Starts off with a near future Earth on its last legs. Seas are rising, plagues are spreading. I wasn't very interested until the aliens showed up and the view changed to this alien invading force, specifically a young married couple that is part of the force that is hear to save us. It instantly got much better. The art was very good as well.

The aspect of hubris flitters in the idea of redemption. But when there is no cure to a sickness that befalls a civilization that is when anarchy sets in. "Renaissance Vol. 1: The Uprooted" [Frederic Blanchard & Fred Duval/Europe/59pgs] approaches the perception from two angles: one of the belittled and one of the rescuers. However perception in a greater vision can be seen between invader and conqueror even if the plan itself is benevolent in nature. Any degree of darkness can be seen as stifling. In this story, humankind has unleashed a plague that it cannot contain. On another planet we see the elements of a species which acts in some ways as a emergency rescue organization in the cosmos. The parallel stories are an interesting diatribe on the notion of immigration within the ideals of humanitarian aide. The aspect of pride balances in the what the quid pro quo might be in the requisite continuation of the relationship. This reflects in the reaction of humans but also the use of relaxants almost as a calming force. The reasoning of why this is happening to the human race is not fully explored while the domestic tranquility of the aliens and their rites of passage are. The result is there is lack of parallel experience to show why one side should trust the other. Ultimately it comes down to the fact of a quest with a person who carries the cure becoming the catalyst for a series of other events, This of course is a relevant but tried plot device which ultimately levels the playing field. Yet the overwhelming technological possibilities of the aliens will not be enough to sway a necessary feeling of superiority that what is being done is for their own good. C

By Tim Wassberg

Swänn and Sätie were born on Näkän, a major planet in the Complex, a federation of extraterrestrial civilizations. The young couple hoped to live a peaceful life in an environment where nature and technology coexist in balance. But they are forced to mobilize when the leaders of the Complex decide to launch a vast expedition to save a planet that has exhausted its resources: Earth.

I'm still quite new to Graphic Novels as a genre (format ?), so I never know exactly what to expect. But upon receiving my free copy of Renaissance from NetGalley in exchange for my honest opinion (which is what you always get anyway), I was very pleased to receive a "comic book" (which is what they were called in my day) made for adults.

Although it has no profanity, graphic sex, and only mild violence and is therefore okay for pre-teen or sensitive readers, it deals with the themes of marriage, family, death, loyalty, greed, individuality, and mankind's' future, even though the story is about aliens. All of these are cleverly woven through an interesting, quick-paced, and complex plotline.

The illustrations are lush, detailed, and set a perfect other,-worldly yet familiar ambiance, while the written words do exactly the same. In fact, it's a rare case where the different contributors each add their uniqueness to telling the story, yet work so well to enhance each other that it's hard to believe we are dealing with more than one writer.

I'm grateful to have had the opportunity to review it and happy that "Renaissance" was so enjoyable that it's certain I'll be continuing to read more Graphic Novels in the future.

Thanks for reading another one of my reviews.

Sincerely, Laura-Lee

The art is great. The story adds nothing new to the genre, and just barely held my interest. It's hard to do alien contact and add new value; the buildup here is conscientious and thorough, but that may be it.

This was an interesting graphic novel, not being quite like anything I've read before. I liked the different methods of storytelling, even if I'm not entirely sure that I loved the direction it ultimately ended up taking. I still appreciate the attempt for what it is.

Earth is being invaded. From across the vastness of space, huge metallic things have arrived, churning out smaller metallic things, that churn out blue aliens in turn. The only thing is, those are friendly aliens – and the flooded remains of our diseased fossil fuel-economy planet desperately need their help. If we're willing to accept it… Now, the only thing wrong with that introductory summary is that it's really two of the aliens that are the lead characters – yes we see some angry women on Earth responding to them (perhaps too angry to be likeable), but for now, newly-wed blue things in respectively USA, trying to put out a massive oil well fire, and Paris, trying to cure a lethal disease, are the characters we're asked to concentrate on. That pretty much works, too, although the jump to an extended flashback to their wedding and their orders to come to Earth did need smoothing over a tad. The book's clearly not telling us all we need to know about life here – why is some of the land underwater and not the rest, whose are the giant robots, and so on, but for now we can live with the varied backstories that provide for this drama. The way the alien spacecraft tie in to one woman's friend-finder app on her phone so easily is almost as daft as the software bit in "Independence Day", but we'll let that swing – this is quite good fun. The interior artwork is nowhere near as fine as the Chris Foss-styled cover, but the book is well worth a look.

*I received this book as an eARC from Europe Comics via NetGalley. I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.*

This graphic novel opens with a breakdown of everything that's happening all over the world in 2084. Overwhelming. From Paris to Ft. Worth, we get to see a lot of different people dealing with the modern world of 2084. There's an alien race intervening on Earth because they're on the brink of global mass extinction.

The story follows a newly married alien couple sent to Earth. They interact with the humans we met in the intro to the book.

There's a lot happening in this book. And it's overwhelming. I give this book a 2/5. There's some really interesting world building, but I was not invested in anyone's story. I didn't care about any individual character. I also didn't understand why the aliens had such a similar social structure to human culture. This book just did not hook me.

Renaissance begins with Earth and it’s people at the brink of chaos— from fires to sickness. On the opposite spectrum, we are introduced to an alien species, determining if they should step in to help human kind. When they make the choice to do so, humans react with initial fear.

This volume zoomed in on a couple from the alien species, and two main families of human, to personalise the story and give it anchor points.

The story does not scream unique to me, but depending on where the main characters’ interactions go, I could see potential for caring about them and their shared stories.

*This volume had more intricate illustrations than other comics/ graphic novels I gave previously received from NetGalley. These copies are not meant to show the final art, and I find that in this format, it is difficult to share my impression on more-detailed work.

The plot was bouncing all over the place it was so hard to follow - I ended up not finishing this. The dream sequence at the start was promising, but then after that it went downhill. Not fleshed out enough for me to care about the characters. The art was stunning however.

This has a lot of promise! In the distant future, Earth has become an absolute hellhole. Most of Europe is underwater, the USA has broken down into many small sections, and the Texas oil fields are ablaze, besides this, a strange and deadly fever is spreading throughout the world. It is humanity's last gasp.
Cut to another planet similar to ours, where an army called Renaissance has been tasked with saving our sorry butts. Among the soldiers sent to Earth are newlyweds Swann and Satie (Swann is a forester, Satie is a doctor) who hope to travel together - but Swann is sent to Texas with the fire brigade and Satie ends up in Paris researching the fever. Everything seems to be going well, until Swann decides to put his trust in a human, who lies and escapes on her own into dangerous territory.

First, I loved the artwork. The panels were well rendered and a pleasure to read through. The story line in part was same old same old. The human race is violent, suicidal and selfish. Contrasting what lots of books describe and even illustrate with the rescuing civilization. The planet that sent the rescuers, I can see that the author tried to create a totally different civilization, how they think, what was important to them, etc. In contrast to humans. The artwork reflected a civilization technologies as being very un-human like in contrast with human machines and AIs..

I loved this book. The graphics were superb, the story line interesting and engaging.

I did receive this book as an advance reader in return for an honest review.

This had a super interesting concept- (supposedly) benign aliens coming to save an Earth verging on apocalypse. I thought it was well-executed and handled multiple perspectives/story lines really well!

This is an excellent start to a new series by Europe Comics. The artwork is good and the story is gripping. Earth is dying. There are huge fires in the US oilfields, armed insurrectionists and all kinds of disease. Unsurprisingly Earth is dying. The story follows two familes who are affected by all the chaos but as the circumstances escalate an alien army arrives to take over the planet.

Swänn and Sätie are two of these aliens, newly married they had planned to live out their lives peacefully on Näkän, a major planet in the Complex, a federation of extraterrestrial civilizations. Now they have separate assignments trying to bring order back to a chaotic planet earth.

This is the first volume in the series and it was exciting to read it. I enjoyed the way the comic portrayed the Earth as out of control and chaotic to the degree it affects other planets. The aliens although appearing to be benign might have hidden agendas and it will be good to see how this story progresses. This first volume is a very promising start to this new series.

Copy provided by Europe Comics via Netgalley in exchange for an unbiased review.

An overall rating of 4 stars. I had trouble at first following the story from one place to another since it takes place in more than just the planet Näkän. But once I started getting the hang of it, it became much more enjoyable. It could have done with a little more background though, Hélène and Liz obviously had more background to them, but I guess not giving much about their backgrounds is for the purpose of keeping the reader on their toes.

Very beautiful illustrations and world building. The glimpses we got the of Näkän are absolutely beautiful.

Thank you so much to the publishers and netgalley for providing me with this ARC and giving me the chance to read and review it.

This is my first graphic novel in since a was a teen and I liked it. I like the idea of peacefull allies cooming to save humans from extinction. We have two stories that I really want to see how they connect. The art was nice and sharp.. I would like to read the next of the series.

Renaissance is a short graphic novel about humans who are infected with a mystery disease that leads to a breakdown in civilization. A group of aliens come to Earth in order to save them since humans have intrinsic value to these aliens.

Overall, I really enjoyed the exploration of this alien and their culture. It was cool to see something different than humans invading another planet too. I liked the art in the graphic novel as well.

I wish this book had a better way of denoting a scene break. In the beginning of this novel, there's a lot of scene breaks that are confusing to the reader since the plot hasn't been set up yet.

Overall, I enjoyed this book, but I wish it was longer and went into more depth on this alien species, the disease humans are contracting, and the overall background to how this disease caused a widespread pandemic.

3.5/5

Renaissance: The Uprooted by Fred Duval, 58 pages. GRAPHIC NOVEL
Europe Comics, 2019. $6.
Language: PG (11 swears, 0 “f”); Mature Content: PG; Violence: PG13
BUYING ADVISORY: HS - ADVISABLE
AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE
By 2084, humanity has done such a poor job taking care of the earth and all lifeforms on the planet that others are stepping in to help. Swänn and Sätie are part of the force from another planet sent to stop the extinction of humans. As these intergalactic neighbors struggle to help, humans will have to decide what is more important: pride or life.
The concept of aliens saving humans from themselves is compelling, and the artwork is as engaging as the script. I loved reading about the people on the planet Näkän and seeing the similarities between our peoples. This volume is a lot of background to set up the story, which can often be a bit dull, but this story has been crafted in such a way that I found this introduction interesting enough that I can’t wait to see what happens to the characters in subsequent volumes. The violence rating is for weapon use (terrestrial and extraterrestrial) and battle gore.
Reviewer: Carolina Herdegen

Sharply drawn and engagingly written, this comic book/graphic novel effectively shows both sides of the coin. While humans endure self-made environmental hazards and diseases, the alien race called the Renaissance come to invade and assist. Swann, a Renaissance, would rather spend his time in deployment with his wife, and the two human women we follow just want to be reunited with their spouses and children. The author does a good job of humanizing aliens bent on fixing and possibly subjecting us, while showing the unfortunate side of humanity that comes out during crisis. Strong female and male characters. Recommended for ages 13 and up.

It's short (57 pages), nicely drawn, and solidly plotted. Emissaries from planet Näkän try to save a dying Earth and its inhabitants from a tragic end. Not all of them have noble intentions, though.

I enjoyed the art and I think the opening panels were fantastic. Näkän reminds me of Eden - it's beautiful and technologically advanced Näkänians live in harmony with nature on their planet.

I would give it a higher score if it weren't for the moronic behavior of human protagonists. I get it, people are emotional, and they'll do the most stupid things for their families. But I also believe it's the cliche and weak way to build tension.

Other than that, highly recommended. I'll definitely read the sequel.

ARC through NetGalley