Soviet Land
Cartoonist: Pierre-Henry Gomont
Publisher: Abrams
Publication Date: April 2026
“The strange thing about Russians is that they do believe in art, in the power of art to change the minds of men. That is why they censor it. It is also why they have a Solzhenitsyn. It has been said that every country has the government it deserves. I would add that every people has the artists it deserves.”
-Ursula K. Le Guin
In many regards, Soviet Land is about being an artist in a time when those who dictate trends would prefer content over art. It is not the only thing the book is about, nor even the most important thing, but it is nevertheless one of the things. Throughout the book, our narrator, Slava Segalov, attempts to understand the ruins of his artistic career. A painter by trade, he found himself a lesser artist in the wake of the trends of the Soviet Union in decline. Not bad, but never recognized with the interests of the country.
We never get a full look at Slava’s artistic skills, though we can perhaps gain an understanding of them through Pierre-Henry Gomont’s art style. The characters are often drawn as caricatures, akin to figures within Gary Trudeau’s Doonesbury or, more aptly, Tardi’s You Are There. Indeed, multiple sequences portray these characters with a degree of comedic over-exaggeration, often expressing their thoughts in image containing word balloons. But at the same time, it is quite clear that even the most comedic of figures have knives hiding behind their backs.
Less cartoonishly depicted is the landscapes and backgrounds. Gomont draws the machinery, wilderness, and cities that our characters linger in with a high degree of detail, often overwhelming the characters ambling their way in the world. And the images depicted are simply stunning. Not the high detail of a Lee Bermejo or a Tezuka, but rather a lived in world full of people living their lives. This is the world that Slava wishes to paint.
At the same time, and more to the book’s engagement with this era of Russian history, it is also the story of Dmitri Lavrin, a con artist. When following the story, one gets the sense that the world we are growing to love, or at the very least understand, is on the verge of collapse. Or, rather, it is one that has already collapsed, been consumed by the forces against the characters.
This is mainly done through the introduction of Capitalism within the post-Soviet Union world. Men like Lavrin (who, all told, is as sympathetic as the book can allow a man who backstabs literally every single character in the book, most disgustingly a kindly barmaid and her father) are out for themselves, willing to burn every bridge if it means they keep running. What makes Lavrin sympathetic, or at the very least understandable, is that we see a man who is forced to stop running. How empty his life truly is. For all his wealth, power, and importance, he is truly alone.
We can likewise see this in the book’s relatively main antagonist, Fyodor Alexivixch Morkhov. Largely a ghost haunting the book, Morkhov is a man who has a sole ambition: growth. He wants more money than anyone could do anything with. When confronted about why he does this, why he targets an insignificant mine that would be barely capable of making a profit, he responds plainly that it is who he is. This is a man who has allowed himself to be consumed by the grinding engines of commerce until there is nothing left but a hunger that will never be fed. This is further demonstrated by the way Gomont draws him: lean and gaunt, like a worm.
But it wouldn’t be a Russian story if there wasn’t a moral heart. In this case, it takes the form of the book’s other central character, Nina. While Slava acts as the book’s narrator, the actual dual protagonist contrasted with Lavrin is Nina, a working class woman doing everything she can to save her home town. It comes to naught, as so many Russian stories tend to go. But it is her conviction that drives the heart of the book.
It’s not that she’s a moral paragon. She cheats on her boyfriend, is extremely stubborn, and is at times a bit too trusting. But the conviction within her nevertheless drives the narrative to its ultimate shape. Yes, she is defeated by the uncaring engines of commerce — both because of her actions as well as the machinations of those she is up against. But she is never broken by the world. She always remains true to herself and lives a fulfilling life.
Soviet Land is about what it means to be an artist in a collapsed world. But what better craft is there than trying to build a better world, even if it’s just the size of a small mining town?
Soviet Land is out this month via Abrams!
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