Masked: Anomalies

RATING:
Masked: Anomalies
Masked Anomalies review
SAMPLE IMAGE 
SAMPLE IMAGE 
  • UK publisher / ISBN: Titan Comics - 978-1-7827-6108-2
  • Volume No.: 1
  • Release date: 2012
  • English language release date: 2015
  • UPC: 9781782761082
  • Contains adult content?: no
  • Does this pass the Bechdel test?: no
  • Positive minority portrayal?: no

It’s a rare French graphic novel that deals with a superhero, but as the title of Masked indicates, that’s what’s on offer here, yet obliquely in what isn’t as straightforward as American superhero projects. For a start the superhero is an elusive, secretive figure able to evade visual capture, this opening volume is more the futuristic thriller, and the story is told from the viewpoint of people living in the Paris of the not too distant future.

Anomalies is the volume title, and they’ve occured in Paris, although the first anomaly we see is witnessed by Frank Braffort as UN peacekeeper in Georgia. He’s since quit the army and is living with his sister. Much is unfamiliar, not least holographic TV beamed city wide not giving viewers the means to switch it off. It’s a while before the anomalies are explained, but it’s clever and open to multiple interpretations.

Serge Lehman and Stéphane Créty create a profoundly uncomfortable environment, although the art can be extremely decorative in disguising that. Although set in France, Lehman’s interest is how humanity would react to a world that seems to be on the verge of irrevocable change. While it’s known to some extent what the anomalies are, their origins and purpose remain the province of speculation, but do the authorities know more than they’re letting on?

A beguiling mix of action interspersed with characters and concepts intended for the long term is phenomenally well drawn. It’s in the tradition of European adventure graphic novels, fully detailed and with distinctive characters, with Créty obviously given time which for English language superhero creators would be the stuff of dreams. The design is especially noteworthy, with Créty loving both external and internal architecture and with a penchant for retro-future creations.

This is an extremely persuasive scene-setting exercise, setting mysteries in motion and constantly prompting questions from readers, both on a story level and consideration of what kind of world we want in the future. It’s a very satisfying opener and continues in Rise of the Rocket.

Loading...