Review by Colin Credle
The Wall is inspired by French film director Antoine Charreyron’s screenplay concept. Charreyron began his career as art director of some rather famous video games, including Tomb Raider, Terminator 3 and Godzilla: Save the Earth, and was also an Assistant Director on the film Babylon A.D.. When The Wall failed to materialize into a film, he worked with Italian artist Mario Alberti to bring it to life as a graphic novel.
Alberti’s artwork is magnificent and well displayed on generous, European size pages, although in some spots, the landscapes are obscure and dark and it pays to read it under bright light to appreciate the detail. The setting evokes one of the industrial wastelands of the Bangladesh shipyards, where cargo ships are beached to be disassembled by an army of manual labourers. Earth is presented as a heap of debris wracked with disease, famine, drought, and abandoned machinery, while action sequences are reminiscent of Mad Max. Some scenes are well executed, while other confrontations are difficult to decipher and follow.
In the near future of The Wall, climate change results in the draining of the Mediterranean Sea. The wealthy have built a gated community called Eden elevated behind an insurmountable wall, guarded by an armed robot called Cerebrus and defended by piloted drones. Eden has its own power source, water and a beautiful lawn. At Eden’s grand opening, gathering the wealthy to retreat to their haven does not go as smoothly as founder Noah had intended. Just as they are about to board the elevators to Eden, stranded, starving refugees show up in numbers and armed soldiers cannot repel refugees dashing for the elevators. Not all the paid customers make it to Eden before it is shut off from the rest of the world.
Years later, we meet Solal, an orphan trying to survive with his mischievous younger sister Eva. Eva needs medicine to survive, and the medicine is now only available in Eden. To get behind the wall Solan joins forces with a ragtag group of unpredictable soldiers led by a warlord nicknamed “the Bastard.” What follows is their efforts to infiltrate Eden where Solal’s desperation serves him well.
The characters are well developed quickly. The French seem to have a skill for throwing in some sentimental affection under the worst of circumstances and in unexpected places, and this keeps The Wall interesting, human and believable. Where it drags is during those opaque action sequences that are hard to follow. The influence of film can be seen by how well the panels present the action flow, much like storyboards. Solal is a compelling hero and as much as he wants to save his sister, they still quarrel like siblings.
Solal’s adventures take an unexpected turn once he arrives in Eden, meeting Jen, who is not all she seems. Eden is not what he expected either and it’s perplexing how Solal’s handprint keeps opening high tech defensive barriers. Where did Solal obtain such access? Solal’s sister Eva also proves to know and possess more than we initially thought. It’s well worth the read to watch these events unravel buffeted by some great action pieces. When the viewpoint zooms in on the action and we lose perspective, both the story and the sequences suffer. Still, it reads well and would no doubt make a good high budget film.
