The Collected Toppi Vol. 5: The Eastern Path is a collection of six stories by the legendary Sergio Toppi, all set in Eastern Europe and Siberia, dealing with a variety of subjects from the arrogance of Imperialism to the power of superstition to the cost of war.

This collection has great art (naturally, Toppi was an INCREDIBLE artist) but the stories themselves - plot, character elements, etc. - just aren't all that interesting. I've read three of the first four in the Collected Toppi book series and they were enchanting, original, and featured breathtaking art. This one just doesn't have material that is as strong as what I've been conditioned to expect.

Based almost solely on the artwork I give it 3 1/2 stars rounded up to 4 stars.

***I received a free digital copy of this title from NetGalley

It is second volume of toppi; I have read. I am fascinated by details they artists puts into this comics. Based on tribal times of Russia and Europe. This comic is divided into small dark tales. These have dark theme and very interesting characters. Taboo, warfare, hunting make a central theme.
A very interesting book. It is Highly readable and re-redable.

Pure brilliance. Toppi is a unique talent and his work never fails to engross. I’m delighted that his work is being collected in these beautiful editions.

This fifth volume contains six short stories set in Eastern Europe and Siberia during various time periods. I liked it, but I liked it less than the fourth volume. Indeed, I felt like the stories did not always have a morale ending and hence, felt incomplete.
However, the drawings are still absolutely gorgeous. This is real talent.
I still definitely recommend it.
4/5

Incredibly lush and gorgeous black and white art and very creative panel designs especially for work from the '70s and '80s. The stories were a mix of supernatural-tinged WWI and imperial Russian tales, which were on the whole interesting, but I would read an 800 age book of shopping lists illustrated by Toppi. I am assuredly going to read more of his comics.

The artwork was just beyond amazing. I will definitely have to check out the other volumes as well. I enjoyed this immensely!

Sergio Toppi's artwork is beautiful. There is a haunting quality to his drawings and his storytelling. Sergio Toppi (11 October 1932 – 21 August 2012) was an Italian illustrator and comics author, and this is actually the first time I have read anything by him.

This is the fifth volume in his collection of works and it is excellent. The artwork is beautiful and the story telling is powerful.

This volume contains six stories from Eastern European/Siberian folklore from various periods in history. Each story is poignant because of the beautiful graphics but the stories are deeply engaging as well.

Copy provided via Netgalley in exchange for an unbiased review.

Toppi is a very good illustrator with how he can make his penmanship depict people and strange effects. While taking a deep dive in the Turkish-Siberian wilderness, he depicts the conflicts in that region. Supposed men of power come in thinking they're safe only to be practically caught with their pants down as the spirits of the land show just how vulnerable they really are. During war and conflicts, attempts to bring these aspects out are looked at with scorn on all sides. To dismiss everything as superstition is practically suicidal.

Unfortunately the word balloons go in different places and some of the topics just don't interest me enough for me to praise it all. Not enough to criticize either, it was just okay.

Wow! Any effort to say something meaningful or insightful about this book (and the body of work Sergio Toppi gifted the world) will be dwarfed by the sheer scope and brilliance of the stories themselves.

The Collected Toppi Volume 5 is yet another staggering, magnificent collection of stories masterfully expressed through thoughtful words and expert draftsmanship—this time with a focus on war folk tales that take place in Eastern Europe and Siberia. Each panel, page, and story is remarkable in its composition, characterization, humanity, draftsmanship, pacing, tone, and design. As with the stories in previous collections of Toppi’s works, these tales are a resplendent blend of magic, horror, trickery, discovery, and pride.

This is my third trip to the world of Toppi, and the ticket there was as wonderful as the others. It's quite different, mind, for whereas I'd seen his western stories, and some set in Africa and other territories of the southern hemisphere, we're now in another corner of the world. We start with a hubristic, full-of-himself hunter ignoring the advice of the locals in darkest Siberia. There are in fact six pieces in this collection, and while some people may dislike short stories as a rule, he was very good at them, and they were by no means just filler. The second shows he was a very literate creator, dropping on to the pages copious, accurate-seeming cultural quirks and references in a tale of a rationalist scientist who finds the Siberian lands as haunted as the host who has a target on his back. I did find the ending a little light on impact, but that's the fault of the framing scenes and nothing much else.

For those yet to find Toppi's art for themselves, you're in for a treat. He can draw anything, and can never give a dull page. Which makes it kind of awkward when he gives the characters in the third piece here such ugly mushes – it only being ten years old and a lot more recent than much here you'd hope a more sympathetic representation of the natives could be had. Still, that's forgotten when next we face a jarring shift to the Western Front, WW1, a locale that gives us the odd matter of a battlefield haunted before the action. Our diversion keeps us there for the fifth work, which I didn't take to at all, with what appears to be its awkward adaptation of someone else's writing. But elsewhere in wartime Europe we have the best piece here, with a world-class evocation of demonic vengeance, and a sad success for one particular soldier. Definitely top-notch, and proof the output of this creator is well worth exploring. None of these books have been flawless, but for the visual craft alone high ratings are the only possible ones given – and when we get a story to match, we're definitely in the hands of a master.