Lone Sloane is a

science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

comics character created in 1966 by the French cartoonist Philippe Druillet.

Publication history

Lone Sloane first appeared in Druillet's own debut, ''Mystère des Abîmes'', published in 1966. Other stories were published in the Franco-Belgian comics magazine ''

Pilote ''Pilote'' (), for a while subtitled ''the magazine of Asterix and Obelix'' (French: ''Le Journal D’Astérix et D’Obélix'' ) was a French comics magazine published from 1959 to 1989. Showcasing most of the major Franco-Belgian comics, French ...

'' from February 1970 to April 1971. The series was subsequently revamped by the author for '' Metal Hurlant'' magazine.

Plot

Set 800 years after a catastrophic event called the "Great Fear", the stories feature Lone Sloane, who is caught by an entity called "He Who Seeks", after his space ship is destroyed. He is thrown into a different dimension, where he becomes a space rogue and freebooter with strange powers, and finds himself caught in an intergalactic struggle between space pirates, gigantic robots, dark gods, and other-dimensional entities. Very similar to

Silver Surfer The Silver Surfer is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character also appears in a number of movies, television, and video game adaptations. The character was created by Jack Kirby and first a ...

and

Galactus Galactus () is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Formerly a mortal man, he is a cosmic entity who consumes planets to sustain his life force, and serves a functional role in the upkeep of the p ...

, or Ulysses and the

Greek gods In ancient Greece, deities were regarded as immortal, anthropomorphic, and powerful. They were conceived of as individual persons, rather than abstract concepts or notions, and were described as being similar to humans in appearance, albeit larg ...

, he is compelled to wander in a universe that is alien to him. It is also known for the quasi-

baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

style of Druillet's artwork, which features

Lovecraftian Lovecraftian horror, also called cosmic horror or eldritch horror, is a subgenre of horror, fantasy fiction and weird fiction that emphasizes the horror of the unknowable and incomprehensible more than gore or other elements of shock. It is na ...

space nightmares mixed with Escherian mathematically inspired worlds.

Publications

* ''Le Mystère des Abîmes'' ("The Mystery of the Abyss", 1966) * ''Le Trone du Dieu Noir'' ("The Throne of the Black God"; in ''

'' magazine #538, 1970) * ''Les Iles du Vent Sauvage'' ("The Isle of the Doom Wind"; in ''Pilote'' #553, 1970) * ''Rose'' (in ''Pilote'' N°562, 1970) * ''Torquedara Varenkor: Le Pont sur les Etoiles'' ("The Bridge over the Stars"; in ''Pilote'' #569, 1970) * ''O Sidarta'' (in ''Pilote'' #578, 1970) * ''Terra'' (in ''Pilote'' #598, 1971) * ''Delirius'' (written by Jacques Lob; in ''Pilote'' #651-666, 1972) * ''Gail'' (in '' Metal Hurlant'' magazine #18-27, 1975-1976) * ''Salammbo'' (in '' Metal Hurlant'' magazine #48-54, 1980) * ''Salammbo 2: Carthago'' (1982) * ''Salammbo 3: Matho'' (1986) * ''Chaos'' (2000) * ''Delirius 2'' (2012, script by Lob, Jacques and Legrand, Benjamin)

Translations

The first eight stories were translated into English by

Jean-Marc Lofficier Jean-Marc Lofficier (; born June 22, 1954) is a French author of books about films and television programs, as well as numerous comics and translations of a number of animation screenplays. He usually collaborates with his wife, Randy Lofficier ( ...

and

Randy Lofficier Jean-Marc Lofficier (; born June 22, 1954) is a French author of books about films and television programs, as well as numerous comics and translations of a number of animation screenplays. He usually collaborates with his wife, Randy Lofficier ( ...

. They were first serialized in black and white in

Dark Horse A dark horse is a previously lesser-known person, team or thing that emerges to prominence in a situation, especially in a competition involving multiple rivals, that is unlikely to succeed but has a fighting chance, unlike the underdog who is exp ...

's '' Cheval Noir'' comics anthology, then published as graphic novels by NBM Publishing. The rest of the stories have been translated into English by the magazine ''Heavy Metal'', some of them serialized in the magazine (''Gail'' in 1977 and 1978, ''Salammbo'' in 1980 and 1981) and ''Chaos'' published as an album.

References

Loan Sloane
at Bedetheque *

External links

on the Lofficiers' site

at Cool French Comics French comic strips Comics characters introduced in 1966 1966 comics debuts Métal Hurlant titles Pilote titles Post-apocalyptic comics Science fiction comics French comics characters Science fiction characters Male characters in comics {{Sf-stub