The Hollow Grounds

Francois Schuiten is one of the most accomplished artists working in the field. This handsome trade paperback reunites three graphic novels that comprise the Hollow Grounds cycle.Worth mention is the excellent arguments by his brother Luc. CARAPACES - Actually a collection of six stories that displays Schuiten's versatility, experimenting with a series of techniques. ZARA - Zara is a vertical planet inhabited entirely by woman that never experimented "conventional" sex with men.After the arrival of invaders with "vines" below their waists, things take a bizarre and often amusing turn.Zara is a marvelous blend of satire, adventure and science fiction that should appeal for fans of trippy european comics. NOGEGON - Another baroque, amazing and wild adventure.This time a character from Zara goes in search of a missing friend and becomes embroiled in a plot involving symmetry and murder.

These stories are all set in an odd world in an odd future. The first story, Shells, is a post-apocalypse. People defend themselves in full body armor at all times, even in making love. "Crevice" gives an odd echo to The Matrix, where an all-sustaining computer must itself be sustained by human company, but with a happy ending. "Olive" is another story, in a very different visual style, about a world governed by strange forces. After those disconnected short stories in the beginning, the Schuitens give us a longer tale. Men and women live in segregated societies, then rediscover each other. The result is ... well, you'll just have to read it. The artwork is skilled and subdued. Figures are carefully drawn. The stories move well, from one turn to the next, without big fights and other cliched tricks. There's occasional nudity - this is not a comic book for little kids. It's thoughtful and lyrical. It's also a DC venture. For years, DC was the stodgy comic house, sticking to their superheroes in capes. DC still sells Superman and that crowd, but also sells the Vertigo line and books like these. I'm glad to see that DC's range of offerings has matured to match their readership. "Hollow Grounds" doesn't blaze new trails in visual storytelling, but it's well drawn and well told. I've never been aware of the Schuitens before, but I'll be watching for them now. //wiredweird