Melipona
The Mayan Princess
It is the story of a little princess destined for a peaceful Mayan kingdom who will experience the wickedness of certain men and at the same time discover the goodness of Nature.
Raised with a jaguar as a foster sister, and a peasant son as a best friend, she will become the chosen bee of the Mayas, messengers of the God of life. This magical encounter symbolizes the lost alliance of a time when Man, full of humility, did not consider himself the center of the Earth, but only one of its modest elements whose duty was to live in harmony with its animal, vegetable and mineral environment.
The man who imagined this beautiful story is such an atypical character that he himself could be the subject of a book. Roch Domerego has many facets. He is the author of numerous scientific works and a novel. He has worked in France, Belgium, Africa, and Cuba. There is a common point that can be found in each of its many activities: bees.
It was by going to this island, where he taught apitherapy to medical students for more than six years, that he discovered, in the early 2000s, the existence of this endemic species of Central America: the Melipona (Beecheii). This divine, blue-eyed, stingless bee, which stores its honey, not in vertical combs, like its European cousins, but in neatly aligned little pots that stack on top of each other and whose brood nest perfectly reconstructs the structure of a pyramid of the Mayan civilization.
It was while photographing these marvelous insects for one of his books that the idea for this comic strip was gradually born in him.
However, if he has many talents, Roch Domerego does not know how to draw. Never mind. To put his story into pictures, he had the idea of organizing a national drawing competition. Open to all professionals who, seduced by the pitch, will be able to give a face to Mélipona and the other characters around her. As soon as the competition was set up and relayed by many media, he received nearly 150 responses of very diverse styles. Ten proposals will be shortlisted for the final. For this ultimate choice where the finalists had to present other figures from history completing their creation of the Princess, an independent jury, made up of art, comics and communication professionals will unanimously choose the sketches. by Evelyne Duverne, a French designer/illustrator living in Spain who has perfectly known how to give life to the characters and restore the setting in which they evolve, because they correspond perfectly to her universe and her imagination.
The scriptwriter/draughtswoman couple was created: the project could be set up.
As usual, Roch Domerego called on Christian Blanchard, his long-time friend and writing accomplice, to refine the script for what should be the first volume in a long series of adventures. After two years of creative journey, Mélipona, Princess Maya is born.
The alchemy between bees, nature and our Princess is a beautiful lesson in life, tenderness and love for children from the age of five, but also for all adults passionate about legends. Evelyne Duverne’s drawings are incredibly beautiful and give the impression that this new comic will soon be one of the great classics.
This initiatory tale will delight children, as much by the tenderness that emanates from it as the beauty of the images that will transport them to the heart of this fascinating civilization.
