THE NIKOPOL TRILOGY is a massive book that follows the exploits of Alcide Nikopol, a disgraced soldier who rudely awakens from cryogenic imprisonment after a thirty-year absence to discover a world ravaged by nuclear war, ruled by French sadomasochistic dictators, and threatened by the return of the Egyptian gods of old. As he becomes a pawn of Horus, the hawk god, Alcide's destiny becomes strangely entwined with a fashionable news reporter who has a penchant for executing her lovers. It's science-fiction, social commentary, and surreal headtrip. Imagine Terry Gilliam directing Blade Runner, and you might be somewhere in the vacinity.
NIKOPOL is the crowning achievement in the career of legendary Yugoslavian artist, Enki Bilal. The third and final chapter, Cold Equator, won France's prestigious Book of the Year award, the only graphic novel ever to do so. Bilal has since embarked on a film career, directing the sci-fi piece Tykho Moon featuring Julie Delpy, and is currently adapting The Woman Trap, the second part of NIKOPOL, to film.
THE NIKOPOL TRILOGY is the single most influential graphic novel that I've ever read and resurrected my hopes at a time when my interest was waning in the field. I strongly doubt there would have been an "artbomb.net" without it.
Peter Aaron Rose is a writer, producer and technologist who lives and works in San Francisco, CA. Under the pseudonym "Peter Siegel", he recently authored Killing Demons, a graphic novel available from Engine Press and Platinum Studios.
