Review: Refugees: The Hunted #1
Refugees is a new series of oversized European format books, planned in three parts by screenwriter-publisher Sytse S. Algera from Comicwatch. The former policeman describes a delicate issue such as the refugee crisis, with added topics like rape, survivor’s guilt, human trafficking and social prejudice spiced with racism.
The story revolves around Mohammed, coming from Morocco but saying he is from Syria to be able to enter the Netherlands and hopefully a better future. He finds love… but also walks in on a nasty cell of human traffickers, who use the shelters as a means to make money. During the course of the story there is also a rape, with indications of the rapist to be from a shelter, which sparks a social outcry and even within the police department there is bias and racism involved, even to one of their own…
All in all Algera created a book in which all aspects of humanity are present, in a neutral and almost sobering fashion. It is a tough read for someone like me, who uses Comics as a means of escapism and I had to read it more then once to get the full layered story and to be frank, I needed to look even harder at the faces of all the persons that were non-European to make out their good or their bad motivations. I just had a hard time figuring out the good and the bad guys. Sorry about that!
“Refugees” shows an unpleasantly documentation of our time (zeitgeist) and the problems in our region. Like I stated before, this series lacks escapism, and leaves you without a feeling of heroics. It is a nicely told, multi-layered telling of refugees, human traffickers, rape victims, racism, social bias and how “real heroes” like police-men and -women are mere humans after all.
Graphically the artwork was done by the Polish Przemyslaw Klosin, who is a great promise with a style that reminds me of the more classic European art for titles like (Polish/Belgian) Gregorz Rosinski’ Thorgal. He is not at that level yet, but he will and I am curious for his next projects.
Refugees #1 “The Hunted”
Creator/Writer: Sytse S. Algera
Pencils: Przemyslaw Klosin
Colors: Przemyslaw Klosin
Cover: Przemyslaw Klosin
Format: 48 p. (HC & SC) oversized EU-format
Price: 8,95 euro
Publisher: Comicwatch (webstore)
About the Author
Richard Boom Richard is the driving force behind Comics for Sinners. His love and admiration for female comic book characters is virtually unparalleled, which immediately explains his biggest 'sin': his Hot Mummy fetish. This sketchbook theme is philogynistic in nature and even the source of his WIP comic book series "The Sisterhood".
