If you’re a fan of spy stories and otherworldly intrigue, Amazonia, published in English by Cinebook, is a series for you. Following on from two earlier adventures, Namibia and Kenya, Amazonia Volume Five, just published, wraps the exciting series – and the sequel, Scotland, launches from the same publisher later this year.
The creation of Brazilian author Léo and Rodolphe, featuring art by Bertrand Marchal, first published by Dargaud, Amazonia, a five-book series, centres on Kathy Austin, a MI6 agent, whose investigating a creature lurking in the Amazon rainforest. Does it have an extraterrestrial origin? What are its powers and purpose? Is there a link with the presence of several foreign spies?…
In Amazonia Volume 5, the final chapter, out now, Kathy’s finally found a hidden German submarine full of gold, but she’s not the only one: and between her, the Brazilian Navy, and murderous Nazis-in-hiding, someone’s bound to grab the sub and make a dash for it. But the locals are none too happy about all these intrusions, and they have an ally with some considerable power, too …
Answers will be given to all remaining questions. Mysteries will be revealed. Comeuppances may even be distributed. Leo and Rodolphe tie up their sweltering tale in style and delivering a satisfying conclusion, masterfully illustrated, as always by Bertrand Marchal.
• Amazonia Volume 5 is on sale now from all good bookshops | ISBN: 978-1800441781 | AmazonUK Affiliate Link
Cinebook started publishing Amazonia in English in 2024, and will follow it up with its sequel, Scotland, Volume 1 out in June and available to preorder now.
Four volumes of Scotland have already been published in France.
After her exhausting mission in Amazonia, Kathy Austin is off to Scotland on holiday. She intends to take possession of a house her great-aunt bequeathed her. Unfortunately, she finds the house ruined, burned down a few weeks earlier – and it also appears that the police find the circumstances of the old lady’s death a tad … strange.
While the locals blame the ghosts and goblins that haunt the moors, Kathy soon discovers signs that point to a very different explanation: “crop circles” of … alien origin?!
The Creators
Born in 1944, Brazilian comic creator Leo (Luis Eduardo de Oliveira) is best known for his science-fiction, multi-series saga The Worlds of Aldebaran. He initially trained as an engineer before becoming an artist in advertising, emigrating from Brazil to France in 1981 to become a comic author. He has built a remarkable body of work that also includes the SF series Betelgeuse, Antares, Neptune and Bellatrix, and fantasy adventure with Kenya, Namibia (these two series also featuring Kathy Austin), Amazonia, and the police story Trent, centred on the adventures of a Canadian Mountie.
Award-winning comic creator Rodolphe is a teacher, journalist and writer who’s penned over 150 graphic novels so far and worked with some of the greatest names of bandes dessinees, including Raymond Poïvet and René Follet.
Born in Verviers, Belgium, in 1974, Bertrand Marchal is a regular partner of Rodolphe’s, with whom he has worked on several series such as Frontiere and Memphis. He studied at the École de recherche graphique (ERG) in Brussels, taking model-based drawing and comic book courses, under the direction of Alain Goffin, Gérard Goffaux and Olivier Grenson.
In 1994, as part of his studies, he participated in the creation of a collective album, creating “Mille fois rêvé”, a fantastic story in ten plates that features a strange kitten killer. In 1995, he produced and published “La Reine”, a mini-album written by his brother.
He began working in comics professionally in 1998, initially drawing some cartoons for the weekly magazine, Spirou, before illustrating two albums in the Charly series by Denis Lapière and, published by Dupuis, which was followed by the trilogy, Les châtiments de l’an mil, published by Glénat, written by Toldac.
After meeting Rodolphe, he drew four volumes of Frontière, published by Le Lombard between 2003 and 2007), followed by Le Village, a trilogy for Bamboo inspired by the TV series, The Prisoner, between 2008 and 2011. Leo then joined them for Namibia, the second season of Kenya, which in turn led to the third season, Amazonia, which started in 2016.
Bertrand and Rodolphe also launched a new series, Memphis, published by Glénat, in 2013.
Together with Leo, Rodolphe he’s currently working on Scotland, the aforementioned series published by Dargaud, mixing thriller and science fiction.
• Amazonia Volume 1 is available from all good bookshops | ISBN: 978-1800441316 | AmazonUK Affiliate Link
Brazil, 1949. A photographer crawls into a Mission deep in the Amazonian rainforest and dies. On one of his films is an extraordinary shot: a man with skin white as snow and an elongated cranium. Is it a deformed human… or an extra-terrestrial being? MI6 agent Kathy Austin, having reluctantly become the specialist in such situations, is immediately sent by the crown to investigate. But the British aren’t the only ones with an interest in the bizarre creature…
• Amazonia Volume 2 is available from all good bookshops | ISBN: 978-1800441408 | AmazonUK Affiliate Link
On the trail of the bizarre, potentially alien creature photographed in Brazil, Kathy Austin has reached the isolated mission where a photographer died. Unfortunately, the road forward leads into the heart of the rainforest and the territory of extremely hostile natives. Continuing will be difficult and dangerous, especially as she appears to be followed by a number of people including two suspicious Germans … and the Brazilian Navy!
• Amazonia Volume 3 is on sale now from all good bookshops | ISBN: 978-1800441538 | AmazonUK Affiliate Link
Two separate expeditions into the heart of the Amazon rainforest have trespassed upon Yanomami territory. On one side, Reinhard and his Nazis are looking for a sunken submarine and the gold it transported. On the other, Kathy Austin and Captain Delio of the Brazilian Navy are tracking a potentially extraterrestrial being. Threatened by both the hostile natives and the dangerous jungle itself, all will soon come to realise that the two quests may, in fact, be one and the same …
• Amazonia Volume 4 is on sale now from all good bookshops | ISBN: 978-1800441637 | AmazonUK Affiliate Link
Lost in the middle of the Amazon rainforest along with Brazilian Navy officer Delio, Kathy Austin manages to establish contact with the being she came to investigate – though not for long enough to ascertain whether he’s of alien origin or not, as the strange individual immediately ran off to assist the Germans about to be slaughtered by the Natives. What is his connection with those former Nazis desperately looking for a lost submarine full of gold?
• Amazonia Volume 5 is on sale now from all good bookshops | ISBN: 978-1800441781 | AmazonUK Affiliate Link
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John is the founder of downthetubes, launched in 1998. He is a comics and magazine editor, writer, and Press Officer for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He also runs Crucible Comic Press.
Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine and Overkill for Marvel UK, Babylon 5 Magazine, Star Trek Magazine, and its successor, Star Trek Explorer, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics; and has edited several comic collections and graphic novels, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”, and Hancock: The Lad Himself, by Stephen Walsh and Keith Page.
He’s the writer of comics such as Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs”, with Dave Hailwood.
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