplying and that they are located in very particular historical locations.
On the other hand, a high school student, Sonia, cannot concentrate on her classes. She does not think especially of her friends and especially of Sophie who does not give any news. Sophie, daughter of Pierre-Guillaume Alain-Serré, current director of the General Inspection of Careers, has disappeared. Sonia decides to gather her gang to investigate: Dez, Berry and Kim.
These two stories will dive into the heart of the subsoil that could prove to be much more complex than a simple geological basin. Big Under holds many mysteries to the point that the first few pages can seem confusing. There is a dull threat that rises leading to collapses of the Parisian soil, Sonia's worry, the nightmare of a young girl… Throughout the pages, the reader of Big Under finds the light in the tunnel. These nightmares probably come from Sophie. She lost her mother and has been traumatized ever since. These pages gradually help to understand where and what the disappeared woman is doing.
This mystery is also characteristic of the rarely visited basement. Big Under even becomes esoteric by describing a local legend and alluding to Freemasonry. In the second part, teens even see fantastic appearances. Strangely, they are not surprised or surprised. Big Under is then close to the soap operas Belphegor or The companions of Baal.
Big Under, a Parisian breakfast
By highlighting Sonia, the first volume of Big Under becomes a touching analysis of a teenager of today. She puts her father in her place when he just wants to take an interest in her. A feminist skater, she is a fan of her Ewing sneakers. A typical teenager, she gets upset when her friends disagree with her. They relativize Sophie's disappearance while Sonia worries about the lack of answers to her calls and texts. When she goes to her friend's house, her father avoids the problem.
Sonia is not isolated, but Big Under portrays a group of modern teenagers. The group is in its last year of high school. They complain about these ultimate constraints before freedom in the superior. The search for Sophie is their last childhood adventure. Dez is very butch with his short hair and piercings. The moviegoer immediately thinks of John Hughes' Breakfast Club where John Bender would be Dez the punk, Berry finds himself with Brian. The tribute is assumed because the back cover parodies the poster of the film.
Cartoonist Alex Nieto adds sweetness to the adventures of Big Under. Its very round drawing adds very few lines. We can notice his research work on the outfits of his characters by the sketches at the end of the volume. The impression of harmony is amplified by colorist Fabiana Mascolo who adopts solid color ranges without effect. She challenges the dominant codes by proposing a very luminous past.
The first volume of Big Under is a successful dive into the mysteries of a city and a group of teenagers. In a very bright setting by Alex Nieto, Virgile Iscan offers a beautiful adventure story where high school students play detectives but without having the experience of a private.
Big Under is the second creation of 404 after Mundus that we reviewed here as well as Dunce from the same publisher.
