Das Beil und das Gewehr

A single-issue comic from the Belgian publisher Epsilon, Das Beil und das Gewehr (2003) is a spare, atmospheric tale from writer Gérard Frippiat, Jean-Claude Bissot, and artist Jean-Claude Servais. The story, set in the Ardennes forest, follows a man who, after a devastating loss, retreats into the wilderness with only a rifle and an axe for company. Servais's lush, detailed artwork grounds this quiet meditation on solitude and survival in the dense, unforgiving natural world. It stands as a minor but evocative entry in Servais's celebrated body of work, capturing a single, resonant moment of human endurance.