Snowpiercer

About

Snowpiercer, originally Le Transpeceneige, is a post-apocalyptic French graphic novel centered around a 1001-car train endlessly circling the earth during the human-induced ice age. The graphic novel was adapted for screens in a 2013 film and a 2020 TV series.

History

Graphic Novel

In 1982, the first volume (L'Échappe) of post-apocalyptic comic series Le Transpeceneige, created by French comic book writer Jacques Lob and artist Jean-Marc Rochette, was published.^[1] The novels, set during a human-induced Ice Age that made Earth uninhabitable, follow the class struggle of the passengers of a 1001-car long train called the Snowpiercer that endlessly circles the Earth's continents (the original cover and a translated page shown below).

In 1999 and 2000, volumes two (L'Arpenteur) and three (La Traversée), written by Benjamin Legrand and illustrated by Rochette, were published.^[2] In the English translation, the volumes are combined into one volume The Explorers.^[9] In 2016, the third volume, Terminus, written by Olivier Bocquet and illustrated by Rochette, was released.^[1]

Film Adaptation

On August 1st, 2013, the South-Korean science fiction film Snowpiercer, directed by Bong Joon-ho and starring Chris Evans, Song Kang-ho and Tilda Swinton, premiered in South Korea (trailer shown below).^[3]

TV Series

On May 17th, 2020, a TV series adaptation of the graphic novel, starring Jennifer Connelly and Daveed Diggs, premiered on TNT (trailer shown below).^[4]

Reception

Prior to the mainstream popularity of the franchise, Le Transperneige was recognized in Europe as a classic of the science fiction genre.^[1]

The film adaptation of the graphic novel received very positive reviews from the critics. As of May 2020, the film had a 94 percent critic rating and 72 percent audience score on Rotten Tomatoes.^[5] On IMDb,^[6] the film maintained a 7.1 user score with over 289,000 reviews.

The TV series adaptation of the novel received mixed to generally positive reviews. On Metacritic,^[7] the series maintained a 63 percent critic rating and a 71 percent audience score. On IMDb,^[8] the series had a 6.7 user rating with 14,900 reviews.

Fandom

On October 1st, 2018, YouTuber Rhino Stew posted a theory-crafting video in which he speculated that Snowpiercer might be a sequel to Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory. The video received over 8.6 million views in two years.

Search Interest

External References