Block 109
 |
"Enter a world at war." |
 |
Block 109 is a French Alternate History comic book written by Vincent Brugeas and drawn by Ronan Toulhoat; the latter left the series in 2012, with Ryan Lovelock replacing him.
World War II kicked off in 1939. Then ...
Adolf Hitler was assassinated in 1941 [dead link], Heinrich Himmler took over the chancellery, Reinhard Heydrich became Reichsführer of the SS, Berlin was rebuilt following Albert Speer's plans and renamed Germania (much like in Fatherland). The Third Reich conquered Western Europe and most of Africa, launched its Ragnarok program in 1942, and massively nuked the USA and the United Kingdom on may 8th 1945. Operation Barbarossa was launched in 1944 but the forces of USSR proved to be stronger than expected and repelled the German forces. Himmler died in an accident in 1947, he was replaced by his right-hand, an ambitious yet unknown officer whose name is Zytek.
The story of the first album takes place in 1953. The Waffen SS and the New Teutonic Order are desperately struggling against Soviet forces in the city of Marienburg, Pomerania, the bastion of the New Teutonic Order and the last fortress on the path to Berlin. Meanwhile, Zytek follows his own agenda...
The first album was published in a 200 pages small format in 2010, it is simply titled Block 109 and is basically the keystone of The Verse. Four large format albums followed, they're all one-shot stories set in the same universe between 1941 and 1953. Some major characters of the first album do appear at some points:
- Etoile Rouge (Red Star) - 2010
- Opération Soleil de Plomb (Operation Leadsun) - 2011
- New York 1947 - 2011
- Ritter Germania (Knight Germania) - 2012
A fifth large format album currently titled Shark is in the works and scheduled for April 2013.
Tropes used in Block 109 include:
- After the End: New York 1947.
- Allohistorical Allusion
- Always a Bigger Fish: The Wehmacht forces in Marienburg repel a Soviet tank assault. Then the Soviet unleash their Walker and Siberians. Suddenly, the Panzermann shows up, crushes some Siberians and tears off the Walker's arms.
- An Axe to Grind: Miller's favourite melee weapon.
- Anti-Hero:
- Zytek, between type IV and V.
- Joachim Stadler, between type IV.
- Anyone Can Die
- Apocalypse How: Planetary, between class 2 and 3.
- Depopulation Bomb: The Nazis wiped out 70 per cent of the world's population by nuclear fire. There are less than 800 million humans on Earth in 1953. And even less after Zytek's global nuclear attack.
- Inferred Holocaust
- Zombie Apocalypse: Caused by The Virus / Synthetic Plague. The albums Block 109 and New York 1947 deal with this.
- The Ark: The Block 109 bunker. Zytek gathered 6000 chosen ones in this sanctuary, allowing them to survive his planned apocalypse.
- Badass
- Zytek, definitely.
- Joachim Stadler, aka Ritter Germania.
- Miller.
- The Oberstleutnant who pilots the Panzermann too.
- Badass Army / Elite Mooks: The New Teutonic Order.
- Badass Beard / Badass Mustache: Joachim Stadler.
- Badass Longcoat: Zytek, and the SS.
- Batman Gambit: Zytek's plan.
- Becoming the Mask: Joachim Stadler.
- The Berserkers: The Soviet Elite Mooks called "Siberians". They wear bear pelts, throw themselves into fights with Unstoppable Rage and slaughter their enemies with Wolverine Claws.
- Black and Gray Morality: Zytek embodies the trope.
- Byronic Hero: Joachim Stadler.
- The Captain: Ritter Germania. Not only does "Ritter" mean "knight" in German, it is also the equivalent of "captain" in the Teutonic Order.
- Captain Patriotic: Ritter Germania. The authors conceived him as a Nazi equivalent of Captain America (comics), with In-Universe tie-in propaganda [dead link] movies and comic books.
- Cool vs. Awesome: Soviet mechas and Siberian berserkers Vs. Nazi mechas and new Teutonic knights.
- Crapsack World
- Dangerously Genre Savvy: Zytek.
- Darkest Africa: Opération Soleil de Plomb.
- Death Seeker: Zytek.
- Dirty Communists: USSR is portrayed as "the Red Beast" by Nazi propaganda.
- Double Agent: Martha Sänger in Ritter Germania.
- The Dragon: Zytek to Himmler.
- Dragon with an Agenda: Zytek, when he was Himmler's dragon.
- Dragon Ascendant: Zytek. He replaced Heinrich Himmler after the latter's accidental death in 1947.
- Dual-Wielding
- Elite Mooks: The German New Teutonic Order and the Soviet Siberians.
- The Empire: The Third Reich. And Japan, of course.
- End of an Age
- The End of the World as We Know It: At the end of the first album.
- Everything's Worse with Bears: See The Berserkers entry above.
- Face Death with Dignity / Go Out with a Smile: Zytek.
- Faking the Dead: Zytek, during the SS assault on Berlin.
- Femme Fatale: Martha Sänger in Ritter Germania.
- Film Noir: The album Ritter Germania.
- Final Solution: 14 million Jews were killed in this universe.
- Four-Star Badass: Zytek.
- Gas Mask Mooks: The Kripo enforcement force. Justified, as they use tear gas.
- Genre Shift
- Heel Face Turn: The actor (and elite soldier) who plays Ritter Germania goes rogue and slaughters Nazi leaders in his eponymous album.
- Heroic Sacrifice:
- Miller.
- Zytek, at the end of the first album.
- Historical Domain Characters: Many historical Nazis and some Allied leaders show up.
- Hopeless War
- Invaded States of America: Nuked States of America, actually.
- Iwo Jima Pose: Here.
- Instant Awesome, Just Add Mecha
- Interservice Rivalry: Author (and historian) Vincent Brugeas expanded the bureaucratic mess that was the Nazi state, in the case it had survived longer than it did in real life.
- For example, the Kripo does not tolerate the Gestapo's interference in its investigations.
- Himmler created the New Teutonic Order to upset Heydrich, there is basically a rivalry between the SS and the New Teutonic Order.
- Knight in Shining Armor: How Ritter Germania is portrayed by propaganda.
- Lowered Recruiting Standards: As the war against USSR caused an increasing lack of Cannon Fodder, the Wehrmacht and the SS allowed non-Germans and women to join its ranks.
- Macross Missile Massacre: Charged with The Virus. It is Zytek's secret plan against the Soviet advance.
- Made of Iron: Joachim Stadler.
- Magnificent Bastard: Zytek.
- Malevolent Masked Men: These guys, combined with Red Eyes, Take Warning (see below).
- Mega City: Germania
- Mini-Mecha / Humongous Mecha / A Mech by Any Other Name: German Panzermensch vs Soviet Walkers.
- Nazi Nobleman: Heydrich.
- Nazi Protagonist: The whole series focuses on Nazi Germany's side of the war.
- Nazis With Gnarly Weapons
- No Swastikas: Himmler chose a new symbol for the New Teutonic Order, a square pierced by an arrow.
- Averted by Reinhard Heydrich. He didn't like the new symbol, he and the SS kept the Swastika.
- Old School Dogfighting: Etoile Rouge.
- Police Procedural: The album Ritter Germania.
- Propaganda Machine: Every country has one, of course.
- The Purge: Hermann Göring, Joseph "Sepp" Dietrich, Martin Bormann, Rudolf Hess and many other Nazi officials were arrested by the Gestapo and hanged after Hitler's assassination in 1941. Joseph Goebbels was spared, thanks to his propaganda talents.
- A second one occurs in 1953. Zytek uses the New Teutonic Order to execute all the remaining Nazi leaders, including Heydrich, for what they've done to humanity, and annihilates the SS.
- Ragtag Bunch of Misfits: The SS squad that was sent to assassinate Colonel Leclerc in Opération Soleil de Plomb is composed of convicts.
- Red Eyes, Take Warning: The Panzermensch mechas, the Elite Mooks and Ritter Germania at some points.
- La Résistance: The USR Force. They are basically Badass Bikers in the wastelands the US have become.
- Shell-Shocked Veteran: Joachim Stadler.
- Shout-Out: The title of New York 1947 is based on New York 1997, the French title of Escape from New York. Not to mention the collapsed Statue of Liberty on the album's cover.
- This scene? Jin-Roh: The Wolf Brigade.
- There are many shout outs to Apocalypse Now and Platoon in the album Opération Soleil de Plomb. Belgian Congo is basically Germany's Vietnam in this universe, even though they conquered Africa at the end.
- Marienburg is more or less an equivalent of the battle of Stalingrad in this universe.
- Secret Police: The Gestapo, naturally.
- Shown Their Work: Vincent Brugeas studied history, and it shows.
- Soviet Superscience: The Soviets got mechas and jet fighters too.
- The Starscream: Zytek.
- State Sec: The SS, naturally. And the New Teutonic Order.
- Stupid Jetpack Hitler: Advanced jet fighters, VTOL gunships, Panzermensch, V6 cruise missiles ...
- Super Soldier: The propaganda potrays Ritter Germania like this.
- The New Teutonic Order's Super Serum makes them stronger, but it kills them within a few weeks.
- Sword and Gun: Zytek, during the final SS assault in the first album.
- There Is No Kill Like Overkill: In addition to his plans of massive Macross Missile Massacre on the USSR with V6 cruiser missiles charged with The Virus, Zytek also planned a nuclear attack, just in case. It turns out he has planned to use it against civilisation itself anyway.
- Those Wacky Nazis
- Unwitting Pawn: Joachim Stadler.
- War Is Hell
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: Zytek.
- We Will Wear Armor in the Future: The New Teutonic Order, and Ritter Germania.
- X Meets Y:
- Block 109: Fatherland meets Fallout meets Resident Evil.
- Opération Soleil de Plomb: The Dirty Dozen meets Apocalypse Now and Platoon.
- New York 1947: Escape from New York meets Resident Evil.
- Ritter Germania: Fatherland meets Captain America (comics) meets Watchmen and V for Vendetta.
