''Soda'' is a
Franco-Belgian comics series by
Tome (writing) and
Bruno Gazzotti (art). The first two
albums
An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century as individual 78 rpm records coll ...
and the first eleven pages of the third were drawn by
Luc Warnant, and the last (thirteenth) album by Dan (
Dan Verlinden). It first appeared in the
Franco-Belgian comics magazine ''
Spirou'' on 29 April 1986.
Soda is the nickname of the main character of the series,
NYPD
The New York City Police Department (NYPD), officially the City of New York Police Department, established on May 23, 1845, is the primary municipal law enforcement agency within the City of New York, the largest and one of the oldest in ...
Lieutenant
A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations.
The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often sub ...
David Elliot Hanneth Solomon, who masquerades as a priest for the benefit of his mother's health. In the Finnish version his real name was changed to Patrick Timothy O'Ralley. Soda only has three fingers on his left hand.
Synopsis
The son of the
sheriff
A sheriff is a government official, with varying duties, existing in some countries with historical ties to England where the office originated. There is an analogous, although independently developed, office in Iceland that is commonly transla ...
of the town of Providence,
Arizona
Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...
, David Solomon moved to
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
. 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 parish
priest
A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particu ...
. 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
An elevator or lift is a wire rope, cable-assisted, hydraulic cylinder-assisted, or roller-track assisted machine that vertically transports people or freight between floors, levels, or deck (building), decks of a building, watercraft, ...
he switches to casual clothes which he wears as Lieutenant David Solomon aka "Soda" of the
NYPD
The New York City Police Department (NYPD), officially the City of New York Police Department, established on May 23, 1845, is the primary municipal law enforcement agency within the City of New York, the largest and one of the oldest in ...
. 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
The Ten Commandments (Biblical Hebrew עשרת הדברים \ עֲשֶׂרֶת הַדְּבָרִים, ''aséret ha-dvarím'', lit. The Decalogue, The Ten Words, cf. Mishnaic Hebrew עשרת הדיברות \ עֲשֶׂרֶת הַדִּבְ ...
, let alone the "Thou shalt 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 blissfully 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.
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).
Sergeant Babs, whose constant eating means that he is most often deskbound, but his computer skills can be very useful in obtaining information. Babs is married to Martha, a rather ferocious housewife and mother-of-five, and to whom Babs 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 and drops him off in the evening — provided the case they have been handling does not result in her ending up in hospital. A divorcee, she is a tough
African-American
African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...
woman with rather expedient methods of getting the job done.
These characters help Soda maintain the pretense. If they have to call him and the phone is answered by Mary, they claim to be from the
Salvation Army
Salvation (from Latin: ''salvatio'', from ''salva'', 'safe, saved') is the state of being saved or protected from harm or a dire situation. In religion and theology, ''salvation'' generally refers to the deliverance of the soul from sin and its c ...
or a local
convent
A convent is a community of monks, nuns, religious brothers or, sisters or priests. Alternatively, ''convent'' means the building used by the community. The word is particularly used in the Catholic Church, Lutheran churches, and the Anglican ...
.
Stories
Soda's adventures have not been published in English, and only the first adventure was ever released in Finnish as part of Kirjakerho's Parhaat Sarjat series (issue #30, 1989). Below is a list of the French titles, their year of publication, an English translation of the titles and a brief description.
Sources
''Soda'' publications in ''Spirou''BDoubliées
Bedetheque
;Footnotes
{{reflist
Belgian comic strips
1986 comics debuts
Male characters in comics
Comics characters introduced in 1986
Dupuis titles
Crime comics
Fictional priests and priestesses
Fictional New York City Police Department lieutenants
Fictional amputees
Comics set in New York City
Comics about police officers