Katanga #2

The cover of this second volume in the Katanga series sets an immediately tense tone: a broad-shouldered soldier in a red beret and military fatigues stands with his back to us, pistol in hand, silhouetted against a sky blazing with fire and smoke, while armed vehicles and gun-mounted jeeps loom in the darkness below. Subtitled "Diplomati," this 2018 Swedish-published album from Albumförlaget suggests that whatever negotiations are unfolding, they're happening very much at gunpoint. By Nury and Vallée, this is gripping Franco-Belgian-style storytelling rooted in the volatile world of African conflict and Cold War intrigue.