A classic story of Man pitting his wits against the world of the Machine! The blurb on the back cover of the second edition, published in 1981 by Les Humanoïdes associés, tells us that what we are dealing with here is ?theological science fiction?. ?Imagine, at some point in the future, a resurgence of the Cathar religion...? we read. ?Imagine Howard Hughes become ? at last ? immortal... Imagine... a thou-sand years after Spartacus, an android revolution... the sheer weight of Dionnet?s words, the shock of Bilal?s images.?This futuristic story, illustrated by Enki Bilal, was first published in 1977 in issues 11 to 19 of the legendary magazine Métal Hurlant. The creation of a handful of defectors from Pilote, Métal Hurlant had a profound impact on an entire generation of readers.Appearing in the magazine at around the same time, the ?Garage Hermétique de Jerry Cornélius? (Jerry Cornélius?s Airtight Garage) was the creation of the great Moebius, one of Métal Hurlant?s founders, whose influence Bilal would have found it hard to refute. We see it clearly demonstrated in the third page of his Exterminator 17.The story was later reissued as part of La Trilogie d?Ellis (The Ellis Trilogy), published by Casterman.