Soda (comic strip)
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Soda is a Belgian comic strip series by Philippe Tome (writing) and Bruno Gazzotti (art). The first two albums and the first eleven plates of the third were drawn by Luc Warnant.
Soda is the nickname of the main character of the series, David Elliot Hanneth Solomon.
[edit] Premise
The son of the sheriff of the town of Providence, Arizona, David Solomon moved to New York City. Unable to find work he reluctantly joined the police force, but in his letters home he led his parents to believe that he had become a Roman Catholic priest. This was in order to keep their minds at ease, since they did not want him to get into such a dangerous profession like his father. When his widowed mother Mary moved into his New York flat, David was forced to maintain the deception in fear that the truth would cause her a heart attack.
Thus, when he leaves for work, "Father David Solomon" is dressed as a priest on his way to his chapel, but in the elevator he switches to casual clothes which he wears as Lieutenant David Solomon aka "Soda" of the NYPD. He switches back to his priest's uniform when returning to the flat.
This can cause more than a few problems, and there are many times when David resolves to tell his mother the truth. However a timely reminder of her health by a third party means that he has to drop this resolution.
More often than not there is no time to switch clothing, so Soda is forced to go into action with a revolver in his priest clothes. He pays little heed to the Ten Commandments, let alone the "Thou shall not kill" rule!
Mary herself fears New York City so much that she sticks to staying in the flat, rarely daring to go outside. As far as she is concerned, her beloved son's only vice is his smoking, which she keeps trying to discourage.
This premise helps to juxtapose the quiet and comfort of home life against the brutality and action of a policeman constantly chasing the dangerous elements of New York society. Sometimes the thugs that he deals with in his work find out where Soda lives, and he needs to work twice as hard to keep the criminals away from his mother and to keep her blisfully unaware of the dangers that encroach upon her (and him).
Soda's left hand has two fingers missing and is permanently gloved. So far it has never been explained how he lost these fingers.
[edit] Secondary Characters
Soda's colleagues include:
Police Captain Pronzini who often takes his pets to the office only for them to fall prey to his officers' humour, which can sometime be fatal (and not for the officers).
Sergant Bab's, whose constant eating means that he is most often deskbound, but his computer skills can be very useful in obtaining information. Bab's is married to Martha, a rather ferocious housewife and mother-of-five, and to whom Bab's is often unfaithful.
Officer Linda Tchaikowsky is Soda's partner in the fight against crime. Every morning she picks him up from his flat in the patrol car. She is a tough woman with rather expedient methods of getting the job done. She's an African-American but divorced.
These characters help Soda maintain the pretence. If they have to call him and the phone is answered by Mary, they claim to be from the Salvation Army or a local convent!
