Ten years after the publication of “Resurrection”, the first part of a painfully delivered diptych, here is finally “Revelations”: conclusion of the last story of the late Philippe Tome, who died while working on the last pages of his screenplay . Dupuis Editions finally offers the entirety of this adventure masterfully designed by Dan Verlinden, worthy successor to his two predecessors: Luc Warnant and Bruno Gazzotti.
On September 11, 2001, as the Twin Towers collapsed, Lieutenant David Salomon — known to his colleagues by the nickname Soda — brought up the body of a murdered Arab, attached to a tire rim. His boss, Pronzini, goes missing in the ruins of one of the towers. A few years later, while accompanying his mother Mary in the metro, the old lady is jostled by a stranger who loses an envelope stuffed with bank notes.
When she gives him back his property, the man – before running away – whispers to her: “This week, don’t take the metro. » The New York cop, who wears the garb of a pastor in order to spare his sick mother’s heart, sets out in search of the stranger, photographed by surveillance cameras. Helped in his research by the pair made up of the bubbly Linda and old Bab’s – an expert in new technologies – he discovers that the man is linked to the September 11 attacks. Under the orders of the severe Andrea Demoradshield, who replaces Pronzini, the false pastor plunges into the horror of conspiracy, which has more and more followers in New York.
An investigation carried out at 100 miles per hour, with a bitter taste, which reserves painful surprises for the « pasteur » and to his teammates… A perfectly mastered story which denounces the obsession with security reigning on the island of Manhattan, still traumatized by the tragedy of which it was the victim.
After “Resurrection”, the first episode, published in 2014 in Spirou from no. 3989 to no. 3995, we had to wait ten years to read the rest of this thriller with a dark screenplay by Tome.
In the meantime, the death of the screenwriter in 2019 – when he had just written the first 30 pages – left the project abandoned.
Noam and Zoé, his children, asked Zidrou and Falzar – two specialists in well-crafted stories – to imagine the conclusion based on the notes left by their creator.
A story supported by the impressive, caricature-realistic drawings of Dan Verlinden.
Without denying the graphic heritage of its predecessors, it brings even more darkness to its pages – with careful colors due to Cerise -, surrounded by a black band.
It offers us a gripping immersion in the heart of New York, nourished by a trip with its screenwriter to the sprawling city where their characters live.
While another new volume – unnumbered and telling an independent Soda adventure, however making reference to the other stories – was released in June 2023 (“The Bloody Pasteur” drawn by Bruno Gazzotti and scripted by Olivier Bocquet), Dupuis editions offer a reissue of album 13 published in 2014, now numbered 1/2 of a special diptych.
An eight-page file completes this work, essential to understanding the plot, published in Spirou from November 13, 2024 (No. 4518).
If you didn’t buy it when it was released, don’t hesitate to get this version.
Philippe Vandevelde, known as Tome, was born on February 24, 1957 in Brussels. He published his first comics in the fanzine Buckwhile taking evening classes. He began his career as an assistant to Dupa, Turk and Degroot, before publishing his first drawings in Spirou. Joined by Janry and Stéphane de Becker, he opened a workshop. After various works for Spirou (“Jeureka”, animations…), he took up “Les Aventures de Spirou et Fantasio” with Janry in 1981. He specialized in screenplays, imagining “Le Petit Spirou” in 1983 again for Janry, “Soda” in 1986 for Luc Warnant, “Le Gang Mazda” (which he took from Bernard Hislaire), then “Minou Kinis” for Christian Darasse, “Sur la route de Selma” for Philippe Berthet, “Assassin’s Lullaby” for Ralph Meyer… For the ephemeral collection Cosmo from Dargaud editions, in 2005 he imagined “Feux” for Marc Hardy and “Rages” for Dan (Verlinden). This last story remained unpublished until 2020 when it was finally published, by Kennes, under the title “The Titanium Curtain”. Victim of a heart attack, Tome died on October 5, 2019.
Dan Verlinden was born on June 19, 1972 in Marcinelle. At the age of 15, he took lessons from Vittorio Léonardo at the Académie de Châtelet. Letterer-proofreader at Editions Dupuis, he became Janry’s assistant on “Le Petit Spirou”, then on the album “Luna fatale” of the parent series. From 2010, he devoted himself to “Rage”: a long story by Tome (intended for the stillborn collection Cosmo from Dargaud editions) which remains unpublished until 2020. In 2014, he succeeded Bruno Gazzotti on “Resurrection”: an adventure of “Soda” of which he designed the second episode in 2024.
Henry PHILIPPINES
Special version for BDWorld stores, edition 999 copies. enriched with a new cover and an eight-page file.
“Soda HS 1/2: Resurrection” by Dan Verlinden and Tome
Éditions Dupuis (€13.50) — EAN: 9791034765171
“Soda HS 2/2: Revelations” by Dan Verlinden and Volume with Zidrou and Falzar
Éditions Dupuis (€13.50) — EAN: 9791034765181
“Soda HS 2/2: Revelations” by Dan Verlinden and Tome with Zidrou and Falzar
Éditions Dupuis — EAN: 9791034753819 (for the limited edition of 999 copies intended for Slumberland BD World enriched with a new cover and an eight-page file)
Publication November 15, 2024