Thank you Netgalley for the free ARC, and this is my first time reading a graphic ini this format. I had a blast. I enjoy the art, which is fantastic imo, as well as the story and world building, which is especially outstanding given the restricted number of pages. I wish it were longer

The world is over. France is now covered by immense forests, and the humans, the few that remain, live in fortress-factories, armored cities whose inhabitants live in safety as long as they obey the neo-kings who control the technology. Hunts, chivalrous jousts, serfdom - but also nanotechnology, intelligent drones and incredibly advanced genetic engineering that allows the neo-kings to live forever, or at least as long as they can grow human spare parts fast enough...

Count Cocto rules his citadel with an iron fist, but he too must respect the customs of the aristocracy, defending the title won in the previous tournament. The heir to the throne, Blanche, is far too disinterested in appearances and takes the opportunity to disappear (literally...) from her ivory tower. What would have been an ordinary hike, an opportunity for an electronic detox away from the screens, becomes a race against time when an unexpected accident forces the Count to turn to an enemy from the past to find his daughter. But the real danger, as in any neo-medieval fable, is not the enemies you know, but the friends you don't really know...

"NeoForest" is the 40th comic book series written by Fred Duval (Renaissance, M.O.R.I.A.R.T.Y., Meteors, Carmen McCallum...), who for the time being is abandoning his usual saga approach in favor of a post-apocalyptic diptych where he returns to his favorite themes, transhumanism and the relationship between man and nature. This time he joins forces with another comics veteran, Philippe Scoffoni (Exo, Troubled Identities), who goes wild and builds a fascinating universe, lively, full of details, original despite elements that, taken individually, seem familiar. The scenic and visual density of the volume is surprising, but does not tire the reader; I am happy to see authors willing to offer so much detail in so few pages ("only" 61).

An excellent first volume, with a compelling plot and a post-apocalyptic environmental mystery that I look forward to solving next year.

Disclaimer: I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for a fair review. This didn't influence my opinion in any way.

I was really impressed with the story.
Have a lot of worldbuilding whit the politics and the royalty aspect that give space to schemes and revolutions, that make was think about what is right and our impact on the nature. Was so interesting, but what gab me completely was the contemplative side. The nature was a huge role on the story and it shines on the drawings. Is so beautiful to see, and connects so perfectly to the story.
And the characters are just perfect. They are so different in their personalities and their abilities, and still they have layers, so I can't help but root a little bit for the bad ones.

I really want to see how the story progresses, really curious.

Great start and great style. This first book introduces us well to the "fantasy/science" futuristic world, politics, and characters. I like that it makes us want to know more on different levels.

This first volume of NeoForest was pretty cool. As this was only 60 pages I don't have all that much to say about it - it was mostly an introductory volume with lots of action to move the plot along and get you to care about what will happen next by the end of it, and I'd gladly pick up volume 2 asap! I really like the art style and the colour palettes in this one, as well as the interweaving of extremely advanced technologies and nature having taken back a lot of the land. If you're into these futuristic AI/we've evolved so much the rich are basically immortal but nature is starting to fight back topics, then I think you will enjoy this one. Definitely an easy read and I will be picking up volume 2 when it comes out (probably in French when I go home for a holiday).

Thank you to Europe Comics and NetGalley for sending along an early copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

I got so *completely* engrossed in the story, and was sooo sad to get to the end and find no resolution! I knew it was Volume 1, though, so that's all on me.

The graphics are lovely, although I'm not a fan of the muted palette. The story is fantastic, completely unique future fiction that drew me in. Points for diversity in characters, which is not always something you get in comics. In all, a wonderful experience; thank you to NetGalley and to Europe Comics for the DRC. Recommended, and can’t wait to get my hands on the continuation.

Thank you to NetGalley and Europe Comics for this opportunity to read rage and review this arc which is now available.

I really loved this graphic novel. The art was amazing! The story was easy to follow along. I was engaged and thoroughly enjoyed myself

Two stars mainly because the art was great and provided the feeling of the setting much more competently than any of the writing did.

NeoForest takes place in a distant future where the world has become lush and verdant again, and humanity exists in pockets of feudal-esque citadels, but with science. The art provides an interesting contrast between the greenery and science of this world, and is pretty nicely done. At times it felt a little too static for me, and maybe a little too boring in the color choices, but it evoked exactly what it wanted to.

The writing fell completely flat for me here. First off, the text choice in the layout of the story was awful; the font is so small, and there is SO MUCH text trying to set up the worldbuilding, multiple relationships between characters, a plot against the current ruler (our main character's father), and the forest somehow starting to kill humans. All this, in 64 pages. Despite all the story work being put into this volume, I found myself not really caring one whit about any of the plot lines.

An interesting story, NeoForest has a little bit of promise, especially in the art. However, I think I'd have to see reviews on the next volume that say the writing improves dramatically before I even consider picking it up.

Cocto Citadelle is a visually stunning tale of a distant future where a neofeudal society has arisen in a post-apocalyptic world. It’s very green, a world taken back by nature yet filled with technology—not quite solarpunk, its own beast altogether, intriguing but mostly awakening disbelief. Unfortunately, the story feels muddled and not deserving of the beautiful imagery. I found myself rushing to the end and was left wanting for more.

I really enjoyed NeoForest. It's the beginning of a comic series. And I'm really excited to see what happens next. I enjoyed seeing the blend between futuristic technology and medieval practices (like the bike-riding knights). The art is pretty and I loved the colours the artist used.

The art is pretty but didn’t really invest with the story and characters, I thought they were meh tbh. Not for me unfortunately…

Thanks anyways Netgalley and publisher….

Thank you to Netgalley, the author and publishers for letting me review this book! Honestly I was intrigued by the cover and premise, but this first volume fell sort of short. There was a lot of very small dialogue, the storyline was kind of everywhere and I wouldn’t pick up a second volume.

The book was fine, I just don't think it was for me. The story didn't grip me as much as I would have liked and I found myself a bit bored whilst reading. The art was pretty good but it wasn't as intricate as I usually like to see in a graphic novel. I just think that the story felt too slow and I didn't enjoy how it didn't really seem to wrap up at the end. I understand that it's meant to be a series, but it just felt like there wasn't even a story arc, it kind of just felt like the book just ended, it felt very anti-climactic.

"NeoForest" is a thoughtful, well paced science fiction graphic novel with distinct and impressive art. I had a blast reading this book and I was really struck by the Neo-Feudal world that the creative team of Fred Duval and Philippe Scoffoni portrayed. The mix of old and new technologies and the archaic social structures was surprisingly believable. I will be watching for the next installment of this great book from Europe Comics
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Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher, Europe Comics, for providing me with an eARC in exchange for my honest review.

The art on this is stunning, and the world is visually fascinating. However, the story itself is doing very little for me. There was too much going on for me to get invested in any of the characters, and the reliance on common tropes means that the cast (both heroes and villains) read like stock characters.

I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review, and I feel a little bad, because it's obvious that a ton of work went into the world design and high-level concepts. I just needed more substance or at least one more developed character to care about.

3.5 🌟

thank u netgalley and europe comics for an e-arc in exchange for a honest review

neoforest is a futuristic story where society has fallen back to past systems and the world is now feudal once again. the story takes place in a vast forest full of mini robots, unicorns and killer orchids. the plot revolves around the race to reach the heiress while betrayal is looming.

the world building and plot were very well done but i felt as though too many plot lines were being introduced all in one go but nevertheless still i really enjoyed it. and let’s not forget how the art was absolutely stunning, i really liked the colour scheme that was used and art style.

i’m so excited to for the rest of the series

3.5
The world-building for this story is fantastic. The story is a medieval fantasy yet also futuristic solar punk whilst also being post-apocalyptic. It's interesting how you only see signs of it being a post-apocalyptic society once you get past the city limits. The way the society functions is essentially the same as the medieval nobility system, with the main character being heiress to the land her father rules over. However, this story didn't feel grab my attention like other stories. There were elements of the plot that I found interesting, but so many different plotlines were being introduced at once, it started to get hard to keep track. The art itself was good, though how faces are drawn struck me as...off? I don't know how to explain it. I liked the design of the towns and cities. It was interesting seeing traditional fantasy designs as well as traditional sci-fi designs come together into an overall cohesive look.

Thank you Netgalley for providing me with this eARC!

First of all: This graphic novel ist stunning! The character design, the details in the world, the whimsical-ness of it all. It is pure beauty and I could get lost in the panels, especially when it comes to nature settings were more than beautiful.

It was the story that did not quite grab me. I did not connect to any of the characters and the weird plot (going out to spot unicorns?) did nothing for me. I was quite indifferent to the cliff hanger and I am so sure if I would pick up the second part...

This comic was, as Cheryl from Riverdale would say, Coo-Coo-Bananas. From start to finish. Totally insane, absurd, nerd shit. Like you can tell this author probably has a worldbuilding bible that could be a great published book in its own right and probably has dossiers on every character and tons of lore and stuff. And I want it. I kinda wanna lick the inside of this guy's brain. And the art is just stunning.

On a plot level this is some Game of Thrones type shit: politics, worldbuilding, huge scope, lots of plotting and scheming and various political groups and clusters. But what captured me really was the core aesthetic, world design, and premise. I love how insane yet weirdly realistic this future path is, even with all of the fairy tale insanity added in. Futuristic sci-fi fairy tales are my jam, I guess.

I am also rooting for Hot Evil Dad King to live even though it seems like he's being set up as a villain. As is his brother. And those cannibal pig men. And some other folk.

Also did the hot guy with the steampunk prosthetic leg FUCKING DIE AT THE END? I thought his hunky ass would come back for a cameo but that shit was dark. Still rooting for Princess Pinkhair to get her shit together and not die in the woods with her friends on some Blair Witch ish.

Promising set-up, cool cast, AMAZING world. Truly balls to the wall concept here. And I love it. Those pigs growing human parts was so disturbing and grotesque and ripped from today's science headlines with human ears growing on mice and stuff. Love this. Cannot wait to see how it continues!

Thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to read this one.

This was an interesting graphic novel!

I thought the plot and concepts were unique, and they kept me curious enough to be interested in the sequel.

The art is stunning, very green. My main complaint is that the text is very difficult to read? I just fear this book would also be hard to read in person with the way it appears to be set up.

Overall though, not necessarily my thing, but a good story!