After “1984”, “1985”. And after the nightmare, the madness that continues… Three years ago, Xavier Coste took the gamble of adapting “1984”, the dystopian novel by the British writer George Orwell in which he tackled 1949 as much to Nazism than to Stalinism, these machines for crushing humans. The comic strip (Fnac-France Inter BD prize), upon its release, was unanimously hailed by critics as a pure masterpiece.
But in three years, the world has changed, war has broken out in Ukraine and the Middle East with its share of horrors, massacres, and innocent people murdered. And the eruption of social networks further amplifies the nightmare, now directly threatening democracy.
Today, Xavier Coste returns (with Philippe Börgn as co-writer) to London which has become Océania, this world crushed by the cult of Big Brother. A Big Brother season 2 where the celebration of January 24, 1985 marks Year I of a new regime in a country of zombies stunned by propaganda.
A glossy drawing, like the world of Big Brother
Two twins bear witness to what has become of this society marked by denunciation and manipulation, enslavement by work: Gordon, loyal to the regime of which he is one of the senior leaders, Llyod who finds other resistance fighters in tunnels under the earth. The two brothers oppose each other, until the death of one of them, while a book in the form of a diary appears and could well shake up Big Brother and the dictatorship of the Party…
“1985” is a superb album of 264 pages, with an expressionism reminiscent of the work of European artists between the wars. Black, mauve and salmon dominate in the plates made with gouache, drawing an icy universe, covered by omnipresent snow. Like the Putinian or Korean dictatorships…
Remember…: “War is peace!” Freedom is slavery! Ignorance is strength! »
“1985”, by Xavier Coste. Sarbacane Editions. €29.
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