Everyone knows that dragons are formidable predators but did you know that their scales turn into gold at the time of moulting? This is just one of the many surprises of Dans le ventre du dragon, a heroic fantasy comic book by Mathieu Gabella and Christophe Swal.
Three musketeers facing a dragon
From the title, In the belly of the dragon, the subject is clear: this series will tell us about the greatest danger of heroic fantasy stories. The screenwriter Mathieu Gabella starts from old legends and gives a new interpretation. Legends present dragons as guardians of treasures but without really giving an explanation. Gabella involves biology because it is at the time of moulting that their scales metamorphose into gold. In addition, his excrement becomes precious stones. Such phenomena inevitably attract adventurers, and In the Belly of the Dragon follows the gradual creation of a team of three men gathered to hunt the largest dragon known. They will quickly come to the idea that, in order to kill him, they will have to enter his body. This crew is very disparate but is united by their family ties to the dragons. It was their parents who prepared this alliance and the plan of attack. The Chinese pirate Wei Feng can train dragons while Udo Von Winkelried hunts them to respect family tradition. Phylogen d'Esquamate saw his parents, dracologists die while going to study these gigantic reptiles. They are physically and psychologically very different. Phylogen is frail because he spends his time studying dragons. Udo is more massive and marked on his flesh by a family curse but refuses to make a pact with these reptiles to prefer revenge. Both are fleeing a humanity that fears them for their differences. Morality affects Wei less who is especially attracted to gold and does not hesitate to enslave dragons. Each one brings to the team: Phylogène his scientific knowledge, Udo his hunting technique and Wei the ship and crew. In the first volume, of a series planned by the publisher Glénat in three, we follow in particular Udo by images of his past. This suggests that each volume will be devoted to a member of the trio of hunters.
The dragon in novel version
We recently told you about The Last Dragon where Jean-Pierre Pécau started from the historical reality of the Crusades to propose a story of adventure and fantasy. In Mathieu Gabella's screenplay, we certainly cross a historical context. The Valois France was at war with the English and a decisive moment in the hunt took place at the naval battle of the Lock. We learn the etymology of the word dragon. But, In the Belly of the Dragon relies much more on medieval legends and contemporary novels that the screenwriter happily mixes. In the introduction, we meet the fighter of Germanic legends Siegfried but he is covered with a dragon skin. Unlike the movies, it is not his breath or his claws that are the most formidable weapon of the giant but his look. Indeed, the dragon survives by metamorphosing. They can also mate with other creatures and their offspring is a doubly formidable chimera. The designer Christophe Swal impresses with the quality of representation of the dragons and the precision of the decorations in large illustrations . The whole battle scene is captivating. He is also good at realistic faces. The colorist Simon Champelovier also has a big role to play in setting up a new atmosphere. He does not multiply the colors to stick to reality but chooses a dominant shade such as red and blue during the first fight. Entering the belly of the dragon, the reader is first dazzled by the drawing admiring the features and dynamism of Christophe Sfal's drawing and the colors Simon Champelovier. But they will then be hypnotized by the trio of adventurers and the many mysteries in the body of the dragon finish to convince the reader, eager to read the rest scheduled for May. If you feel like it, you can find other stories of heroic fantasy with Hurlevent and Fang.
