Chninkel

Chninkel's story is set on planet Daar orbiting a double sun, where there is a constant war between three immortal beings: Jargot the Fragrant, Zembria the Cyclop and Barr-Find the Black Hand. The main character, J'on, a chninkel (a race of midget humanoids), raised as a slave of Barr-Finda. J'on survives one of the bloody battles, and after the survivors retreat, in the ensuing chaos is left on the battlefield among the casualties, gaining his freedom. Unexpectedly, a black monolith appears in front of him, and declares itself to be the supreme god O’n. It orders J'on to bring peace to the world. This fits with a chninkel legend according to which a chninkel chosen by O'n will one day restore peace on Daara. J’on would prefer to live his days in peace, but is thrust into the escalating events beyond his control, and eventually brings peace to the world, by uniting the immortal beings against himself. For that, he pays the highest price: death by public execution (he is chained to a monolith and shot at with arrows). In the end, angered O'n brings an apocalyptic rain of fire that destroys most life on the planet, including the chninkels, and is presumed to abandon the survivors (a race resembling apes) to their fate; the latter eventually reclaim the recovering world, but in turn forget about O'n and the world before, although the monolith of O'n remains on the surface of the planet and is worshipped by the apes.[2]

The work draws inspirations and has numerous references to other works, from Tolkien's Middle-earth[9] and Clarke's Space Odyssey[10] to the Bible.[11] Van Hamme himself described the story as Tolkien-inspired "offbeat version of the New Testament".[9] Gwael Bernicot described it in turn as a "very contemporary and disillusioned reinterpretation of the religious phenomenon", a "disenchanted Gospel".[12] A 1989 review in The Comics Journal concluded that "here is the Thorgal team on a great story: elves, Amazons, dwarves, allegory, religion, and philosophy. Entertaining, too!".[13] Wojciech Obremski in his monograph on the history of Polish comics concluded that the complex story of Chninkel, mixing numerous cultural references, results in a product that should satisfy most demanding readers.[14]

Ksenia Chamerska in a preface to the 2020 Polish edition of the graphic novel pointed that the "god" of Chninkel, appearing in the form of a black monolith, bears an uncanny resemblance to the artifact from Clarke's Space Odyssey. With regards to Tolkien's influence, she compares the midget humanoid race of Chninkel to hobbits, and his quest to that of Frodo's. She also observed that Chninkel is an "important phase in the history of European comics". She praises the work for a deeply philosophical story open to numerous interpretations, plot twists, subtle jokes, and beautiful and occasionally erotic art, concluding that the work is a masterpiece of its genre.[2]