On March 26, join comic book author Pierre-Henry Gomont as he presents his new book Soviet Land (Slava, Après la chute, Dargaud, 2022; Abrams ComicArts, 2026).

This three-volume saga paints a portrait of a disoriented country embarking on an uncertain transition, foreshadowing today’s Russia.

1990s. Russia. The USSR has ceased to exist. Its dimly remembered promises of utopia have dried up, and amongst the rubble, scavengers and looters abound.

Amongst the vast Russian tundra and decaying Soviet buildings, two such scavengers engage in a rather dubious pastime—getting their hands on all sorts of trinkets that might interest wealthy investors.

Slava, once a promising young painter, has abandoned his career and ideals to scrounge around with a pal from his school days, the consummate conman Lavrin. The future is up for grabs, and in this anything-goes, dog-eat-dog new world order, Lavrin assures Slava anything and everything can be bought and sold.

In this tragicomic thriller, author Pierre-Henry Gomont tells a gripping tale of average people caught up in the turmoil of history in the making. His deeply human characters fumble through a disorienting world—one where the promise of tomorrow has evaporated. They aspire to nothing more than to continue: to continue living, loving, and maybe someday even painting again.

Born in 1978, Pierre-Henry Gomont worked in various professions, including as a sociologist, before becoming a comic book author. In 2011, he took his first steps in the world of comics and published his first album, Kirkenes (Les Enfants rouges), written by Jonathan Châtel. In the same year, he wrote and illustrated Catalyse (Manolosanctis). It was with Pereira Prétend (Sarbacane, 2016), adapted from the novel by Antonio Tabucchi, that he became known to a wider audience. For this album, he received the RTL Grand Prix for comic books and the prize for historical comic books at the Festival Les Rendez-vous de l’Histoire in Blois, France.

In 2018, the author wrote Malaterre, a graphic novel published by Dargaud. The album, praised by critics, received the Grand Prix RTL de la bande dessinée in 2018 and the Prix Première du roman graphique in 2019. In 2020, he published La Fuite du cerveau (Dargaud), a humorous graphic novel about the crazy story of the theft of Albert Einstein’s brain. Between 2022 and 2024, he published Slava, now translated and published by Abrams ComicArts under the title Soviet Land in the United States.

This event is in English and free. Click here to register.