Apparently this was originally written in French as <i>Mécanique Céleste</i>, which I didn't know until I finished it. Very cool! I love reading translated work.

<i>‘The envoys are supposed to represent the planets … but that girl’s a star.’</i>

I didn't realise this was a sport-themed graphic novel, oops. Not a genre I'd normally pick up, but I enjoyed this one! The art is really cool and the colour are very ... calming, almost? The colour scheme reminded me of <i>Peanuts</i>, although the genres aren't in the same realm at all. It was very retro! The plot is fairly straight forward: the fate of everyone's future lies with who wins the match. So, in essence it's a very relaxed, sporty version of <i>The Hunger Games</i>.

Worth a read, especially for those who like dystopian, sports or graphic novels!

Thank you Netgalley for providing me with an ARC of this book in exchange of an honest review.

I'm a huge fan of graphic novels and Aster of Pan was a fresh indie comic with gorgeous illustrations. Merwan built an interesting post-apocalyptic world where the citizens of Pan struggle to survive with limited resources and radiation poisoning the land. Aster, the title character, is "un-Pan", born outside the territory and not granted citizenship or rations as dictated by Pan laws. When an armed delegation from the distant territory of Fortuna arrives on Pan's shores with an ultimatum, the fate of Pan and its citizens rests in a form of ritual combat that basically amounts to dodgeball.

Unfortunately, that's where the story kind of lost me. In general I'm not a sports fan and it just seemed exceedingly silly for the fate of an entire nation to be decided by a ball game. I was drawn in my the world of Pan and the ways the different territories survived and rebuilt after cataclysmic disaster and I would have preferred to see more of a focus on the survivors and the political/social structures of Pan, Fortuna and Ceres. In addition, Aster being preternaturally skilled at this ball game when she'd never even heard of it or practiced before the initial match was a bit too much of a stretch for me.

Overall, I really liked the art and it was worth the read just for the illustrations.

Previously published in two volumes by another publisher, Magnetic Press is doing the right thing in publishing both in one book.

Post-apocalyptic post-nuclear-war France! With apocalyptically appropriate ultra-dodgeball wedged in! (What is it with post-apocalypses and obsessive competitive sports..?)

To be frank, the story isn't that incredible, but the world building is solid and I just love the art in this - a sort of lightly manga-influenced European style. The depictions of bombed out France are vivid, but it's especially the characters that are impressive.

The second half focuses completely on the Rollerball-like apocalypse-dodgeball 'celestial mechanics' . The game being tied to social and political revolution feels forced, and it's a shame that more isn't done with all the worldbuilding.

Still.. the art.. the art, my friends!

3.5 stars

Aster of Pan has an interesting premise. The idea that even in a post apocalyptic world spectator sports can wield such power. Aster is an founding, who lives in the territory of Pan, and although she has lived there her entire life, she is still seen as an outsider by the superstitious citizens of Pan. She and her friend Wallis spend their day scavenging for materials to trade for food and money. All of this changes when citizens from the territory of Fortuna arrive and try to seize Pan's food and the only way to prevent this to participate in Celestial Mechanics. Merwan's art is beautiful and compliments the world building he tried to achieve. One of my few complaints is that the pace of the comic was too quick, there wasn't enough time to flesh out the main characters and their motivations. After the introduction is went right into the game and that is where the characters became flat. Aside from that I found Aster and Wallis (and Wallis's family) to be interesting and I would have liked to have known more about them.

After Europe Comics gave the English language market the full 200 pages of this in two files (they're a digital-only house, don't'cha know), it's down to Magnetic Press and their scouts for foreign-language franchises to give us the whole shebang. Mind, even complete it's not completely edifying – a community in a post-Apocalypse France, whose future relies on the ruler's son making a surprise comeback to things, to lead a band of no-marks in a life-or-nothing game of dodgeball. Yup, dodgeball. The first battle is in a standard sort of court, the second in a more high-tech arena with climate control, etc, and the third takes all combatants into the Radlands that have been off-limits to all gangs, tribes and peoples before now. It's not heinously bad, but when one of the characters wails late on that "this makes no SENSE!" you're not far off disagreeing. Hardly worth the prestige publication it's getting – I said last time three stars was a little generous and I can't change that verdict.

— thanks to #netgalley and the publisher Europe Comics for providing me with an e-ARC of #asterofpan in exchange for an honest review.

wowow. one of the best graphic novels i’ve ever read. i love dystopian and futuristic graphic novels and this one did not disappoint. the art style here was so aesthetic and the panels and direction of them was very cinematic and easy to read like watching an animated movie. which made me desperate for an animated adaptation of this story, and i would even read a novelization of it! which brings me to another strong point: the plot. i really liked the storyline and world-building of this dystopian world. it felt very real and brought to life by the art sceneries but also the atmosphere and the characters. the characters! i loved the diversity of this splendid cast and enjoyed all of their interactions. they made me laugh and gasp many times.

overall i enjoyed this story a lot, i’ll definitely be picking up more work by this author when i can!

I received this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
This was a fun graphic novel that has really stunning illustrations. The story wasn't my favorite as I would rather have an exploration of the interesting world that had been built instead of such a singular focus on a competition, that said I couldn't put it down and flew through the whole thing quite quickly. I hope that there will be more stories in this interesting world that was introduced.

I loved the art style of this graphic novel, the backgrounds and scene set-ups are super detailed and that helps immensely with the introduction to the novels world. The art style reminded me a lot of watercolour paints, which played nicely into the slightly water-y and grim world.
The story was somewhat disjointed, especially in the beginning and scenes felt way too short and unconnected even though we followed the same two characters.
There is the set up to make this a cool story going forward but overall I feel like I would need more time with this story, the world and its characters to properly settle in and not feel confused by the characters actions.

Thank you Netgalley for providing me with an ARC of this in exchange of an honest review.

The concept of this graphic novel is super interesting. The year is 2068. The place, Fontainebleau forest, ancient home of some of France’s mightiest monarchs on the outskirts of what was once Paris. The post-apocalyptic society of Pan survives by growing rice and scavenging among the ruins of a destroyed civilization.

And it didn't disappoint. I thought it was super entertaining to read, connected with the characters and I think the art was just beautiful! I'm glad I picked it up, because I spent two hours reading it and I had so much fun!

I received this book from Netgalley in exchange of an honest review.
So, um, I am going to keep this one short as I just don't know what to think of this graphic novel. The idea was pretty fun, a dystopian world, a girl who hasn't been born in a city so according to citylaws is Un-Pan, I was curious to finding out more about the world and what had happened to it. In the end? We don't find out anything. Instead we see dodgeball (well ish, sometimes it looks like paintball) battles to gain independence (yes, really). With various terrains. Aster is magically amazing at this apparently despite not knowing what to do at first. Aster also isn't the smartest cookie because everyone could see who that woman was. There is also a bit of romance, just a bit though. I found it cute, but also a bit eh given how Wallis reacted. Come on, Wallis, you know Aster...
The art is gorgeous! Really, some scenes were just so pretty and I loved the character design.
The ending was a surprise.
All in all, I am just not sure how I felt about it. Too much dodgeball for me. Never liked the sports that much. 2.5 stars.

The world has ended and the people have divided themselves up into different societies. The Federation of Fortuna comes to Pan one day to demand that Pan gives them 25% of their rice. A stowaway on the Fortuna's boat tells the citizens of Pan to demand Celestial Mechanics. They do so and discover that they must play a crazy dodgeball-like game to remain independent. Aster, an outcast, quickly becomes the star member of the team. Will her quick thinking help keep Pan free and gain her a spot in the society?