Шторм: Хроники Глубокого Мира и Пандарва

Comic book series

Storm is a science fiction / fantasy comic book series originally (and for most albums) drawn by Don Lawrence. It tells the adventures of an astronaut who accidentally gets lost in time. The series originated in Dutch, but has since been translated into many other languages.

The storyline was originally conceived as a framework for stories in the "Deep World" revolving around the character Commander Grek. An episode (in which Commander Grek turns into a fish man) was written in 1976 by Vince Wernham and drawn by Don Lawrence, but it was not picked up by Dutch publisher Oberon. The story was later reworked by Philip "Saul" Dunn, now with the astronaut Storm as the main character. This version did get published by Oberon, serialized in the comics magazine Eppo in 1977. (In 1984, with the Storm series established as a success, the previously unreleased Commander Grek album was published as "Episode 0" of the series. The album includes background information regarding the inception of Commander Grek and Storm.) Storm originated in Dutch, although all the books are translated into English and German, and some in at least twelve other languages (publishers in those languages include Oberon, Interpresse, Quality Communications, Glénat, and Norma Editorial). English translations are published in the Don Lawrence collection. The Living Planet and The Slayer of Eriban were also published in Heavy Metal magazine in January 1997 and March 1999. The Navel of the Double God (2007) had an early publication in the Dutch magazine Myx.

The series can be split into two parts: The Chronicles of the Deep World, which takes place on post apocalyptical Earth, and The Chronicles of Pandarve, taking place in the Pandarve multiverse.

Storm is an astronaut in the 21st century who makes a journey to the Great Red Spot of Jupiter. The Great Red Spot is an anticyclonic storm which has already been there for at least 300 years. Once arrived, his ship gets dragged into the storm. When Storm manages to escape, it seems he has traveled through time. The civilizations on Earth have collapsed and turned into a barbaric society. This is where the adventures of Storm begin. Apart from albums 4, 5 and 6, each album is a separate adventure.

About the time when The Genesis Equation was published, a spin off series was started, called Chronicles of Meanwhile. The episodes take place between albums 6 and 7 of The Chronicles of the Deep World. Three episodes were released, drawn by Dick Matena, the first two under his pseudonym John Kelly. By late 2022 Eppo magazine began to serialize the fourth and final episode after a 25 year hiatus.

Three years after Don Lawrence died, a new team continued his work. Martin Lodewijk maintained the writer role, while Romano Molenaar and Jorg De Vos were selected as artists. Their first album The Navel of the Double God (De Navel van de Dubbele God) has been available since September 6, 2007 in Dutch. Storm 23 has already been reprinted and has given Storm a renewed international interest. The next album, titled Marduk's Springs, was released in February 2009. Since July 2008 there has been a second team working on Storm: Minck Oosterveer as artist and Willem Ritstier as writer. Their first and only album was called The Exile of Thoem. The series was put on hold after Oosterveer died in a motorcycle accident in 2011.