L'idée gâtée

Terre Gâtée (Spoiled Earth) is a collaboration between Ivorian writer Marguerite Abouet (famous for the Aya de Yopougon series), the film director Charli Beleteau, and the prolific BD artist Christian De Metter.

The story tracks events and relationships in and around a bustling desert village which thrives due to an adjacent highway construction project. The road will serve as a main artery between sub-saharan Africa and the North; it therefore attracts transient migrants looking for work, not to mention distraction at the local bordello.

A couple of families responsible for managing the site are all too ready to exploit these passing travellers—as well as the nomadic tribes whose land their road encroaches upon more with each passing day. Tensions between various individuals and factions simmer from the start until they inevitably boil over into violent confrontation.

I first read this BD almost a year ago, and although I wouldn’t describe it as ‘bad’, I was underwhelmed. I couldn’t put my finger on why though… until a few nights ago when I decided to read it again.

It is too short. Far too short.

There are so many interesting personalities and relationship dynamics within Terre Gâtée, but at 85 pages long, it does not provide ample room to portray all of their quirks and complexities. To emerge from a tale of human suffering, exploitation and tragedy feeling so emotionally uninvolved and disconnected from the characters is surprising to say the least.

Worse, the story ends on a cliffhanger which still hasn’t been resolved by a second volume almost two years after publication. I’m not against incomplete conclusions which set-up the foundation for the next episode in a series, but in this case there is no closure for a major plot element that is established in the first three pages, and that is unforgivable.

I do wonder, actually, if the two volumes were originally intended as a single work and the publisher decided to maximise revenue by splitting it. If so, I’d say things didn’t go as planned.

In conclusion, although De Metter’s artistry is breathtaking and Abouet’s upbringing on the Ivory Coast clearly lends a lot of authenticity to both his drawings and the story, I just cannot recommend this BD. I’m not disappointed I bought it, but it clearly had the potential to be so much more than this.