Review by Frank Plowright
Elmore and Flea are a thieving partnership in a steampunk world, with Elmore’s ingenious inventions ensuring a successful trade. As The Bombyce Network opens they pull off an exceptionally difficult robbery for what at the time they believe is no reward. Hoping to cut their losses they consider blackmail is the best use of what they’ve stolen, which turns out to be snuff movies. However, people involved in that kind of depravity aren’t the types to let anyone put one over on them, and what plays out becomes very dangerous and very complicated.
In France The Bombyce Network’s three act play over three volumes took an agonising twelve years to be issued, all the more infuriating for the first in 1999 winning the prestigious Canal BD Prix de libraires two years later. Happily, all three are combined in this English translation immediately notable for the way artist Cécil (Christophe Coronas) brings the period and its improvements to extraordinary life. Looking at the art, the puzzling aspect is not that the final volume appeared over eight years after the second, but the second volume being published a mere three years after the first. What first attracts the attention is the extraordinary, almost obsessive detail supplied in creating the locations, be they a city seen from above at distance, or the mechanics of a raised railway system. Many capable artists in that respect have trouble with action and movement, but Cécil’s skills extend beyond the scenery and backgrounds. The action flows and his people are not just drawn to look distinctive, but to reflect their circumstances, so Elmore is weary and worn, while the wealthy villains have a healthy appearance. There’s not an end to Cécil’s talents as the final volume is his work alone.
The remainder is written by Éric Corbeyran, who has an extensive track record in Franco/Belgian graphic novels. Given the way the cast are introduced there’s an inevitability to the way the opening volume plays out, but although predictable in some respects it surprises in others. The second volume reads a little better for introducing conflict between the main characters, one believing they should continue searching for fabled hidden loot, another more concerned with their immediate threat. There’s also the matter of unreciprocated love and what had previously been a strength becoming a fatal weakness when discovered by others. This is a more twisting and less predictable plot, and all the better for it.
When Cécil assumes total control for the finale he introduces political complications, giving The Bombyce Network greater depth, while continuing his extraordinary artistic vision. His incorporation of the past isn’t as smooth, although the story and motivations are understood without needing to know specific details and the eventually revealed tragedy is clear. Whether Cécil presents the ending readers will want is another question. What happens is consistent with both cast and events, but certainly messes with narrative expectations for this type of adventure. The feeling is that after twelve years Cécil had had enough.
His glorious art, though, elevates what might have been a better story.
