The Worlds of Aldebaran (French: Les Mondes d'Aldébaran) is a French science-fiction comic series written and illustrated by Léo and published by Dargaud in French and Cinebook in English. The Aldebaran saga is divided into 7 cycles: Aldebaran and its sequels Betelgeuse, Antares, Survivors, Return to Aldebaran, Neptune and Bellatrix. Each cycle is composed of two to six albums, and each corresponds to a different planet. Although it is possible to read the cycles separately, they are chronological to form a coherent whole. Each cycle (and thus planet) introduces new secondary characters, although the central heroes of the story remain constant. 2011 saw the release of a new volume, Survivors (French: Survivants), which introduced a new set of characters and takes place concurrently with Antares. The next cycle, Return to Aldebaran (French: Retour sur Aldébaran) consists of 3 albums, published between 2018 and 2020. It is followed in 2022 with Neptune and in 2023 with Bellatrix. The series has been translated into several languages, including Italian, German, Dutch, Polish, Portuguese, Croatian, Spanish, Czech and English.
Plot
Situation before Aldebaran During the 21st century, following global warming, which resulted in the deviation of the Gulf Stream, an increase in pollution levels, and devastating religious wars, the conditions on Earth seriously degraded. Concurrently, huge technological advances were made for Humanity, particularly the invention of the "Benevides Transfer", which allows faster-than-light space travel. As a result, new Earth-like planets, potentially colonisable, were discovered. Millions of dollars have been invested in these colonization projects by private companies. The first to inhabit the new colonies are selected following reconnaissance missions to the newly discovered planets, and the United Nations has put in place a charter regulating the colonization of new planets. Most notably, colonization must cease should the planet be found to harbor one, or potentially several species considered to be evolved, defined as a species which has discovered fire and can produce tools.
The Aldebaran Cycle The first cycle opens towards the end of the 22nd century on the first planet successfully colonized by humanity, Aldebaran-4 (commonly known simply as Aldebaran), the fourth planet of the Aldebaran solar system and the only discovered to be hospitable. It is revealed that since its colonization 100 years previous, communication with Earth has been impossible, the reason for which is not explained. As a result, the colonists have had to put in place an autocratic society, making do with what is available to them on the planet. The original population of 3,000 colonists rapidly grows to around 20,000 inhabitants when the cycle begins. The story begins in the year 2179 with the complete destruction of a small fishing village north of Bigland island, known as Arena Bianca, by a mysterious and voracious sea creature. The entire population is killed in the attack with the exception of three teenagers, Mark Sorensen, Kim Keller and Nellie Keller, left orphaned following the disaster. Mark and Kim decide to head for the capital of the colony, Anatolia, several thousand kilometers to the south, hoping to earn a living. The two decide to elucidate the mystery of the killer animal that devastated their village upon meeting Driss Shediac and Alexa Komarova, two friendly and experienced biologists who are actively hunted by the police. In the course of their adventures, it is revealed that the central government of Aldebaran is authoritarian and dictatorial. The two teenagers also meet the opportunistic Mister Pad, a mischievous vagabond, who offers to help them as long as he gets something from the deal as well. Alexa and Driss eventually decide to form a secret group composed of Kim, Mark, Mister Pad, as well as several of their friends who are aware of their secret: the Mantris, a complex, protean creature, and the same which annihilated Kim and Mark's village, does in fact, under certain forms, enter into amicable contact with humans, having them absorb life-prolonging capsules, in the hopes of establishing a symbiotic relationship. Alexa and Driss have been absorbing these capsules for some time while continuing their research into the creature, and they propose that the other members of the group begin absorbing the capsules as well. The Mantris Group is born. The government eventually catches up with the group, but it is saved by the Mantris, which simply makes the intruders vanish. Shortly afterwards, Kim and Mark see a space shuttle in the sky, which turns out to be the first contact between Earth and Aldebaran, made possible when the computers suddenly and miraculously begin to function again. The colonial government is dissolved and commerce and travel begins with Earth; Mark and Kim, now a couple, decide to leave Aldebaran and make for Earth in order to continue their studies. Driss and Alexa found the Institute for the Study of the Mantris, funded largely with Earth-based assistance.
… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.
