Storywise, the setting is what I think is most similar to Nihei’s Blame. I won’t spoil the plot anymore, as it is not that elaborate, and the dialogue and descriptions are sparse, and the art mainly speaks for itself.Īnd it’s the art that really shines. Now, in the beginning, the traveller is shown walking towards the eponymous City ( revealed to be London, if you pay attention to the landmarks), accompanied by his faithful guard robo-dogs, seemingly on some sort of mission, as it is revealed that he was expected by the downtrodden residents of The City. The story follows a man referred to as 'the traveller.' He called by name latter in the novel but that’s not that important. The land is destroyed and twisted ( as the grotesquely beautiful art of Ian Miller emphasizes), and most of the vestiges of humanity are in ruins. Now the rats have become the overlords, and radiation sick humans are forced into servitude. Crazy stuff ( i’m not going to bother explaining them in detail since as I said I haven't read them, and they are not that important to the topic).īut, The City is different, since it adds the nuclear apocalypse into the mix. They attack people and quickly become much more than common household pests. Now, I haven’t read any of the books, but they basically deal with anti-authoritarianism, governmental negligence and all those themes through the story of rats evolving, mutating and spreading by means of viruses and nuclear tests.

'The City' is the final chapter in the 'Rats' trilogy, but it 's the fourth book ( which makes no sense), preceded by, well, the first book, 'The Rats,' the second 'Lair,' and the third 'Domain.'

I just wanted to bring your attention to a graphic novel published in 1994 called 'The City,' by James Herbert, and illustrated by the brilliant Ian Miller, and to provoke discussion on its possible influence on Tsutomu Nihei and his work, primarily Blame.

The city by james herbert