I am great admirerer of French comic books. Much of my growing up was influenced with numerous French comics whose english titles I do not know and cannot state them here. Stating them doesn't mean much, it's just a figure of speech :)

I have first heard of Wake (or Sillage, which is original title) on a local web forum which deals with comic-books. From what I have read, it seemed to me that I should give it a try. After all, I't has been some time since I actually bought any comic book at all, and introductional story seemed interesting enough. So, I wen't to a local comic-book store and few moments later emerged form whithin with a brand new issue in my hand. That is all irrelevant...

What matters is that we're dealing with a classic 48-pages long french comic book whose main fault is that it comes first in the series. It wouldn't be a problem if we weren't dealing with an entire universe which nedeed to be presented. That caused scenario to be pretty irregular and shifty in highlighting various aspect in various time, making entire story rather shallow. Many of it's emptinesses are left to be filled in later books. What is shown in this one comes down to half-naked Navee (which is quite erotic so if you mind that kind of drawing, I suggest that you avoid this one) and interesting enough setting with cliffhanger which can be exploited in numerous ways in upcoming issues. (I am aware that nine of them are already out, but, since I don't read french, I am bound to croatian issues. That means this one.)

Story itself doesn't seems to be naive, and it looks like Morvan will be able to pull out few surprises form his sleeve. Looking at this album as an isolated incident it is quite bad. Unexplained, quick paced, lacks motivation. Looking at it as the beginnig of a series, one must admit that it hooks it's reader to await eagerly for other issues that follow.

What will ome next remains to be seen.

Almost as good as the first book in the series. The inclusion of more charecters was good as was the plot twist at the end.

This isn't the best book in the series, but it is an interesting story none the less. I enjoy the Wake saga and the heroine, Navee.

While the first three volumes of Wake were pretty-much stand-alone stories, this volume continues the plots revealed in 4 (The Sign of the Demons) about planet trafficking. Navee is off to see Ribwund who was sent to prison in an earlier adventure. She hopes to get information regarding the planet traffickers who have infiltrated Wake at all major levels.

In the first story, Navee's craft is sabotaged and she crashes on an unknown planet. There she is befriended by a local species that seems to be in perpetual war with machines. The war has split the society into the men who are soldiers and the women who are protected and do all of the rest of the work including providing sexual favors to successful soldiers. Strong-willed Navee, placed with the women, finally rebels at the end of the day instead of providing rewards. She then proceeds to use her unique talents to effect major changes on the world, its society, and the war.

With her ship repaired, Navee continues her mission in the second story. She infiltrates Ribwund's prison just as major riots break out. They may be a cover to assassinate the ex-general. Navee manages to get caught right in the middle of things. We have long-standing crime rivals, rioting, cover-ups and a surprise character that has encountered humans prior to meeting Navee. But no matter how tough the odds, Navee is not a quitter.

Both stories are really part of a whole. The series overall seems to be moving in a more coherent direction that in the first three books (although this volume has serious ties to volume two). A lot happens in this book and a lot of it will have repercussions on later stories. It really makes me wish that the next volume would come out right away. This volume does not stand alone very well and volumes two and four really should be read in order to understand what is really going on. Check it out.

Navee, the lone human amongst the countless aliens of Wake, is back in two of her toughest adventures. There is actually a scene overlap between the two stories to help cement the time frame of the second.

Sign of the Demons has Navee and other Wake agents looking into the disappearance of a previous team on a world ripe for contact. This world, much like Wake, has numerous races with the First Five being in charge of the others. Navee's quest teaches her about a downtrodden race, liberty and treachery. Then end is slightly unresolved concerning the fate of one of the characters but the resolution on the planet is quite satisfactory.

The second tale, (unreadable title), plays like a tribute to Mother Teresa. Navee's celebrity makes her a target of reactionaries trying to help the plight of their impoverished people. Their race is the majority on Wake but most live in shanty towns set up in garbage scows. One nun is working with them to try and improve the lot of at least a few. Navee tries to become a reactionary celebrity to help them. In the end she learns the lesson the nun had to learn long ago. A pretty good tale but I was a little unsure where the reactionaries were able to get their expensive supplies.

A good double-dose of space opera and humanity. A fine addition to the series and possible the strongest.