Aberzen #1

From French publisher Soleil comes this intriguing 2001 opener to the *Aberzen* series, subtitled "Commencer Par Mourir" — *Start by Dying* — a title that promises nothing gentle. The cover, rendered by Marc N'Guessan, sets a wonderfully strange tone: three anthropomorphic bear-like figures perch on a snow-swept rocky outcrop beneath a brooding, storm-dark sky — one cloaked and sword-bearing, one bundled in a patchwork coat, and one with a round mechanical or masked head cradled between them, all gazing outward into the cold unknown. It's a quietly arresting image that blends fantasy, melancholy, and just a touch of the surreal, signaling the kind of European bande dessinée that rewards patient, imaginative readers.