'Malaterre Part 2' with art and story by Pierre-Henry Gomont finishes the story of a crazed father who wants to leave his children a legacy at the expense of the children.

Gabriel is trying to make Malaterre work, but he is clueless. His children, unsupervised and left to fend for themselves, are making risky choices. This ends with Gabriel having to move back in with the children and working Malaterre remotely. Things go from bad to worse, and soon the children are left with an inheritance they don't want, and a huge load of debt. Gabriel's gift to his children was no gift after all.

The story is a downward spiral, but I liked it. I also liked the artwork, with Gabriel's cigarettes looking like plumes of fire as he puffed them furiously. I think both volumes need to be read together to really appreciate this story of madness in the jungle.

I received a review copy of this graphic novel from Europe Comics and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this graphic novel.

Malaterre Part 2 concludes the story of Gabriel, the shady and questionable father whose obsession with creating an inheritance for his family causes him to eventually tear them apart. In this second part, we see Gabriel become more of a monstrous person than he already was. The business is slipping away from him and he lashes out at those around him. His children have settled into a life free of any real parenting and his return to their daily lives sends his son into a fury. Their family dynamic is complicated and unhealthy at the best of times, showing us a group of siblings who are torn between wanting a normal life and wanting the life they’ve been forced into.

The story is a fitting end to this dramatic series, keeping Gabriel’s story consistent to the end. In general, he’s a representation of what happens when blind ambition and greed take over your life. We see his family suffering because of his frivolity. In some ways, their forced move to this country thousands of miles away from their home in France was a good thing. The kids made friends, had experiences, and lived their lives without fear. At the same time, they didn’t get to have a father who cared about them in any real way. In the end, the siblings continue with normal lives, leaving Gabriel’s dreams behind to the highest bidder.

The art style remains exceptional, especially during the final days of Gabriel’s life. He begins to look more and more like the villain he’s become, with smoke overtaking his body in most of his panels. It’s a brilliant example of art mirroring human emotion.

The Malaterre series is a solid, tragic story of a man consumed by revisions of his family’s past and an impossible future dream. It’s the portrait of an unconventional family forced to deal with the ravings of a father for whom nothing was ever good enough. Everything comes second and, in the end, he’s left in the ground of the estate that ultimately killed him.

This was proof of why a book that was perfectly fine in one piece should never be hacked about and put in two individual volumes, or even files, as here. We start with the drama of an alcoholic terror of a man trying to re-establish his ancestral family's colonial interest in a jungle-based timber plantation, who thus steals his two older children from their mother to both try and keep the place slightly sane and them interested in their inheriting it in turn. I found that ended far too abruptly but still with the sense that anything could happen after that. But what we got was too much a soapy coming-of-age story for the teenage lad; defying the powers that be that could have reunited the family with their mother, bunking off from home to swim and drive around with mates, and so on. Yes, that is in the first piece, but I know from experience that any hiatus in reading can cause too great a shift in the reader's emphasis, and I know I would have been more on board with the lad's shenanigans if I had not had to wait a couple of days to come across them. I liked the story of the estate and the problems the man caused while trying to work for its behalf much more than seeing the lad getting laid.

That said, there is still a heck of a lot to admire here. The colouring schemes are always inventive, taking one colour out here, losing another there, and making for moody, distinctive pages. I also liked the way the speech bubbles were so often little cameos indicative of mood – and that goes much beyond just having a cloud as showing 'disgruntled'. So don't get me wrong, this is still a compelling, interesting and well-done story; it's just seeing it in two halves really makes the difference to how you perceive it, and the second half I saw as a little too mundane in comparison to the first.

Book two of this story sees the children settled in their rather unconventional life. Separated from their mother and younger brother, and with very little supervision from their Father, they continue to live their ex-pat lives whilst their father Gabriel continues to develop his business.

Unfortunately Gabriel's style of duck and dive management has taken its toll on the business and he finds himself having to sell his sawmill.

Life for the children goes on and despite their mother's insistence they continue to live separated from her and their little brother but things begin to change. A visit from their younger brother brings the cost if their separation home to the children. Gabriel's health is in decline because his drinking and smoking are affecting his heart and his liver. The destructive seeds of Gabriel's decision have taken root and are beginning to bear fruit.

And things continue to decline until the children are sent back to France. The story continues with Gabriel trying to secure his family inheritance, hoping that his children will inherit the property when he dies but his obstructive, obnoxious nature has a way of undermining his dreams.

This is an intriguing family drama story which pulled me in. I am really pleased I was able to read this to the end. It is a perplexing story, but one that emphasises the importance of fairness and justice in family life.

I liked part 2 more than part 1. Overall, this was well done. The author used the medium well, which helped make it effective. Well formed characters and a realistic story made this a pretty effective story. The ending was not necessarily happy, but it was effective. The author obviously has a lot of talent, and look forward to his next effort.

I really appreciate the copy for review!