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Meka #1-2
Meka
In a future where civilization is defended by giant, humanoid vehicles known as "Meka," two pilots learn to deal with the consequences of their actions and the price of their unquestioning dedication to military duty as their vehicle is incapacitated in the center of a once-thriving city now turned interplanetary war zone!
Written by international creative powerhouse JD Morvan (Sillage, Zaya) and illustrated by French sensation Bengal (Meka, Luminae), this volume collects both books in the celebrated French BD series - "Inside" and "Outside" - into a single collected album, translated in English for the first time.
Written by international creative powerhouse JD Morvan (Sillage, Zaya) and illustrated by French sensation Bengal (Meka, Luminae), this volume collects both books in the celebrated French BD series - "Inside" and "Outside" - into a single collected album, translated in English for the first time.
96 pages, Hardcover
Published September 30, 2014
About the author
Jean-David Morvan
483 books65 followersJean-David Morvan is a French comic author, best known as the creator of the Sillage/Wake series.
After studying arts at the Institut Saint-Luc in Brussels, he first tried being a graphic artist, but eventually settled for writing instead.
His main series are 'Spirou and Fantasio', 'Sir Pyle' and 'Merlin', all with José Luis Munuera, and 'Sillage', with Philippe Buchet.
After studying arts at the Institut Saint-Luc in Brussels, he first tried being a graphic artist, but eventually settled for writing instead.
His main series are 'Spirou and Fantasio', 'Sir Pyle' and 'Merlin', all with José Luis Munuera, and 'Sillage', with Philippe Buchet.
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
October 22, 2014
I liked the twist on the giant robots fighting themes, like what really happens to your town when two opposing robot armies make it their battlefield. Also not sure if this is a continuation from another book but I had no problem jumping into this story. Give it a shot if you like robot armor magna books.
**thanks Netgalley for a digital copy of this in exchange for an honest review**
**thanks Netgalley for a digital copy of this in exchange for an honest review**
October 14, 2014
1st reactions: I'm not a fan of this art style for action heavy books like this one. During fights scenes I had NO idea what was going on because the art was so sketchy. I freaking adore giant human piloted robots fighting aliens, but I've seen it done much better than this. There wasn't anything WRONG with the plot, it was just kinda meh, nothing too amazing. It was much gorier than I expected and kind of took me off guard, but I think it worked well with the pastel color palette.
March 26, 2015
What happens to people when mecha come and fight on their planet? What happens after the mecha leave? This is an interesting take on the mecha genre that I don't think has been explored before. Quite good.
September 22, 2017
It's an old story. Military ventures under the guise of protectionism. Pirates craving one more hot meal. Grunts caught in the middle of a cosmic conflict since the days of old.
MEKA procures for itself a familiar narrative, raised anew with Bengal's personable character art and a domestic landscape full of casual suffering.
Whether Lieutenant Enrique Llamas and his mission subordinate, Corporal Ninia Onoo, are actually good at their jobs is up for debate. Llamas is a seasoned veteran, piloting giant robots by neurological proxy and helping stave off the invasion of all sorts of baddies. The meka he operates is an impressive metal beast, in no uncertain terms. As for Onoo, she's intelligent, sane, and new to the battlefield. A perfect recipe for disaster.
In these scenarios, a common trope is to wait until the mission goes south before proclaiming any one soldier the team leader. And sure enough, all it takes is for Llamas and Onoo's meka to hit the dirt in the heat of battle for readers to discern Llamas a caterwauling nationalist and Onoo an even-tempered reprobate. MEKA is a short comic that can be read in a single sitting; as such, the trope is nowhere near as surprising or consequential as it aims to be.
Onoo is hyper-practical. She wants to scavenge for food, hack the meka for helpful data, and negotiate her way toward safety. She saves her partner more often than not, and even when the situation becomes inevitably and decidedly awkward between she and her teammate, she seems unafraid to take charge. It should be mentioned that this is not uncommon in the Morvan–Bengal oeuvre of female-led graphic novels.
MEKA isn't bad, but Morvan–Bengal have certainly produced better work. Other, redundant facets of the creative team's storytelling likewise rear up in MEKA: unprovoked violence; arrogance of the police state; sexual assault; the merging of the human and the other. This book will not impress many.
In a perfect world, a more patient tempo (early action scenes are abysmal) and a more integrative and personable character history (readers know nothing about Llamas and Onoo other than what these characters tell each other) would have made this story a lot more successfully dynamic.
MEKA procures for itself a familiar narrative, raised anew with Bengal's personable character art and a domestic landscape full of casual suffering.
Whether Lieutenant Enrique Llamas and his mission subordinate, Corporal Ninia Onoo, are actually good at their jobs is up for debate. Llamas is a seasoned veteran, piloting giant robots by neurological proxy and helping stave off the invasion of all sorts of baddies. The meka he operates is an impressive metal beast, in no uncertain terms. As for Onoo, she's intelligent, sane, and new to the battlefield. A perfect recipe for disaster.
In these scenarios, a common trope is to wait until the mission goes south before proclaiming any one soldier the team leader. And sure enough, all it takes is for Llamas and Onoo's meka to hit the dirt in the heat of battle for readers to discern Llamas a caterwauling nationalist and Onoo an even-tempered reprobate. MEKA is a short comic that can be read in a single sitting; as such, the trope is nowhere near as surprising or consequential as it aims to be.
Onoo is hyper-practical. She wants to scavenge for food, hack the meka for helpful data, and negotiate her way toward safety. She saves her partner more often than not, and even when the situation becomes inevitably and decidedly awkward between she and her teammate, she seems unafraid to take charge. It should be mentioned that this is not uncommon in the Morvan–Bengal oeuvre of female-led graphic novels.
MEKA isn't bad, but Morvan–Bengal have certainly produced better work. Other, redundant facets of the creative team's storytelling likewise rear up in MEKA: unprovoked violence; arrogance of the police state; sexual assault; the merging of the human and the other. This book will not impress many.
In a perfect world, a more patient tempo (early action scenes are abysmal) and a more integrative and personable character history (readers know nothing about Llamas and Onoo other than what these characters tell each other) would have made this story a lot more successfully dynamic.
March 11, 2017
Meka is decent enough for a read, just don't expect too much depth. The majority of Meka is action based: giant robot battles, normal robot battles, and a few humans get their heads blown away. Warning, though, the two main characters are mega whiners.
There are a few scenes that focus on the horror of war. Through the memory fragments, we're shown how people going about their day are instantly transformed into a pile of smoking limbs. Unfortunately, this insight is brief. The survivors behave more like cartoon than actual people, and the seriousness disappears. This comic had the potential to address real issues of war and fanatical patriotism.
This is a light read that is easy to enjoy. Cool art work and dynamic action scenes are its saving grace.
There are a few scenes that focus on the horror of war. Through the memory fragments, we're shown how people going about their day are instantly transformed into a pile of smoking limbs. Unfortunately, this insight is brief. The survivors behave more like cartoon than actual people, and the seriousness disappears. This comic had the potential to address real issues of war and fanatical patriotism.
This is a light read that is easy to enjoy. Cool art work and dynamic action scenes are its saving grace.
October 8, 2014
More reviews (and no fluff) on the blog http://surrealtalvi.wordpress.com/
I've enjoyed Morvan's works in the past: they make you think and wonder where the story will go. With Meka, I think someone was watching Japanese Mecha anime and asking himself, "Hey, if they destroy all those bad giant robots over cities, perhaps the people dying in droves underneath might not consider them saviors." And so a story was born, a sort of 'anti-manga' sci fi tale.Story: On a planet defended by giant Meka robot, two pilots defeat the bad guys but are incapacitated themselves. Upon exiting their broken meka, they come into contact with the ground - and the devastation their battles are wreaking. Each has different ideals but they will have to work together - not only to survive their own government but also the very put-upon locals.
The core idea of the novel is underscored very often - with closeups under the giant robots of people getting squashed, stomped, or crushed while the battles rage above them. The conflict between the two pilots - idealistic young girl and stiff rule-follower young lieutenant, provide tension as they leave their damaged meka and look for salvation/rescue on the streets of the city. Of course, running into all the bodies of those dead by their actions underscore the fact that they are very unlikely to get any help from those still left alive. Reasoning that they would have been enslaved or worst doesn't help when nearly everyone is dead anyway.
The illustration work is quite lovely and also drawing influence from anime/manga (I felt a strong westernization of Neon Genesis Evangelion Shinji and Asuka - fiery red head mouthing off against the quieter loser guy). The art forwarded the story well and did a great job of giving perspective between giant mecha and the tiny little ants they were crushing with their battles. I have to admit, though, that I'm not a fan of pastels and the book felt very washed out to me as a result. Perhaps a bit too 1980s?
What keeps this from being a four star book for me are two points: first, this is a too long a book for the simple statement it was making; and second, it's too short a book for the story that was told. The point about mechas destroying that which they are supposed to protect was made early and convincingly. No need to drag on the chase through the city as long as it did. But that said, if you are going to have a chase through the city, at least create an ending, a punctuation mark to finish the sentence. Meka felt like something was missing and ended far too abruptly. It seemed rather pointless as a result.
So while I read through Meka, I didn't enjoy it as much as I have other Morvan novels. Reviewed from an ARC.
September 4, 2014
2.5-3/5
Nuovo volume unico che raccoglie un’altra graphic novel a firma di J.D. Morvan (dopo Naja e Zaya), illustrata da Bengal.
In un futuro in cui la civiltà è difeso da veicoli giganti, sorta di umanoidi conosciuti come “Meka“, due piloti imparano a far fronte alle conseguenze della loro dedizione incondizionata al dovere militare, allorché il loro veicolo è bloccato nel centro di una città un tempo fiorente e si trovano in una zona di rivolta e per loro altamente inospitale.
La storia si presenta graficamente in maniera molto accattivante e richiama spunti classici della sf incentrata su grandi robot (il pensiero va subito all’epoca d’oro dell’animazione giapponese) con la presentazione di un mondo in cui si fronteggiano queste enormi macchine umanoidi.
La componente grafica è la parte migliore di questo volumetto che conta meno di un centinaio di pagine: Bengal utilizzata colori vivaci per le sue tavole, spesso contrapposti tra loro, che rendono ancor più l’idea della grandezza dei Meka rispetto allo sfondo e danno l’idea di un’azione che si svolge in modo incalzante.
La storia in sé invece mi ha lasciato un po’ perplessa. Premesse interessanti, ma la trama è ridotta all’osso, troppo, così come i dialoghi e la storia finisce davvero troppo in fretta. Un’avventura carina, ma senza approfondimenti né vero sviluppo.
Nuovo volume unico che raccoglie un’altra graphic novel a firma di J.D. Morvan (dopo Naja e Zaya), illustrata da Bengal.
In un futuro in cui la civiltà è difeso da veicoli giganti, sorta di umanoidi conosciuti come “Meka“, due piloti imparano a far fronte alle conseguenze della loro dedizione incondizionata al dovere militare, allorché il loro veicolo è bloccato nel centro di una città un tempo fiorente e si trovano in una zona di rivolta e per loro altamente inospitale.
La storia si presenta graficamente in maniera molto accattivante e richiama spunti classici della sf incentrata su grandi robot (il pensiero va subito all’epoca d’oro dell’animazione giapponese) con la presentazione di un mondo in cui si fronteggiano queste enormi macchine umanoidi.
La componente grafica è la parte migliore di questo volumetto che conta meno di un centinaio di pagine: Bengal utilizzata colori vivaci per le sue tavole, spesso contrapposti tra loro, che rendono ancor più l’idea della grandezza dei Meka rispetto allo sfondo e danno l’idea di un’azione che si svolge in modo incalzante.
La storia in sé invece mi ha lasciato un po’ perplessa. Premesse interessanti, ma la trama è ridotta all’osso, troppo, così come i dialoghi e la storia finisce davvero troppo in fretta. Un’avventura carina, ma senza approfondimenti né vero sviluppo.
October 11, 2014
'Meka' is the new graphic novel by Jean-David Morvan is one I've been looking forward to reading. As a fan of his writing on 'Naja' and 'Zaya' I was hoping for another interesting story. 'Meka' is a still good story, but not as good as others I've read by him.
The book opens with giant robots fighting over a city. When one of them crashes, we find out there are people piloting them. These people miss out on their rescue and must make their way through a hostile city. One of the reasons the city is hostile is due to the collateral damage caused by the flying robots. The pilots must work to save each other even though one is supposedly a less seasoned soldier.
About at the point the story is heading in an interesting direction, it just ends. Right at 96 pages. I'm hoping this is volume 1 because it felt like there was more potential story. The art by Bengal is good, though I liked the work in Naja a bit more. Some of the panels are a little hard to decipher, but the art is clean and crisp and interesting to look at.
I was given a review copy of this graphic novel by Diamond Book Distributors, Magnetic Press and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this graphic novel.
The book opens with giant robots fighting over a city. When one of them crashes, we find out there are people piloting them. These people miss out on their rescue and must make their way through a hostile city. One of the reasons the city is hostile is due to the collateral damage caused by the flying robots. The pilots must work to save each other even though one is supposedly a less seasoned soldier.
About at the point the story is heading in an interesting direction, it just ends. Right at 96 pages. I'm hoping this is volume 1 because it felt like there was more potential story. The art by Bengal is good, though I liked the work in Naja a bit more. Some of the panels are a little hard to decipher, but the art is clean and crisp and interesting to look at.
I was given a review copy of this graphic novel by Diamond Book Distributors, Magnetic Press and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this graphic novel.
October 26, 2014
A quick, very much wordless, sci-fi graphic starts with huge Pacific Rim-type mekas landing in the middle of a city, and proceeding to beat the hell out of each other – red on white. In one of the white ones are our two heroes – controlling the monstrous entity through its war, until they can do so no further. But the battle for them to survive has a lot more in store… This action piece has some interesting elements, but on the whole doesn't go as far as it should. A case in point is one long, extended, violent revenge sequence – again wordless, as must a majority of the pages be – that is just too heavy-handed and blunt. There are better full-page beats that show the catastrophe that is this particular war in a huge large-format spread, but there is a strong sense of déjà vu – the relationship between the two soldiers, between them and the war, and between them and the victims of the war. The scratchy, lived-in feel of the artwork (as opposed to the ultra-high-tech of some of the machines) was neither here nor there for me too.
November 17, 2014
Meka follows the story of a two man crew of a Meka (a giant, humanoid vehicle built for battle) after their vehicle is disabled during a battle and they are stranded. Mecha themes are prominent in anime and manga, but what sets this story apart from the rest is the author’s mission of showing the fall-out a battle between two giants can have on the city and the people that inhabit it. As the two soldiers navigate their way through the decimated city, they witness first hand the consequences of their actions.
The overall theme of the story is a good one and worth exploring, however I feel the execution of the tale missed its mark in this case. The continuity between the panels and the storytelling was confusing at times and the jumps in time were not paced as well as they could have been. The ending as a result seemed completely out of place and then the story abruptly ends.
The overall theme of the story is a good one and worth exploring, however I feel the execution of the tale missed its mark in this case. The continuity between the panels and the storytelling was confusing at times and the jumps in time were not paced as well as they could have been. The ending as a result seemed completely out of place and then the story abruptly ends.
October 18, 2014
Well, the more I read graphic novels by Jean-David Morvan, the more I become convinced this guy must be a huge fan of Neon Genesis Evangelion. Nowhere is this more evident to me than in Meka.
The story is this: two young army officers are set to pilot a giant robot against an alien invasion. Sound familiar? Not only do the character designs greatly resemble those from Eva (the two leads could well be a grown-up Shinji and Asuka) but the Mekas themselves look very much like the Angels and even the uniforms smack of the Eva suits.
Full review posted on www.shutupandreadsomething.blogspot.com on 10/28//14
The story is this: two young army officers are set to pilot a giant robot against an alien invasion. Sound familiar? Not only do the character designs greatly resemble those from Eva (the two leads could well be a grown-up Shinji and Asuka) but the Mekas themselves look very much like the Angels and even the uniforms smack of the Eva suits.
Full review posted on www.shutupandreadsomething.blogspot.com on 10/28//14
February 24, 2016
Randomly picked through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review
Well, this graphic novel bring the humanism issue among all superheroes and other action comics which always took a big city for a big battle arena. They usually seemed to abandoned the citizen, the buildings which turned into ruins and the loss of the people who directly affect by the battle. And usually, the main character always 'forgiven' even they already made such of damages. But not in this graphic novel.
If the pages longer this story potentially awesome.
Well, this graphic novel bring the humanism issue among all superheroes and other action comics which always took a big city for a big battle arena. They usually seemed to abandoned the citizen, the buildings which turned into ruins and the loss of the people who directly affect by the battle. And usually, the main character always 'forgiven' even they already made such of damages. But not in this graphic novel.
If the pages longer this story potentially awesome.
November 8, 2014
I felt this started off intriguingly and then petered out towards the end. The theme is heavy handed and cliched but I was invested in the characters enough to want to know what would happen to them in the hostile city. I loved their misguided belief in themselves and their mission and thought they became less interesting as they started to open up and get emotional about the horrors of war. The story never really goes anywhere though; although I believe there are sequels, more needs to happen in each volume to keep the reader engaged and satisfied.
September 18, 2014
Note: This is a NetGalley ARC review.
Honestly, I really enjoy Meka. It had, and still has, so much potential to be awesome...but then it stopped short at 96 pages. Sometimes sparse can be good, but in this case there definitely needed to be more. The end felt terribly rushed, but in the end it's worth a read.
Honestly, I really enjoy Meka. It had, and still has, so much potential to be awesome...but then it stopped short at 96 pages. Sometimes sparse can be good, but in this case there definitely needed to be more. The end felt terribly rushed, but in the end it's worth a read.
October 20, 2014
The story follows a Lieutenant and a Corporal who pilot a giant robot called a Meka. They are fighting in a war and after their Meka is damaged in battle they must travel through the remains of their most recent battle ground to survive.
The story really didn't have any direction, but what really saved the book for me was the art. The graphics were incredible.
Rating 3 out of 5
Read@Book
The story really didn't have any direction, but what really saved the book for me was the art. The graphics were incredible.
Rating 3 out of 5
Read@Book
December 1, 2014
I followed the artist Bengal from his early days. Some illustrations for this book I've seen long time ago so I was really happy to find this book in the store.
It's ok overall but in the end I have the feeling it was rushed out a bit. Tempo is also a bit weird, giving some situations more than one page and to sone barely a couple of panels. Story is also simple, atmospheric and straightforward.
It's ok overall but in the end I have the feeling it was rushed out a bit. Tempo is also a bit weird, giving some situations more than one page and to sone barely a couple of panels. Story is also simple, atmospheric and straightforward.
October 27, 2014
Still in love with Bengal's illustrations, but not totally intrigued by the storyline.
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews