Edited by Delcourt, Sélénie offers a totally unexpected journey: you take a one-way trip to the Moon by the grace of a technology worthy of Jules Vernes. Here is a magical and unique comic in the releases of 2021.
A strange apocalypse
In the bunker of a ruined city, a robot wakes up and mechanically fulfills its mission: to check that the air is breathable. This beginning without dialogue sets up a strange atmosphere by being content with the recorded comments of the human masters of this machine. However, once the message is conveyed, the narrative passes seamlessly on the Moon in huge glass bubbles. Indeed, Earth was conquered by an alien and the survivors found refuge under this dome. They live there locked up and refuse to go out. But when a ship arrives on Earth's satellite, three young people, Verne, Méliès, and Selenie, go to discover the occupants of this ship… and their past. At the moment when the robot Monsieur Cacochyme, guardian of the prince and protector of the city, tells a story to Méliès, the reader discovers the past of the Earth. The delinquent alien, Antacycles has used his technological advance to build an empire. He seems to achieve this through a nuclear war when two intergalactic policemen, Doria and Magis, come to intercept him. They will marry earthlings and Selenie, Méliès and Verne are their descendants. These mixed extraterrestrial and human women have talents that they do not yet know although Selenia has become the Empress of the Moon. However, this post-apocalyptic future is far from the usual depressive narratives because humor is very present… and often hit the nail on the head. These jokes are spread in the script – a robot sneezes to analyze the air – in the dialogues – Maître Gims is perceived as a great poet – and in the images.
A story full of mysteries
Like the far side of the moon, Selenia holds many mysteries. When the survivors left Earth, the war evolved without them and the atmosphere purified but no one knows about the Moon. What for? Some characters know much more than they say and have been for a very long time. The script also hides its themes. Selenia is possibly a metaphor for the current closure of the France. Initially, the government was divided into two camps. The princess and Monsieur Cacochyme refuse to leave the bubble to protect themselves. In front of them, the young Méliès wants to return to Earth because he feels locked up and the scientist Monsieur Charpin wants to experiment. A skilled eye will be able to see among others as staircase decoration the iconic moon of the filmmaker or The Arzach of Moebius in a frame.
A formerly futuristic universe
With Sélénie, we are not far from the science fiction of thetwenty-first century but Fabrice Lebeault here both scriptwriter and cartoonist appropriates old visions of the future. Already present in his previous series Horologion, we find a French science fiction of the early twentieth century as explicit references to Méliès and Verne for two main characters. In addition, the inhabitants are called Selenites as in The Journey to the Moon. The author has a very light and round drawing that can be reminiscent of Winsor McCay's Little Nemo or Turf's The Nave of Fools. Fabrice Lebeault also shows great originality in every detail of this strange universe. You can walk on the moon with seahorses whose tail serves as a spring. The robots are not made of metal but have soft, white flesh. Androids building a road do not have a head because their face is on their stomach. Even more successful, Monsieur Cacochyme is a white robot with a crescent moon head that never loses its phlegm. Lunar creatures with very poetic names are both menacing and funny. The graphic notebook at the end of the volume by the artist's comments helps to illuminate the creation of characters and creatures. This great graphic inventiveness is so successful that we are sad to leave this promising universe at the end of this complete story in one volume. Selenia is a totally lunar title both literally and figuratively. This retro-futuristic story plunges the reader into the world of Jules Verne or George Méliès. The amazing ending of the story will be a brutal but frustrating shock because the reader only wanted to continue this magnificent journey. You can also enjoy other strange journeys by chronicles on The Escapee of C.I.D. Island and Fallen World.
