The first chapter of The Nikopol Trilogy, The Carnival of
Immortals, begins with exposition of the problem of co-existence
between humans and extraterrestrial races that are Egyptian Divinities. Despite it is seemed like these gods and goddess are unbeatable, their bodies are in the form of a human body except their heads and they have their own weaknesses just like human- beings. There is a lot to say about that because this situation and Enki Bilal’s realistic illustrations make the base of what he wants to say about life and human beings through his art. The illustrations are in the realistic form because he does not want the readers to feel integrated with comics characters, he wants to objectify the characters so people can contrast and compare the different traits of different races. Once we feel the different perspective that Enki Bilal lets us have, human and divine characters’ changing personalities, psychologies and ideas come to the forefront while reading the trilogy. The situation that the divinities also have weaknesses led people to contrast these two races easily, if the gods have absolute power, there would not be such conversation between them. Hence, the differences between two races can be easily noticeable when they encounter. The divinities always evoke the feeling of “they are above humans” by both humiliating people and praising themselves. For instance, the gods abase mortality, need of love and procreation with a wise, calm and serious attitude and, in the comic book, Horus has a square shaped speech bubble which makes his words weighty and sharp while Nikopol has general circle speech bubble. Also, one of the Enki Bilal’s strongest argument about deficiency of people is that Nikopol’s failure when he tries to carry the iron leg which is given by Horus and he will not be able to walk unless Horus has taken possession of Nikopol’s body. These attitudes, events and action to action transition of panels while Horus and Nikopol are on the stage in the first chapter definitely make the reader feel the divinities are superior to our race. In addition to differences between deities and mortals, we encounter them doing same things like playing board games, watching television, gossiping, etc. but the essential similarities and conversations they share expose when Horus and Nikopol both become losers. Nikopol gets confused and shocked after the 30 years of hibernation and following political issues that he feels out of touch with them. Horus, on the other side, has personal issues about divinities just like humans have and he wants other deities to fall on their knees, yet his unbridled ambition and rebellious attitudes make him a loser too. Losing help them to get closer by developing empathy and while they are making a deal Nikopol states that “…for you to stop blind killing by becoming, well, more human” which means their behaviors begin to resemble. Furthermore, in the middle of Horus and Nikopol’s final conversation, Horus declares that he would always remember the experiences like the sensations, smells, sounds and, love in the friendly ambiance with subject to subject transitions. So, their relationship ends with a peaceful conclusion.