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. Their precarious existence comes under threat when the powerful, technologically advanced Federation of Fortuna forces them into a dangerous choice—submit to Fortuna’s rule, or try to best them in a barbaric, ritualized game known as Celestial Mechanics. Pan’s only hope? A hot-headed outcast they’d rejected for being “un-Pan”: a girl named Aster.

absolutely love these illustrations

A graphic novel with some Hunger Games vibes about a dystopian future where the fate of one land is determined by their ability to play one simple ballgame. I enjoyed the characters and the story, but I think it suffered overall from a lack of explanation around the worldbuilding. What was there was great-- there just wasn't quite enough of it to be honest. Still, a fun read and lovely illustrations.

Aster of Pan went in a direction I absolutely did not see coming: it's basically a story of high-stakes dodgeball, with the stakes being societal freedom. Fun!

To me, this was pretty much middle-of-the-road fare. While the art is definitely impressive in its own right, and the story was fun in a way that's not too superficial, unfortunately, neither really allowed me to connect with the ARC in any way.

*I received this book thanks to Netgalley and the publisher in exchange of honest review*

The year 2068 is in the forest of Fontainebleau, of what was once Paris. In a magical place, between forests and dilapidated houses, in a post-apocalyptic period, the people of Pan survive on very little: crops and what can sell things that are recycled around.
Aster is truly incredible, a girl tied and united with a single friend who helps and supports her. She is not from the Pan community, she is an Un-Pan yet when they look for someone to represent Pan to defend her when the Federation of Fortune tries to subdue the community by trying to destroy it with a treacherous game called Celestial Mechanics: a game made with similar balls to those in tennis where two teams have to hit each other by eliminating. The last one standing wins. Pan seems to be a hope for Pan and she gives it all. The designs are very striking, with light and simple shades, with hard but very beautiful rats. I was hoping for a different kind of story, at least on this kind of game. I thought it was more war, combat or something more bloody and not so simplistic survival.
So yes, a pleasant and fluent reading but nothing particularly innovative or that makes you say "wooow". There is nothing particularly innovative if not the designs that amazed me a lot in the strokes and shades of color. Aster is certainly an interesting character, who intrigued me and whom I would have liked to know more about, but all remained very fickle and suspended. Sin. Still a nice graphic novel, and a good pastime.

3,7/5
Quality of writing: 4
Plot development: 3
Pace: 4
Characters: 4
Enjoyability: 4
Ease of reading: 3

So... hear me out... Post apocalyptic dodgeball... That's it, that's the idea.
The art was amazing too.

Review copy provided by the publisher and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Just so-so for me. The art is okay but not extraordinary, which is fine. The story is also okay, again which is fine. But, honestly I will most likely forget about this after a few other books. It took me a bit of picking up and putting down to finish this story can’t really say why, probably a combination of other books and priorities. I wish it good luck though.

I received a copy of this from NetGalley in return for an honest review.

This comic was just plain fun. I love a good game of dodgeball and this was like the ultimate game. If that game was played for the future autonomy of your community that is. I liked the artwork and the characters were interesting. Just all around a good time. I will definitely be continuing on with this series.

This is my second Merwan graphic novel, and though his stories are outlandish, I find myself loving them even if I didn't totally understand them. But I can say I definitely understood this story more than Pistouvi, his previous work I've read.

This is a post-apocalyptic story set in 2068, and Earth is in ruins now, with some people living a life of scavenging, and others trying to rule over them. We follow the main character Aster, who's lived her whole life in Pan, but she's not a citizen, but she steps up to defend Pan in a game called Celestial Mechanics, which is basically Dodge-ball. The story was confusing at some parts, and I liked the "Myth" aspect of the end, and I feel that the fox's tail was a nod to Pistouvi? I might be reading too much into it.

Anyway, I loved the world, and I would love to see more of it, and the romance was endearing, and I wanted to see more of that too. I'm definitely keeping an eye on upcoming works by Merwan.

I thank Netgalley and Magnetic Press for the Digital ARC.

Long story short I wanted Aster of Pan to be so much more than it was.

The things I liked:
The atmosphere of the post-apocalyptic world was very well done and provided a fun backdrop to the story. That plus the fantastic full color art throughout made it a very enjoyable read.
Awesome concepts and bad ass female main character.
Things I did not like:
The world and character building was rather lackluster. I wanted so much more for the story,

Overall I enjoyed my reading experience enough that I would be willing to give volume 2 a shot to see if there is more development.

Provided by NetGalley for an honest review.
#AsterofPan #NetGalley

The art is very beautiful. I could recommend this to people easily. I don't know that my location could sell this off the shelf though...

3.5 stars (coming out Feb 2, 2021!!!)

**Provided by NetGalley for an honest review.**
#AsterofPan #NetGalley

Pros: unique art style, fully colored, eco-dystopian/post-apocalyptic setting, "Celestial Mechanics" concept (dodgeball tournament to decide if a country should invade another country or not), translated from the French, badass female MC, great action scenes

Cons: a few too many plot threads to explore each idea fully, a bit of "story within a story" bookending that I'm not a huge fan of

Video link: Jan WU (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRCG2b-QLxg&t=11s)

I hope this is a continuing series because I Loved this! The art and color palette is beautiful and the story engaging. The post-apocalyptic town of Pan is suddenly on the remaining world stage as a nearby city tries to lay claim to an absurd amount of their scarce food supply. To continue to keep to themselves they must win a game of extreme dodgeball where the rules are fudged just enough to give the home team an advantage. My favorite part about this comic has to be the art however as each and every facial expression is embellished and very accurate to what the character would be feeling. Very reminiscent of Brandon Graham but with much more detail. I will be looking for this and any that come afterwards in my local comic shop.

I have received a copy of this book from Netgalley for an honest review.

While „Aster of Pan“ is the first comic I‘ve reviewed, it is not the first post-apocalyptic comic I’ve read and I found it enjoyable and impactful.

The story follows Aster, a girl without citizenship, living in a post-apocalyptic settlement. Her days are filled with exploring abandoned and overgrown territories scavenging bits and pieces to sell. Living like an outcast doesn’t seem to bother her too much anymore, but in an ironic turn of events Aster finds herself fighting for the sake of a nation and people who don’t accept her as their own. A symbolic game, Celestial Mechanics, will decide the fate of Pan, and their only hope is Aster…

The comic is quite short (about 100 pages) and the author manages to use those pages with purpose, creating a believable world, with its’ people, their specific way of life and the stakes just high enough to keep it interesting throughout the story. However, the shortness of the story was a bit of a double edge sword, making it feel rushed and too superficial at times. Considering that it’s just the first volume, I am assuming that various parts of story that were only mentioned in passing will be further expanded upon.

As for the art part of the comic, I felt that it fit the story perfectly. The detailed drawings of the scenery helped to get into the atmosphere of post-apocalyptic world. I also especially enjoyed the expressive way the action scenes were drawn, and how characters’ facial expressions and body language pertained their feelings so well.

All in all, I believe that “Aster of Pan” is able to hold its’ own in the genre of post-apocalyptic side of sci-fi. I enjoyed the story overall and am looking forward to its’ continuation.

Aster of Pan puts us in a dystopian future in which Aster, an outcast of her community, scrabbles to get enough rations to survive by scavenging weapons and parts. When Pan suddenly comes into the crosshairs of two competing societies, Aster is called up to join a team to keep Pan free - using the sacred sport of dodgeball. A tongue-in-cheek take on dystopia that attempts to touch on heavy topics of class and acceptance, but mainly only succeeds in providing a fun science fiction story, set in beautiful watercolor backgrounds.

I didn't know what I had to expect from this graphic novel.
This sci-fi graphic novel is about Pan, this world where his people have to fight for their rights and freedom. The main protagonist is a girl who hasn't been born in a city so according to citylaws is Un-Pan and the friendship she build with Wallis (there a hint of romance).
Set in a post apocalyptic Paris, the characters will be involved is a sort of dodgeball/hunger games: Celestial Mechanics.

At the beginning I didn’t understand how the rules of the game worked, but then I enjoyed it. 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.
I think the story could have more focus over the main characters' development and some extra explanation about this "new" world.

i liked the art style, everything was amazingly drawn.

This comic was fantastic! I have never read a comic with such beautiful watercolor art. It had great pallet choice, extremely vivid and dynamic character and movement illustration. On top of that, Aster was a great protagonist to follow, her playfulness and determination were incredible. I really recommend checking out this comic/graphic novel and look forward to reading more translated work in this format.

Link to full video review below!

I am first attracted to comics by their visual appeal, and this post-apocalyptic one looked so pretty I had to read it. The European drawing style means the visual are very high quality, the two main characters are charming and the world is a post-apocalyptic survival story in a flooded parisian suburb.

The very first few pictures welcome you into an extremely dynamic world, with our hero jumping, running and crashing. You can picture perfectly the smooth action, like a film. The colouring is complexe and lively, it looks like real water colour, very talented and professional. The earthy tones are vibrant with life and it really looks like setting sun hues on everything. It is impossible not to be impressed by such craftsmanship. The backgrounds of both natural and dystopian cities are stunning.

The hint of the romance is adorable, and for once started by the male character. I thought the story would be one thing, but I turned out to be pretty wrong. We follow Astar, an energetic girl in a trib-like place suddenly taken over by a technologically advanced one. When the story suddenly swerves into the sporting arena style I was just baffled. While I love SF and fantasy, I have little interest in sports fiction so it was hard to keep me interested. I think this is very much geared at teen boys: amazing graphics, lots of action (pirates, army fights, internal quarrel, corruption, civil unrest…), sports action, humour, fierce pretty girls, father/son relationship, brothers relationship… there is something of War of the Flies, if they had been playing dodgeball. It’s an unlikely combo, not exactly for me, but I’m sure it will convert a lot of people drawn in by the strong graphic. I’m glad lots of european comics are getting translated because there is a lot of talent over there and it’s good to see something different.

I'm super glad I read the description of this story before jumping in because there is very little world building at all. You get thrown into the world and I did have a bit of a hard time getting into it, and didn't quite understand what was going on until there was only around 50 pages left.

The art style was really cool and not something I normally see in my graphic novel reading! The colors all worked so well together and the story kept me engaged the whole time.

I really enjoyed this graphic novel. The plot was pretty well done. The artwork is beautiful. I really liked the characters and the world was really interesting!

Aster of Pan is a dystopian graphic novel that centers around a game of dodgeball that acts and represents war. The art style wasn't my favorite, and the story wrapped up in a weird way, but I think the overall message was fun and entertaining to read. While I never fully connected with the plot or the characters, I think there was a lot to grasp from the storyline.

This definitely was not a book for me, but by no means was this bad. Others will enjoy it more and it's okay that a book is not for everyone.