By Serge Pellé & Sylvain Runberg, translated by Jerome Saincantin (Cinebook)
ISBN: 978-1-905460-89-2 (V.1 Album PB/Digital edition) & 978-1-905460-95-3 (V.2 Album PB)
The truest thing that can be said about French science fiction is that it always delivers amazing style and panache, even when the plots may be less than original. Illustrated by Serge Pellé (Malo Korrigan; Kaputt & Zosky; Le Grand Chambardement – as “Torgnollâ€) and scripted by Sylvain Runberg (Darwin’s Diaries; Watchdogs Legion; Conquests; On Mars), Orbital was first seen as Cicatrices in 2006.
It follows a seemingly mismatched pair of Peacekeeper agents who are dispatched to quell an incipient brushfire war – just like marshals in a western – but the tale is delivered with such skill and artistry that it’s as fresh as the first time I encountered the notion.
After years of galactic exclusion, Earth in the 23rd century has finally been permitted to join a vast confederation of interstellar civilisations – despite grave concerns about humanity’s aggressive nature and xenophobic tendencies. A militant isolationist faction on Earth had migrated from politics to horrific terrorism in the immediate run-up to the union: committing atrocities both on Earth and distant worlds where they had developed colonies, commercial interests and mining bases, but (narrowly) failed to prevent humanity’s inclusion in the pan-galactic union.
One particular Confederation worry was the way humans treated aliens like the Sandjarrs, whose world was invaded in Earth’s all-consuming drive for territory and exploitable resources. The subsequent atrocities almost exterminated the stoic, pacifistic desert creatures…
Interworld Diplomatic Office agents are assigned in pairs to troubleshoot throughout the galaxy, defusing crises before they can become flashpoints. Now Caleb, IDO’s first human operative, is teamed with Sandjarr Mezoke: a situation clearly designed as a high-profile political stunt, as is their initial mission. The mismatched pair have been ordered to convince an Earth mining colony to surrender their profitable operation back to the aliens who actually own the moon it’s situated on…
Moreover, even though Earth is a now a Confederation member, with humans well placed in all branches of interstellar service, the Isolationist cause is still deeply cherished by many, at home and at large, needing only the slightest spark to reignite into violence and terrorism…
In debut episode Scars, Caleb and Mezoke – still learning to cope with each other – are too-quickly dispatched to ghastly mud-ball moon Senestam to convince understandably belligerent human colonists to pack up and leave quietly. The naked hostility they meet is transformed to sheer terror when the situation escalates and monstrous beasts begin attacking everywhere.
An armada of rapacious creatures able to bore through rock and steel are likely to eat every sentient in town before the IDO agents can broker any kind of deal…
The crisis takes a decidedly tricky turn in concluding chapter Ruptures (second album in a far too short series) when the marauding beasts are discovered to have been manoeuvred into attacking the human colonists. The crisis has been manufactured as part of a greater scheme: but who really profits from this developing tragedy?
Sabotage and murder are swiftly added to the miners’ woes, and whilst Caleb and Mezoke desperately seek a solution satisfactory to all sides, the growing anti-human faction of the Confederation makes its first move to oust Earth from the interstellar alliance. Perhaps they’re not misguided though, since an Isolationist coup is also kicking off in the torrential skies above Senestam…
Smart plots, sharp dialogue and fast-paced, expansive action have produced a gritty space-opera with delightfully complex sub-plots, fuelled by political intrigue, and compelling infighting elevates this tale to lofty heights, and although Caleb and Mezoke come off a little less than fully rounded characters in this initial tale, Orbital was a series to watch closely. It still is.
© Dupuis, 2006, 2007 by Runberg & Pellé. All rights reserved. English translation © 2009 Cinebook Ltd.