Review by Jamie McNeil

Yakari and the members of his Sioux tribe are following the buffalo herds during an unusual and oppressive heatwave. When the tribal medicine man He-Who-Knows calls for a halt, Yakari’s father disagrees and decides to continue moving, causing an argument with his closest friend Bold Crow. The escalating heat exacerbates tensions among the villagers and even the horses, until disaster strikes. The Fury from the Skies descends and tears through the camp, sweeping some individuals away into the air, including He-Who-Knows. As the tribe recovers, Yakari and the men of the village race against time to locate their friends.

During the 1990s, the creative duo of Derib (Claude de Ribaupierre) and Job (André Jobin) consistently produced Yakari stories that ranged from very good to exceptional. They evolved with their audience, noting that the narratives they crafted in the 1970s and 1980s would no longer appeal to children of the 1990s. Their stories adopted a darker tone and did not shy away from depicting death or perilous scenarios, but remained mindful that their target audience was children.

As it consistently was for previous albums, the artwork is outstanding, with Derib effectively portraying the stifling heat and mounting irritations. The dark skies and the tornado are both terrifying, Derib’s art dark and brooding, ensuring that the sense of impending danger builds steadily to a climax. His colourist Dominique expertly conveys the sweaty oppressive heat of the great plains, then illustrating the dark and dirty hues of a storm in full force, sweeping away all in its path. Derib’s scenes are good but at this stage Dominique is as vital a cog in the Yakari wheel as writer Job, and without the colourist the scenes would not appear so frightening or effectively capture the hope and relief of survival afterward.

Co-creator Jobin’s plotting is robust and, despite its predictability, features believable characters whether snapping at each other, interacting with a horse, or executing the comic solution to rescuing someone from a tree. The human cast is diverse, including Eyes-Always-Shut, the camp layabout, and Slow Motion, whose name reflects his perambulating pace, who add depth to the human dilemmas faced by the tribe in the aftermath of the tornado.

The Fury from the Skies is honest, intelligent, imaginative, adventurous, sweet, entertaining, and thoroughly captivating. Like all the grand and classic children’s stories and shows, there’s a life lesson to be learned, but it’s never preachy. This stands as one of Derib and Job’s best stories to date and certainly their most ambitious. At this stage, they were well-established and in their sixties. They could have settled into mediocrity, which would have been disappointing but understandable, as other creators have done so. Instead, they tapped into their audience and considerable skill and experience to deliver yet another masterpiece.

Next in the series is Yakari and the Pronghorns.