Thank you to NetGalley and Europe Comics for a review copy of this graphic novel.

In Slava: After The Fall, Gomont presents life in Russia in the 1990s after the fall of communism and the USSR. We follow the main character Slava Segalov who was a political artist but left his work as no point in fighting the party that’s already lost. Instead, in the new capitalist, money-focused and dog-eat-dog world, he teams with a childhood friend Dmitri Larvin to steal from soviet buildings and sell off. After almost being caught by rival peddles, a young woman Nina saves them and introduces them to her father Volodya and other members of a valley mining town on the brink of closure. Larvin grows more greedy whilst Slava begins to question his morals and what he wants from this new country.

I think this was really good at showing the different perspectives people had in post-soviet Russia - we have the questioning and confused Slava, get-rich-quick swindler type in Larvin who in many ways is thriving but his line of work is a precarious one, Nina who grew up during the Bolshevik v Menshevik divide and power struggles who values the hard work of her community, this is something Volodya and the other miners retain valuing hard work, spirit and determination over money (soviet socialist/communist ideals). There are other characters which also add to the mix but what’s linking them all is how once again those in charge in effect failed the people under their control. A similar tale has plagued Russian history for many years and continues to this day (the ordinary Russian people do not want this war with Ukraine) where the common person’s ignored, used and left stranded when the current system inevitably falls. I studied Russian history from 1850-1970 at a level and I left it there so am glad I read this graphic novel as it’s piqued my interest for discovering how the fall of the Soviet Union impacted people and wish I had read more literature at the time.

Whilst the story and character types are suited to the time period it’s set, the themes and messages I guess are timeless. It doesn’t represent the contemporary Russia of today but in many ways her people are still cogs in the big machine of the country. Very insightful and I’ll likely pick up some more material to look into this further.

The artwork is pleasant and easy to understand. Not the most appealing to me personally but it’s good nonetheless, the best sections were of the large scale landscapes like the mountain and looking over the city. The same colour themes and style is prevalent throughout and it definitely adds to bringing the characters to life unlike some others I’ve read.

Overall, I would totally recommend this book as it’s rather short (under 100 pages) but is meaningful. It’s not a favourite but was an enjoyable read. Solid 4 stars.

This graphic novel is very Russian, with its cynicism and bleak outlook on life in post-Communist Russia. I appreciate that the writer didn't pull back any punches when describing the mad race to get rich quick in a society that had sharply pivoted from the worship of work to the worship of money.

Both the MCs, Slava and Lavrin, are as different from each other as they can be, yet similar in this new era of Russian society. After quitting his life as an artist (and a huge critic of Communist Russia) Slava's cynical outlook mirrors Russian society. It's not hard to see why he becomes entangled with Lavrin and his schemes. After all, a man's gotta eat. And critical artworks can't pay the bill.

The story and the art are both pretty simple and easy to follow along. I liked the characters and what they stood for: Nina and her father as bulwarks of the hardworking Russian people, Lavrin and his connections as the seedy underbelly of Russian society, and Slava as the lens through which the reader sees and experiences the new capitalist Russia.

I had some issues with the writing and the typeface. I'm not sure if it was my digital copy, but at times it was very hard to read some words due to the font and size. Even after zooming in, the font size is very small and the font color is very light.

But other than that, I liked the story, the art, and the characters.

Thank you to Europe Comics and NetGalley for this arc.

I wasn't crazy about the style, but the main character, in some ways and maybe even the way he was drawn; Slava though, this character halfway between Lupin and Rockerduck ,I liked quite a bit.

Lo stile non mi ha fatto impazzire, ma il personaggio principale, per certi versi e forse anche per come era disegnato; Slava peró questo personaggio a metá tra Lupin e Rockerduck mi piaceva parecchio.

I received from the Publisher a complimentary digital advanced review copy of the book in exchange for a honest review.

First published in France in 2022; published in translation by Europe Comics on January 25, 2023

This graphic novel is set in the 1990s. Russia has transitioned from a country of corrupt government officials controlling the means of production to one of corrupt oligarchs controlling a privatized economy. Slava Segalov “grew up in a world where ‘salesman’ meant ‘scammer’.” He aspired to be a starving artist but, after he tired of starving, joined his childhood friend, Dimitri Lavrin, in the business of looting abandoned Soviet buildings. Dimitri steals goods to sell to Russian consumers who are eager to own the things they always coveted. While Slava was once a student of philosophy and art, Dimitri — a lifelong grifter — is teaching Slava to be a capitalist (i.e., thief).

Slava and Dimitri are driving a van full of looted goods when a band of highway robbers forces the van off the road. An armed woman named Nina rescues them for the bargain price of 500 rubles. She takes them to an abandoned resort that Dimitri regards as ripe for looting. Nina is squatting there with her father (Volodya) and doesn’t appreciate the concept of being looted in exchange for saving Dimitri’s life. Volodya, on the other hand, wants to make a deal with Dimitri even if he’s a grifter because “We’re Russians. Racketeering’s in our blood. Before, during, and after communism. It courses through our veins as surely as vodka.”

Nina is squatting in the resort because the mine that employed her is being privatized. Dimitri understands (and admires) the investor’s scheme to acquire the mine dirt cheap in exchange for lavish promises of high-paying jobs, followed by closing the mine and selling its assets for a tidy profit. The miners are less sanguine when Dimitri explains the investor’s scheme, but Nina’s boyfriend proposes a grift of his own to benefit the miners.

The story takes the four central characters on an eventful journey through the mountains and villages of a corrupt land. Slava begins to question Dimitri’s cynical nature. Dimitri believes Slava has only acquired morality because he is enchanted by Nina. As a prototypical Russian, Volodya solves problems by drinking and fighting. Nina is attracted to Slava but doesn’t want to betray her boyfriend.

The story is amusing but dark, rooted in the pain of ordinary people who have little hope of improving their lives because they are part of a system that does not value ordinary people. The story creates satisfying tension as the characters clash and unite in pursuit of separate and common agendas. While the ending is satisfying, it doesn’t avoid the harsh reality of life in an empire ruled by crime.

Pierre-Henry Gomont’s art is somewhere between cartoonish and stylized realism. Think Doonesbury with a bit more detail. The story is narrated in the margins between rows of panels. Dialog and thought balloons sometimes rely on a picture — a raging fire or a man swinging from a noose — rather than words. I’m no art critic, but I thought the art made a significant contribution to the story, as should be the case in a graphic novel.

RECOMMENDED

I didn't really like the style and lost interest in the story about halfway through. For me personally, it was the style causing me to not being able to feel with the characters. Otherwise, the story would be intruiging in theory.

Thank you very much for providing the ARC!

3.25🌟, rounded to 3🌟


The start was pretty strong, in my opinion. It definitely caught my attention. But after awhile, my interest fizzled out. I barely felt anything for the main character(s). Now, not even 5 mins of finishing this story, I've forgotten pretty much everyone's names.

The graphics is cool though. I like the sketch-y feel of it all. I will say that the font is not the easiest to read. I had to squint a number of times to make sense of certain words. But it's not too bad to the point of being unreadable. Make of that what you will ¯\⁠_⁠(⁠ツ⁠)⁠_⁠/⁠¯

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with a free digital copy of this in exchange for an honest review.

Stunning visuals and color contrast punctuate this graphic novel for mature audiences. Slava serves as an example of graphic novels for adults, and comics as literary space.

It's the 90s, the Soviet Union has fallen, and a new power has taken hold: capitalism. Slava, once an artist, is caught in this shifting landscape, learning to broker sketchy deals but uncertain of just how far along the capitalism scale he is willing to go.

The tale is about as lighthearted as it can be under the circumstances, though the humor is not always to my tastes (and the book definitely does not pass the Bechdel test). In terms of art style, my favorite parts by far were the moments that Gomont pulled back to show us the sweep of a mountain, or a city, or a mine—such dramatic scenery, and sometimes dramatic architecture, in what is at times a dark story. (Honestly, with the first sweeping snow scenes I thought, "Maybe he'll turn the Dyatlov Pass story into a comic!"—but that's just my pet obsessions showing through.) Worth the read for those sweeping images alone.

I'm grateful for the author's note at the beginning, which provides a bit of context and sets both scene and expectations for the rest of the book. "This is a story about people caught in history's shackles," he writes, and that seems about right. The characters in this book would all be themselves in a different context, but if they had different opportunities and options...well, many of them would not be in the positions that they find themselves in for these hundred-odd pages. The story is not about today's Russia (although Gomont touches on the "idiotic war" in the author's note), but it feels timely nonetheless—small cogs in a huge machine, making the choices they need to, or think they need to, to get by.

Thanks to the author and publisher for providing a free review copy through NetGalley.

Thanks to NetGalley for the advance reading copy. This book was a delight to read and one that I will definitely return to. The focus of this graphic novel is the capitalist plundering of post-Soviet Russia and how that impacts the lives of "ordinary" Russians. The art is lively, engaging and warm, and the story pulls you along with its unique mix of pathos, action, and sardonic humour. If you've been looking for something to explain just what happened to Russia after the collapse of communism (and continues to happen under Putin), this is a great place to start!

a beautifully written, insightful story about life in russia after the fall of communism. it’s a dangerous world, and cash is king. slava and his business partner lavrin are smuggling important soviet-era artifacts, artwork, and machinery to be sold at a high price. everything changes when they are almost caught, then saved by a girl named nina. as lavrin grows more greedy, nina questions and provokes slava to question his ethics and morality.

the artwork is absolutely gorgeous, uniform throughout the piece with strong muted colors and delicate lines. as someone of russian descent, i loved how the action words and sounds (“slam, pow, click,” etc.) were written in the cyrillic alphabet. the setting is strong and the characters are not caricatures of russian people, but very deep people portrayed with depth. captivating, beautiful, and thought provoking. you want to read this.

thank you so much to netgalley and the publisher for an arc is exchange for an honest review!