The word civilization is of somewhat indefinite meaning... Civilization is the result of previous progress. Progress is a movement; it is, so to speak, dynamical. Civilization is a state, it is static. It is not the work of the present moment; it is rather that which the present inherits from the past, in the way of science, art, discovery, wealth, customs. In a society which is in process of civilization, each generation finds a certain store of the elements of civilization at hand. The scientific researches of the past have not to be commenced anew; its discoveries and industrial processes we have but to learn and to perpetuate. Agriculture has made progress, cities have been built, roads constructed, and society organized. Finally, we have language ready formed, and race instincts, and moral and intellectual qualities, more or less developed. So that we may regard civilization as the sum of human enjoyment at a given moment, which is at hand without the necessity of going in search of it. Or, in philosophical language, we say that civilization is an accumulation of force in the race, or for the race.

What's become of a world whose only hope of survival lies in the humanity of a child and a voiceless monkey? And yet, this is the world depicted in "The Beast-God," Fabien Vehlmann and Roger's new majestic graphic novel. When the monkey is captured and groomed, it transforms into the Beast-God, a ferocious fighter and symbol of power. He goes to rescue the Consul Ea, who has been banished from the imperial court and spent several years in exile. But on their return, a tidal wave engulfs not only the Consul's troops, but also those of the other factions converging on the capital, resulting in a race to occupy the vacant throne. Meanwhile, the Beast-God, freed by the deluge, resolves to punish the Great Huntress, the merciless leader of Ea's warriors, for cruelly using him. But he is not the only one aiming to disrupt the plans of the rich and powerful. The Slaves, too, are rising up against them, determined to risk their lives to regain their freedom. An unforgettable fantasy of sound and fury, marked by the incessant battles between life and death, animal and man.