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A review by shonatiger
T'zée by Appollo
5.0
Thank you to NetGalley and to Europe Comics for this eARC.
T’Zee, the ageing leader of an unspecified central African country, is in prison. There has been a rebellion against him, and the country is in chaos. His son, Hippolyte (Hippo), and his friends Arissi, the daughter of an independence hero who was executed by T’Zee, and Walid, the son of a Lebanese businessman, are hanging out at T’Zee’s jungle palace. Bobbi, T’Zee’s young wife, is also at the palace, trying to work out what to do to save her husband’s reign, and herself.
Through a series of flashbacks, we are told more T’Zee’s corrupt and despotic rule, about Hippo’s life, about Bobbi’s background, and about how Arissi’s father died. Water his execution, Arissi’s father’s body was dropped into the country’s huge, mythical river, and legend has it that Mami Wata¹ is intent on revenge on T’zee and on his family for this injustice. We arrive at the novel’s turning point, with an attempt to break T’Zee out of prison ending with his apparent death.
T’Zee, An African Tragedy is a gorgeous graphic novel, with a thrilling, well-told story, and beautiful artwork. The DRC/Congo is strongly represented: T’Zee is probably Mobuto (with his famous leopard hat), a sapeur makes an appearance, and there are vivid descriptions of the countryside, especially in Hippo’s nostalgic remembrances. African (and Congolese, to be specific) mythology is interwoven through the story, and the perspective of the whole novel is consciously Afrocentric, reminiscent of African literature from the 1960s. I also loved the pan-African themes: Bobbi’s father was from Angola, and Hippo spent time in Paris with students from many different African countries, where a frequent topic was pan-Africanism. Colonial France also comes up, but, importantly, not as the focus of the story.
This novel receives my highest recommendation; it is exceedingly well-done. Absolutely read it, and keep a copy in your library.
¹ TIL, through Wikipedia, that Mami Wata mythology is present in central Africa.
T’Zee, the ageing leader of an unspecified central African country, is in prison. There has been a rebellion against him, and the country is in chaos. His son, Hippolyte (Hippo), and his friends Arissi, the daughter of an independence hero who was executed by T’Zee, and Walid, the son of a Lebanese businessman, are hanging out at T’Zee’s jungle palace. Bobbi, T’Zee’s young wife, is also at the palace, trying to work out what to do to save her husband’s reign, and herself.
Through a series of flashbacks, we are told more T’Zee’s corrupt and despotic rule, about Hippo’s life, about Bobbi’s background, and about how Arissi’s father died. Water his execution, Arissi’s father’s body was dropped into the country’s huge, mythical river, and legend has it that Mami Wata¹ is intent on revenge on T’zee and on his family for this injustice. We arrive at the novel’s turning point, with an attempt to break T’Zee out of prison ending with his apparent death.
T’Zee, An African Tragedy is a gorgeous graphic novel, with a thrilling, well-told story, and beautiful artwork. The DRC/Congo is strongly represented: T’Zee is probably Mobuto (with his famous leopard hat), a sapeur makes an appearance, and there are vivid descriptions of the countryside, especially in Hippo’s nostalgic remembrances. African (and Congolese, to be specific) mythology is interwoven through the story, and the perspective of the whole novel is consciously Afrocentric, reminiscent of African literature from the 1960s. I also loved the pan-African themes: Bobbi’s father was from Angola, and Hippo spent time in Paris with students from many different African countries, where a frequent topic was pan-Africanism. Colonial France also comes up, but, importantly, not as the focus of the story.
This novel receives my highest recommendation; it is exceedingly well-done. Absolutely read it, and keep a copy in your library.
¹ TIL, through Wikipedia, that Mami Wata mythology is present in central Africa.