The Gods from Outer Space
The Gods from Outer Space (, ; also "Według Ericha von Dänikena") is a comic book series, published in the years 1978–1982 by German publishing house . The authors of the script were and Alfred Górny, and the drawings were made by Bogusław Polch. The story was based on the views of Erich von Däniken, a proponent of the fringe theory that in ancient times the Earth was visited by ancient astronauts – representatives of an extraterrestrial civilization. The series was translated into at least twelve languages, and sold several million copies. It has been widely popular in Poland , where it is considered a cult classic. A collected volume, published in Poland in 2015, has received generally positive reviews; in particular, nearly all reviewers highly praised the quality of Polch's art. It has been called "One of Polch’s most recognized series" as well as "one of the most famous and successful Polish comic book series". Development. In the late 1970s Polish writer and publisher, Alfred Górny, became interested in the ideas of Erich von Däniken and started publishing his books in Poland. Shortly afterward he started a collaboration with the German publisher (and later ) on a comic  book series, offering Polish writers and illustrators for the joint venture. Górny collaborated on the scripts with another Polish writer and a fellow enthusiast of Däniken's theories, , and as for the illustrator, they chose Bogusław Polch. The series was published in eight books in Germany, from 1978 to 1982. It was also published in Poland, from 1982 to 1990, by ; however in 1990, after publishing volumes 6 and 7, KAW went through reorganization and ceased publication of the series. Volume 8 would not be published in Poland until early 2000s. While most attribute the delay of the publication of  the last volume in Poland to simple bad timing, it has also been suggested that the controversial theme of the last volumes, dealing with Biblical history, might have been an additional factor in the delay. In the UK the first four books were published by Methuen/Magnet Publishing as "The Gods from Outer Space" series, around the same time as the German edition. Six volumes were published in Spain under the title "Los Dioses del universo" (1979–1981). In France the series was called "Ceux venus de l'espace", but only a single book was published in 1979; same for Sweden (1978 ) and the Czech Republic (1990). In total, the series was published in at least twelve languages. As of early 2000s the Polish editions sold over 1.5 million copies of the books from the series, and as of 2015, five million copies sold worldwide were reported. Plot. In prehistoric times, an expedition from the distant planet Des comes to Earth. Its commander is a woman named Ais, who aims to find beings for an uplift process. The first attempts turn out to be unsuccessful, as the alien base in the Andes is destroyed by a volcanic eruption. However, thanks to the  help of members of the next two expeditions, Enes and Rama, the work on the Big Island, a.k.a. Atlantis, is continued. Ais and her crew face many other challenges, most notably internal problems, caused first by the rebellion of one of the deputies, and then by open warfare led by Satham, the mad scientist and his henchmen. While the uplift experiment seems to progress, eventually the Great Brain, the highest authority on Des, decides to stop and destroy the work of Ais and her colleagues. However, Ais and some of her subordinates refuse to abandon the experiments. In retribution, Atlantis  is sunk by a targeted meteorite, but the uplifted humans, thanks to the help of the rebel scientists, escape and settle in other areas. For this insubordination, Ais is relieved of her position. Her place is taken by her clone, Aistar, who continues to observe the civilization created by her ancestor while continuing the fight against Satham. Later volumes chronicle the intervention of Aistar and Satham into early human civilisations, such as Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia, with figures such as Marduk, Nimrod, Rama and Enoch being portrayed as extraterrestrials or their collaborators. Books. The series consists of eight albums. Titles  of several albums in German and Polish are different; in addition, while the German series had a series title "Die Götter aus dem All" (lit. Gods from space); no such title was provided for the Polish first edition, which was informally known as "According to Erich von Däniken" ("Według Ericha von Dänikena", based on a subtitle appeared on the covers of the Polish edition; as well as the "Däniken series" or the "Ais series". After the reprints of 2003 and 2015, the series also became known in Poland as "Ekspedycja" or "Bogowie z kosmosu" (Expedition, or Gods from Space; the  latter being a subtitle appended to the 2015 collected edition). Reception. discussing the history of the series in the early 2000s called it "one of the most famous and successful Polish comic book series". praising it for a well designed world, engaging story and the quality of Polch's drawings, criticizing only the characters for usually not being sufficiently developed. In 2012 the reviewer for "Now Read This!" positively commented on the British series as "a rather impressive, entertaining slice of speculative fiction dressed in a workmanlike yet enthralling no-nonsense art style". In 2015 Marcin Kamiński reviewing the collected  edition ("Ekspedycja. Bogowie z Kosmosu") published this year for onet.pl noted that the series is "one of the biggest successes in the history of the Polish comics". He noted that re-reading the series in his 40s, he still considers it an enjoyable sci-fi adventure tale, well grounded in "Däniken's lore", but finds a number of plots and characters rather immature. Regarding the 2015 edition itself, he noted that the new cover has been criticized by a number of fans, and that the edition could use more supplementary material besides a single interview with Polch and a few  sketches. Reviewing this volume for "", Paweł Ciołkiewicz noted that the series has a mostly cohesive plot, although sometimes it tries too forcefully to "educate" about Däniken's theories, to the detriment of the overall story. He praises the "gallery of interesting characters", most notably the "beautiful, brave and extremely intelligent Ais", and several other protagonists, although he criticized the antagonists like Satham, who according to the reviewer have "unrealized potential" but in the end, are too stereotypical to be taken seriously. He concluded that the undeniably best and near perfect aspect of the series is the quality of Polch's  artwork. Patryk Wolski, reviewing this for "Głos Kultury", was more critical, summarizing the plot as acceptable but not deep, noting that the work was targeting young adults, and mature readers who are looking for something more than a mix of action with Däniken's theories will likely be left wanting. Mirosław Skrzydło in a review for "naEKRANIE" called the series "one of the most recognizable Polish comic book series", and commended the story for masterful mixing of various historical themes with science-fiction elements, although he noted that the plot is pretty predictable and repeats itself over a number of  volumes. Skrzydło also praises the artwork, saying that in the series, Polch "climbed the peak of art", and even goes to call the series a "national treasure". Maciej Szatko, reviewing the volume for Gildia.pl, noted that outside of the underwhelming new cover art, the volume is very successful on many levels. Balint Lengyel in a review for polter.pl praised Polch's quality artwork, as well as the story for its epic character and successful integration of a number of science and religious ideas, creating an original universe for the adventures that follows; however, Lengyel criticized the characters as mostly one -dimensional, "good versus evil", and noted that the volume would benefit from additional supplementary content. The edition was also reviewed by for Paradoks by two reviewers. First, in 2015 by Przemysław Mazur, who noted that the comic book series was at some point endorsed by von Däniken himself. According to Mazur, while the plot is acceptable, but not particularly revolutionary, the best element of the series are the quality drawings of Polch. He also noted that the edition is already a commercial success, and that previous books – both the originals and the 2003 edition – have already become prized collector items , "reaching extravagant prices" on the secondary market. In 2020 it was reviewed by Miłosz Koziński, who noted that the series was much stronger in its first few volumes than near the end, where it became too repetitive and focused on von Däniken's theories. He praised the artwork, calling Polch a "great artist", and concluded that the series is still worth reading today, not just due to its historical or sentimental value, but just as a piece of solid, if imperfect, literature – occasionally naïve, but almost always engaging and enjoyable. In 2020 a reviewer for the "We Are the Mutants  praised the series for the Polch’s lyrically beautiful artwork", and noted that the series plot makes more sense than "von Däniken’s reactionary gobbledegook". The reviewer also noted that while Ais and Aistar are the only women characters with any significant spoken roles, opening the series to criticism of being sexist, they are at the same time very strong female characters, and de facto leads of many stories.