Abara

Complete Deluxe Edition

Hardcover, 418 pages

Published Dec. 18, 2018 by VIZ Media LLC.

ISBN:
9781974702640

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A vast city lies under the shadow of colossal, ancient tombs, the identity of their builders lost to time. In the streets of the city something is preying on the inhabitants, something that moves faster than the human eye can see and leaves unimaginable horror in its wake.

Tsutomu Nihei’s dazzling, harrowing dystopian thriller is presented here in a single-volume hardcover edition featuring full-color pages and foldout illustrations. This volume also includes the early short story “Digimortal.”

1 edition

A better NOiSE but not a better BLAME!

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I see a lot more actual storytelling happening here. Nihei's trading a lot less on pure atmospherics. Everything reads a lot more clearly but we're still in a megalithic city. He's gotten a lot better at drawing faces. Women look more moe and men are able to explore a beautiful range of facial structures.

The gauna read less clearly than Silicon Life or Safeguards do, but as we get into these giant mausoleum consuming gaunas in the second half, I appreciate the human facial features. This is something you see present through his work and H R Giger's, like with the skull barely visible inside of the Xenomorph's exoskeleton. The idea that these monstrosities are descended from our own humanity is what makes them so terrifying, the idea that we can be contorted into these forms. Generally speaking though, shit made of skeletons is cool.

There are always more questions …