I have no idea what was happening in this science fiction comic from Serbia. It's about two cultures, one advanced, one primitive that swap items once every set amount. Who knows why. Who knows why one of the primitives gains powers. Who knows who half the cast was as they came and went. This is just terrible. The illustration wasn't bad, but the panels didn't flow in a way that told the story clearly. For most of this, I just wanted it to end.

I find my interest piqued by exploring the comics of outside of the usual North American/British stuff that is widely available in the United States. Europe Comics has been a great facilitator of that, with their broad coverage of many non-English-speaking European countries. I can now check Serbia off of the list of places I have read comics from, thanks to this collection of the complete trilogy, Keepers of Lost Time.
Two cultures are juxtaposed off of each other, with one using advanced technology and machines, while the other deals more with earthy spiritualism and mostly Bronze Age technology. During one of their rare scheduled interaction periods, something goes wrong, and the two cultures find themselves deeply in conflict with one another.
This was one of the more confusing comics I have read. The art did not do enough to help distinguish characters from one another, the chapters are very disjointed and frequently disconnected from one another, and there never seems to be any sort of emotional payoff for the plot. I had to look at the back cover blurb to get a sense of what the overarching plot was, at times.
Keepers of Lost Time loses itself in a confusing plot and art that was not serviceable for this story. It sounds interesting, and it could have been really great, but overall it feels like a significant letdown. Unless you really want to explore Serbian comics, I don’t recommend this one.

Review will be available at provided link on 3/28/19

Don't ask me - I have no idea what was going on.

Don't ask me - I have no idea what was going on.

Weird, and the storyline is hard to follow. It was gritty, like most European graphic novels, and somehow just not my cup of tea.

I received an ARC through Netgalley.

Artwork on the cover was misleading to the rest of it. The story felt disjointed and just didn't work for me.

Keepers of Lost Time is a Serbian science-fiction comics trilogy written by Miroslav Marić and drawn by Vujadin Radovanović. Considered a significant work in the history of Serbian fantasy and comics, it delivers a gritty tale presented in minimalistic black and white drawings.

In short KoLT depicts two cultures – one technologically advanced, the other — tribal, in moments of their internal crises. They become conflicted because of their different perceptions of the world and spiritual values.

The story kept me engaged and interested, but it was difficult to follow in places. While I enjoy minimalistic drawings, some scenes and panels felt tiring.

Worth trying if you’re interested in European comic books.

ARC through NetGalley

A cool gritty graphic novel set in black and white with some good old-fashioned style. I'll recommend this one to some of our more mature patrons.