Lights of the Amalou

Lights of the Amalou
written by Christophe Gibelin
illustrated by Claire Wendling
published by EuroComics / IDW Publishing (2017)

I’m going to be honest here. We all judge books by their covers. It’s almost impossible not to. They’re the first thing we see, and sometimes the art and design of a cover is what sells a book. (The content of that book might not be any good, but that’s a different story.)

And EuroComics certainly knows how to draw you in with a good cover. I was immediately drawn to the cover for Lights of the Amalou (much like I was with Tales from the Age of the Cobra) and wanted to read the book without really knowing much else about it.

The newly translated and collected edition of the story, which was originally serialized in France as Les Lumières de l’Amalou in the early 90s, features a captivating image of protagonist Orane lounging on the belly of the deceptively fierce-looking Cafou. The fact that this scene never appears inside the book is beside the point; that’s par for the course in comics. This was actually the cover to the third issue of the original series; all five of those covers were phenomenal. So nicely done, EuroComics, in choosing this image.

It was enough to hook me.

And for the most part, Claire Wendling’s art doesn’t disappoint. The oversized pages are bursting at the seams with color and life. It’s not easy to bring to life a secret world of magicians, diminutive transparent limpids, anthropomorphized ferrets, hybrid demons, and a legendary oak tree. But her illustrations deliver.

The reader is dropped into this mythical world (plus an alternate dimension) and carried along on Orane’s quest to save the mythical (but fragile) oak tree. There are times when the art doesn’t feel entirely consistent, such as these two depictions of Orane from the first and last chapters, but the changing nature of Wendling’s art and characterizations make sense in the context of the story, where the world – and Orane, especially – undergoes incredible change.

The story, though, feels far more disjointed than the art. Perhaps something was lost in the translation, but it often feels like entire pages are missing. Things happen from panel to panel with few obvious connections. Characters often react to prompts or events that are never mentioned. And I was left scratching my head on several occasions.

In short, it jumps around a lot, and though it does an adequate job of establishing the world and introducing the main characters, it unfortunately ends up being a confusing jumble. For this reason, the first chapter is the most compelling. The story starts off with so much promise, and it felt like it might live up to its “epic fantasy” epithet.

In the end, though, I felt let down. But that doesn’t mean I didn’t enjoy the ride. Wendling’s art makes the journey a beautiful one. And since I had no expectations to meet, I have no regrets for the time I spent with Orane, Elwood, Ubu, Theo, Yz, Meth, and everyone else.

I can’t recommend Lights of the Amalou for the strength of its story, but it’s still recommended as a peek into the world of European comics that deserve a much wider audience.