Thorgal is one of my very favorite series, but wow, can the main character be a major blockhead, sometimes. These are from the recent tome 41, I think it was.

Google-translate didn’t do so well on these, so I’ll just try to briefly translate…

Right-click as needed:

His boat destroyed, Thorgal, his son, and his son’s GF are stranded on an outcropping, quite a distance from shore. In short, he decides to swim for it, so as to hopefully return with another boat.


Against harsh odds, he makes it across, then makes a grizzly discovery… a lynched family, dangling in the trees. Just then, a group of horseman arrive, and warn Thorgal that the family were poachers, and hung accordingly.


And then Thorgal, heroic badass, and veteran of countless adventures, even with his family’s lives hanging in the balance decides to… of course! Lecture the strangers on their harsh system of justice, with predictable results.

My issue here is that he’s done this kind of thing several times before. While the first couple times could perhaps be chalked up to naivete and youth, the ongoing problem is that Thorgal seems to think of himself at key moments as a sort of ‘chivalrous Brainy Smurf,’ making instant enemies when it would have been in his specific interests to do otherwise. In truth, he also makes friends pretty easily too, these things sometimes contributing to a certain “deus ex machina” vibe across the books. Very few series are perfect of course, so this is perhaps my biggest complaint about this one.

One last little thing to add is that original writer Jean Van Hamme last scripted 20yrs ago, but Yves Sente, Xavier Dorison, and “Yann” have taken writerly turns in helping to keep the quality sky-high, since then. It’s a remarkable feat, and quite rare across the various BD that I’ve read.

https://www.bedetheque.com/serie-12-BD-Thorgal.html

  • JohnnyEnzyme@piefed.socialOPMEnglish
    3·
    12 days ago

    @[email protected] and @[email protected],

    Ahoy mateys, sorry if I’m bothering you, but if it’s possible, I wonder if I could add you as a ‘backup mods’ upon EGN? It would 99% be for the purposes of ensuring the community isn’t abandoned, in case something happens to me or my PieFed acct.

    #1 issue is my personal health, because I could kind of ‘vamoose at any time’ due to significant health issues, and #2, there have been some recent, weird, toxic attempts to attack the community, seen right in this thread.

    So in this case, by doing what is nominally the ‘right thing,’ I’ve probably also fueled some real hate, and unfortunately… hacking PW’s is probably easier than ever, I would think.

    So if possible, I would like to establish you as part of a safeguard / backup for the community, as needed, along with Sergio. You three are people of deep trust to me, so to speak.

    Of course, you would also be free to act as real mods, as you felt appropriate. But that would be up to you. My immediate concern is to get three of my most-trusted colleagues in to place, just in case it’s needed down the line…

    No worries if that’s not possible for you at this time. And thanks for reading and giving this message whatever consideration it’s due.

    • SnokenKeekaGuard@lemmy.dbzer0.comM
      2·
      12 days ago

      Hiya. Always happy to help you out mate ❤️

      Please take care of yourself. I dont think I can be much of an asset to the community posting wise but more than happy to help out as a mod.

      • JohnnyEnzyme@piefed.socialOPMEnglish
        2·
        11 days ago

        Thanks, matey!

        You’ve been added. If my account does get hacked, then theoretically the hacker could remove you and Blaze as mods, but at least there’s a chance you’d be in a position to report that to Rimu, the instance-runner. Every little bit helps, I figure…

  • lath@piefed.socialEnglish
    2·
    12 days ago

    The heroic pov of the main character is a general trope in storytelling.
    They represent our ideals in their purer forms, often smothered by harsh truth of reality.

    Justice is an illusion because we ourselves lack the will to enforce it.

    Thorgal is something we should aspire to ideally, though the methods used could use some refining.

    • JohnnyEnzyme@piefed.socialOPMEnglish
      1·
      11 days ago

      Some interesting thoughts! For me, the sequence above was sort of a litmus test upon doing what needs to be done vs. adhering to the heroic ideal. I’d seen it enough times from Thorgal that I had to smack my forehead, watching him needlessly risk his life and his family’s over a situation which he had no control over. A major ‘read the room, blockhead’ moment as I perceived it.

      Justice is an illusion because we ourselves lack the will to enforce it.

      I’ve thought about similar issues over the years. The fact that “good” and “evil” (and “justice”) are merely constructs of Sapiens, and certainly don’t exist across the broad expanse of nature. That said, I feel like such terms heavily reference our traditional state, which is to socially coexist in the form of tribes and clans. So, unlike some animals which are hyper-competitive and territorial as adults, we instead got to where we are now by the power of cooperation, with a sense of justice and empathy to more easily coexist.

      Heh, sorry for the mini-essay there.

  • hzl@piefed.blahaj.zoneEnglish
    21·
    12 days ago

    So your complaint is that he speaks up for what’s right rather than acting like a cowardly bootlicker? The fascists must love you.

    • Bourff@lemmy.world
      3·
      12 days ago

      His family dying on a rock at sea will surely appreciate him speaking up. Being “right” when that means sacrificing his loved ones is a marvelous act of chivalry and all, but quite unrealistic.

    • JohnnyEnzyme@piefed.socialOPMEnglish
      1·
      12 days ago

      This will be your one and only warning that trolling isn’t appropriate here.

      Constructive criticism or debate is perfectly fine. Cheers.

      • hzl@piefed.blahaj.zoneEnglish
        1·
        12 days ago

        I’m not trolling. I find the position that it’s never worth fighting for anything unless it produces immediate successful results cowardly. It enables authoritarian overreach and discourages the kind of push-back that’s required to improve any situation.

        You literally called the character a blockhead for opposing the execution of an entire family.

        • JohnnyEnzyme@piefed.socialOPMEnglish
          2·
          12 days ago

          You literally called the character a blockhead for opposing the execution of an entire family.

          That is a complete and highly disingenuous mischaracterization of what happened in the story, and what my message was. In reality, the family had already been killed, and there was nothing whatsoever Thorgal could do about that. Furthermore, the purpose of keeping his mouth shut in that single circumstance was to avoid provoking the killers, in the direct interests of saving his family.

          Furthermore, you indirectly called me a fascist, above, and for some reason are attempting to use this community as some kind of platform to speak out about such. In fact, you are directly breaking the community’s “netiquette” rules (as referred to in the sidebar) in multiple ways, and have exacerbated it all by reporting a mod comment made in good faith.

          By your actions and comments here, you are telling us that you’re not willing to abide by this community’s guidelines, and are in fact a hostile commenter. You are therefore banned.