View source for Exlibrium

{{short description|Russian comic book series}}
{{use dmy dates|date=August 2021}}
{{Infobox comic book title

| image               = Exlibrium issue 2.png
| caption             = Cover of the second issue (November 2014)
| schedule            = Monthly
| format              = Ended
| publisher           = [[Bubble Comics]]
| date                = 20 October 2014 — 29 December 2018
| issues              = 50
| main_char_team      = Lilia Romanova<br />Alexander Alinovsky<br />Arthur / Nightingale<br />Angelina Evgenievna<br />Inga Shelkovits<br />Matvey Koretsky<br />Kira
| writers             = Natalia Devova<br />Anna Bulatova
| artists             = Andrey Rodin<br />Alina Erofeeva<br />Konstantin Tarasov<br />Yulia Zhuravlyova<br />Marina Privalova
| pencillers          =
| inkers              =
| colorists           =
| creative_team_month =
| creative_team_year  =
| creators            = Natalia Devova
}}

'''''Exlibrium''''' ({{Langx|ru|link=no|Экслибриум}}) is an [[urban fantasy]] comic book series about the adventures of a young girl named Lilia Romanova, published by the Russian publishing house [[Bubble Comics]].<ref>{{cite web |author=Стрептилов, Александр |authorlink= |url=https://www.mirf.ru/comics/ekslibrium-tom1 |title=Экслибриум. Том 1. Книжная магия для гиков |language=ru |format= |website= |publisher=«[[Мир фантастики]]» |date=2017-03-07  |quote= |accessdate=2020-04-01 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20170309143108/https://www.mirf.ru/comics/ekslibrium-tom1 |archivedate=2017-03-09 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://geekster.ru/hot-news/ekslibrium-review/|title=Хогвартс: Новое поколение|author=Борченко, Павел|date=2015-12-05|publisher=Geekster|accessdate=2021-09-01|language=ru|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20170627140552/https://geekster.ru/hot-news/ekslibrium-review/|archivedate=2017-06-27}}</ref> It ran from October 2014 to December 2018. The author of the comic, as well as the writer of most of the issues, was Natalia Devova.<ref name="Kanobu1">{{cite web |author=Кислицын, Игорь |url=https://kanobu.ru/articles/beseda-sostsenaristkoj-ekslibriuma-isoyuznikov-nataliej-devovoj-372942/ |title=Беседа со сценаристкой "Экслибриума" и "Союзников" Наталией Девовой |language=ru |format= |website= |publisher=[[Канобу]] |date=2018-11-28  |accessdate=2020-02-08 |archiveurl=https://archive.today/20200208113233/https://kanobu.ru/articles/beseda-sostsenaristkoj-ekslibriuma-isoyuznikov-nataliej-devovoj-372942/ |archivedate=2020-02-08 }}</ref> The art for the early issues was drawn by Andrey Rodin and Alina Erofeeva, and since November 2016, other artists began to work on the series: Konstantin Tarasov, Yulia Zhuravlyova and Marina Privalova.

The comics series is set in Moscow. The [[protagonist]] of the series, Lilia Romanova, a teenage girl fascinated by popular culture, accidentally enters the Order of Bookwizards. The main task of the Order is to protect the boundaries between the real world and the [[Fictional universe|world of fiction]]. Lilia is trained in the Order, and eventually becomes a Bookwizard herself, mastering to the full her supernatural abilities: the ability to emit destructive rays from her eyes and mouth. In the Order, the girl meets other students; together they confront villains and deal with problems, mostly involving the escape of literary characters from books.

Critics received ''Exlibrium'' very favorably, welcomed the concept of the comic, including its elaborate world, the plot and the very idea of the "book magic", as well as the art of Andrei Rodin and Alina Erofeeva. However, they lamented the protractedness of the first issue's storyline and the overabundance of references to popular culture. The character of Lilia seemed ambiguous to reviewers, as some commentators noted that it would be easy for readers to associate themselves with the character, while others saw the heroine as a typical example of a "[[Social anxiety disorder|socio-phobic]] geek".<ref>{{cite web |author=Талашин, Александр |url=https://meownauts.com/bubble-exlibrium-01/ |title=Пилот нового комикса Bubble "Экслибриум" |publisher=«Котонавты» |date=2014-10-20 |accessdate=2021-09-01 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150319020309/https://meownauts.com/bubble-exlibrium-01/ |archivedate=2015-03-19 }}</ref>

== Story ==

=== Setting ===
The story takes place in modern Moscow.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Makarova|first=Irina|date=June 26, 2016|title=Interview with the editor-in-chief of Bubble Comics|url=https://ru.ign.com/babble/75719/feature/interviu-s-glavnym-redaktorom-izdatelstva-bubble|website=IGN Russia}}</ref> The plot is spinning around the mysterious Order of Bookwizards, which is made by the first Bookwizards for protection of the borders between the real and the literary worlds. Their main duty is to catch literary characters who have escaped from their books and who are causing damage to the real world due to [[mutation]]s<ref name=":0">Vol. 1, 2015</ref> of their body, caused by their presence in our objective reality. Every ordinary person can become a bookwizard, after being infected by literary ink from revived books. However, the adepts of the Order firstly need to limit the movement of a person affected by the ink, because he begins to attract the attention of "mad" books that spit out everything they have inside into the real world. Next, the infected person must pass a test in the Bone House, which is an astral place, where shadow-like creatures live.<ref name=":1">Vol. 2, 2016.</ref> If the shadows take over, the ink absorbs the person and he becomes a Shadow of the Library (Russian: библиотень), a little phantom creature, serving the Bookwizards. The thing is that in that case he will be forgotten by anyone who ever knew him before transformation.<ref name=":2">Vol. 3, 2016.</ref> If the person takes over, then he gains the ability to control the ink inside of him. During the test, the ink color is also being defined, which affects the supernatural abilities that the newborn Bookwizard obtains. There are ten colors in total: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, dark blue, purple, gray, black, and white (the last two are called "monochrome colors" and are special and extremely rare) and their shades. With the help of the first 8 colors, Bookwizards can influence the subjective reality of books in various ways, while black and white let their owners control our reality, opening up perspectives to limitless possibilities (the abilities of both can only be used together with the opposite color, which means that two magicians are required to activate them; they can't be used separately). That's why the Order of Bookwizards is haunting after magicians of monochrome colors, whose fate in case of capture is death.<ref name=":1" />

The Order of Bookwizards owns Libraries, which are headquarters, as well as training places for new magicians. In one of those Libraries, the Real Moscow Library, the most of ''Exlibrium'''s story takes place. Every Library has its manager, who is similar to the school principal, and tutors. All Libraries obey the council of the Order, called the Circle. The Circle includes four people and an equal number of senior Shadows of the Library (a special kind, more intelligent and powerful than their smaller colleagues). Together, the participants of the Circle solve global problems of the Libraries crisis.<ref name=":2" />

=== History ===
The first story arc ''...And The Door Will Open'' is about how the main character Lilia Romanova gets into the Order of Bookwizards. On the Order's instructions, two of its magicians - an ordinary Bookwizard, Alexander Alinovsky, along with a revived artificial character, Arthur, - pursue [[Little Red Riding Hood]] and the Wolf, who have escaped from the book, in an attempt to bring them back. On her way, Little Red Riding Hood bumps into a girl who was going to preparatory classes at the institute, Lilia, who unwillingly finds herself in the center of the story. Alexander and Arthur arrive just in time to save the girl from the Wolf, who already managed to eat Little Red Riding Hood and her Grandmother, who also got into our reality. Together they stopped the violent literary character and bring the fugitives back to their book.<ref name=":0" />

Afterwards, Lilia had to go through the process of "closing", a ritual dedicated to removing the ink from the human's body, because of which books begin to attract to him (''Bonehouse'' story arc). During the ritual, she gets into another reality, where a house of bones appears before her. Suddenly she is attacked by her own shadow. In the end, she managed to become conscious and remove the ink from her body. After that, Angelina Evgenievna, the head of Moscow Library (one of the headquarters of the Order), offers Lilia to study in the Order of Bookwizards, and the girl agrees.<ref name=":1" />

Further Lilia participates in a task for the first time, catching the escaped characters of books, learns details of studying and working in the Order, and finds out that Shadows of the Library, harmless at the first sight, assistants of Bookwizards - were people that just didn't succeed in [[initiation]] of the Bone House (''With Good Intentions'' story arc). Later, in the ''Among The Three Flames'' arc students of the Order help members of the Magic Emergency Committee<ref>A secret organization, dedicated to control magical activities. The [[abbreviation]] of MEC is also used in the comic books.</ref> to track down an unknown person in hood, who used the [[Malleus Maleficarum|Hummer of Witches]], the ancient and powerful [[folio]], while attacking the headquarters of a friendly organization.<ref name=":2" /> After a fight with the ominous spirit of the [[inquisitor]], trapped inside the book, Bookwizards get together for the trial of the earlier escaped characters of the book. Although Bookwizards managed to find out the information they were interested in, one of the characters became to transform due to a long stay outside of his book, and Yakov, one of the members of the Circle, eventually had to kill the mutant (''The Trial'' arc).<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Devova, Natalia (w)|first=Erofeeva, Alina (a)|date=2016-05-20|title=The Trial|journal=Bubble Comics|volume=4}}</ref>

The violent murder leaves an imprint on Lily's mind, and, to calm the girl down and explain how the things go, Alexander decides to tell her a sad story that happened to him six months ago (''Insult To Injury'' arc). On New Years' Eve he bumped into the unusual character - a female warrior Agatha. She often left her book, understanding, that she is the character inside of it, just to walk around in another world. At first, Alex warned Agatha, explaining the need of returning her into the book and sealing it, due to what all her memories would vanish. The girl agreed, however, imbued with respect and sympathy for the character, who has to live her death in the book all over again and again, Alex tried to help her stay in the real world. The situation got out of control: woman started to mutate, and the attempt to return her into the story failed - the rest of the characters, also mutated, began to get out into the real world. At the end of everything, the invasion was stopped, but a friend of Alex died, as well as many others Bookwizards.<ref name=":3">{{Cite journal|last=Devova, Natalia (w)|first=Rodin, Andrey (a)|date=2016-06-18|title=Insult To Injury. Part 1|journal=Bubble Comics|volume=4}}</ref><ref name=":4">{{Cite journal|last=Devova, Natalia (w)|first=Rodin, Andrey (a)|date=2016-07-20|title=Insult To Injury. Part 2.|journal=Bubble Comics|volume=4}}</ref><ref name=":5">{{Cite journal|last=Devova, Natalia (w)|first=Rodin, Andrey (ar)|date=2016-08-19|title=Insult To Injury. Part 3.|journal=Bubble Comics|volume=4}}</ref>

Except for the main story, the secondary one exists. It tells us about Kira, the wizard of monochrome and the owner of black ink; Nikita, the bookwizard with red ink; Lisa, a non-wizard, ordinary person; her uncle Nicolas; the other version of the book character Agatha and the bookwizard Vladimir, who killed Kira's brother Kai (''Mono'' arc).<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Devova, Natalia (w)|first=Jouravlyova, Julia (a)|date=2016-10-20|title=Mono|journal=Bubble Comics|volume=5}}</ref> The story begins with Nikita and Lisa, successfully finding and capturing Vladimir, delivering him to Nicolas' and Kira's house afterwards, and locking him there. As it turns out, Vladimir has been tracking and eliminating monochrome magicians; one of his victims was Kira's brother, Kai. As a prisoner, Vladimir was being interrogated in attempt to find out where he put white ink, that once belonged to Kai. After multiply unsuccessful attempts to get the truth out, Kira comes up with a plan to write a book that will allow her to sneak into Vladimir's memory. They were able to get inside of the story, and while Kira travels through Vladimir's memory, the characters of the book slowly begin to mutate. As soon as the needed information was revealed, Kira and her companions hurriedly quit the mutated story. As it turns out, Vladimir could transfer Kai's color to young Lilia Romanova, since he used to be her mentor (''The Innocent Story'' arc).<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Devova, Natalia (w)|first=Tarasov, Konstantin (a)|date=2017-02-20|title=The Innocent Story. Part 1|journal=Bubble Comics|volume=5}}</ref><ref name=":6">{{Cite journal|last=Devova, Natalia (w)|first=Tarasov, Konstantin (a)|date=2017-03-20|title=The Innocent Story. Part 2.|journal=Bubble Comics|volume=5}}</ref>

These two storylines intersect farther, in the end of the series in the arcs ''The Fairy Tale Is Over'', ''The Revolt'', ''The Comeback'', ''The Light Strip''. After learning that Lilia can potentially be the owner of the white ink, Nikita and Lisa set up a trap, that, as a result, captured other Bookwizards. After a short fight, Bookwizards and Nikita die, and Lisa was the only one who stayed alive. Therefore, Kira decides to go another way - she breaks into the building of the Real Moscow Library, captivates all the Bookwizards and The Circle's heads, and arranges her own trial. It turns out that the famous Bone House is nothing else but the society of the Ancient Wizards - the first known Bookwizards ever. They needed energy of the ink, that is captured inside of infected people, to maintain their power, whereas Kira and Kai were used by Wizards to achieve the goal, because they could have a certain effect on people to get the desired ink color. Vladimir, who has been hunting Kira and gave Kai's ink color to Lilia, allied with Angelina Evgenievna. She set up Lilia's entry into the Order of Bookwizards to have the owner of white ink near herself. According to their plan, after the finding of the black ink, Vladimir and Angelina would use the power of monochrome to break out of the Circle's control. When everything becomes clear, Kira asks Lilia for help in destroying the Bone House, due to what everybody will lose their ink and superpowers. Lilia agrees and voluntarily gives Kira her white ink. Having accomplished what she started, Kira was attacked by Agatha. Agatha kills Kira and takes her ink among with superpowers. Since all the heroes with colored ink lost their abilities, the only one who retained superpowers, was Agatha. She appears before the ex-Bookwizards and announces that now she will be taking revenge on people for all the bad times that literary characters had to go through because of them.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Devova, Natalia (w)|first=Tarasov, Konstantin (a)|date=2017-12-20|title=The Fairytale Is Over. Part 1.|journal=Bubble Comics|volume=7}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Devova, Nataly (w)|first=Tarasov, Konstantin (a)|date=2018-01-19|title=The Fairytale Is Over. Part 2.|journal=Bubble Comics|volume=7}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Devova, Natalia (w)|first=Tarasov, Konstantin (a)|date=2018-01-19|title=The Fairytale Is Over. Part 3.|journal=Bubble Comics|volume=7}}</ref><ref>Vol. 8, 2019.</ref><ref>Vol, 9, 2019.</ref>

=== Main characters ===

* '''Lilia Romanova''' — the main character of the series, a pop-culture lover in every its manifestation. Studies in her first year with Alexander, Inga, and Matvey.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Devova. Natalia (w)|first=Tarasov, Konstantin (a)|date=2016-11-21|title=Here's The House Where... Part 1|journal=Bubble Comics|volume=5}}</ref> Due to her parents' frequent moves from city to city, little girl didn't have a lot of friends, which strongly affected her social skills, and also became a basis for numerous complexes and [[Obsessive–compulsive disorder|obsessive-compulsive disorder]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Devova, Natalia (w)|first=Erofeeva, Alina; Rodin, Andrey (a)|date=2015-05-18|title=Bone House. Part 3.|journal=Bubble Comics|volume=2}}</ref> Even though at times she can fall into depression and close up, she is quite a brave girl and would not leave her friends in trouble.<ref name=":7">{{Cite journal|last=Devova, Natalia (w)|first=Jouravlyova, Julia (a)|date=2017-05-19|title=The Paper Cut. Part 2.|journal=Bubble Comics|volume=6}}</ref> The color of her ink is yellow, which allows her to emit destructive rays from her eyes and mouth.<ref name=":8">{{Cite journal|last=Devova, Natalia (w)|first=Rodin, Andrey (a)|date=2015-07-20|title=People of The Library. Part 2|journal=Bubble Comics|volume=2}}</ref>
* '''Alexander Alinovsky''' — one of the students of the Real Moscow Library and one of the first Bookwizards that Lilia meet. Gloomy and reasonable. Before he stood out among others students with a skeptical attitude towards the foundations of the Order of Bookwizards; in the end, a tragedy that took the lives of many magicians, happened because of his skepticism, which made him honor and follow established rules more than others.<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":4" /><ref name=":5" /> Grey is the color of his ink,<ref name=":8" /> which allows him to control stone.<ref name=":9">{{Cite journal|last=Devova, Natalia (w)|first=Jouravlyova, Julia (a)|date=2017-04-20|title=The Paper Cut. Part 1|journal=Bubble Comics|volume=6}}</ref>
* '''Inga Shelkovits''' — a student of the Real Moscow Library. She was infected with the ink at the same time that Alexander did, so they got into the Order together.<ref name=":8" /> Kind, but harsh sometimes with her friends, when they don't believe in themselves.<ref name=":7" /> She is hyperactive, which refers to her superpower to move with high speed, thanks to her blue ink color.<ref name=":7" />
* '''Matvey Koretsky''' — another student of the Real Moscow Library. Quite a detached person, very sarcastic, always says whatever is on his mind, due to what earned a reputation among students as a troublesome carefree young man.<ref name=":9" /> His ink color is also blue, but he uses his abilities differently – instead of high speed, he uses the magic of the ink to fly.<ref name=":9" />
* '''Arthur'''  (also known as '''Nightingale''') — a teacher in the Real Moscow Library.<ref name=":10">{{Cite journal|last=Devova, Natalia (w)|first=Rodin, Andrey ("...And The Door Will Open"); Erofeeva, Alina ("The Black Road") (a)|date=2015-01-20|title=...And The Door Will Open. Part 4.|journal=Bubble Comics|volume=1}}</ref> A  literary character of a book, written and brought to life by Angelina Evgenievna,<ref name=":8" /> when she was a little girl. He's the only wizard of the Order of Bookwizards who is a revived character and is an exception from the rules, regarding characters.<ref name=":8" /><ref>The Law of the Order forbids the presence of literary characters in the real world.</ref> He is very kind-hearted even to his enemies, optimistic and careless, which sometimes causes an erroneous impression of his naivety. Has a habit of wearing flip-flops on bare feet. Being a literary character, he doesn't need food and water, doesn't experience pain, can regenerate.<ref name=":10" />
* '''Angelina Evgenievna''' — the head of the Real Moscow Library; for students she is sort of a principal of the school.<ref name=":8" /> She wrote a book about Arthur when she was 9.<ref name=":11">{{Cite journal|last=Devova, Natalia (w)|first=Erofeeva, Alina (a)|date=2015-09-18|title=With Good Intentions. Part 2.|journal=Bubble Comics|volume=3}}</ref> Strict, but fair. She worries about her students a lot every time they are on a deadly mission and often helps them to get out of a difficult situation.<ref name=":11" /> Tries to quit smoking.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Devova, Natalia (w)|first=Jouravlyova, Julia (a)|date=2016-09-19|title=Moving On|journal=Bubble Comics|volume=4}}</ref> Has the ability to teleport to the current location of the Bookwizard or character, using a drop of his ink.<ref name=":11" /> The ink color and superpower abilities are unknown.
* '''Kira''' — the main character of the parallel story. She is the only living wizard of monochrome, that uses the magic of black ink, which allows her to change the objective reality. Her goal is to find white ink that her dead brother Kai used to have.<ref name=":6" />

== Development ==

=== Creative team ===
{{Quote box
| quote = Speaking of how the series has changed, I can say, that I, apparently, didn't gave the editorial office the thing they wanted from me, the light-hearted, funny story in [[urban fantasy]] setting, just because I can't keep writing that constantly. Regularly I imagine some cruel things, because they make my imagination work. ''Exlibrium'' started like that, "Nata, please, write us a kind, adventurous story", and I replied, "Okay". And I could hold on  'till the second issue (laughing). And after that the mutilations started, and, "what can be even more uniting, than unintentional double murder"? I don't know how bad is that, ''Exlibrium'' has its own fan community, that is very tolerant to everything that I do to the series (and I'm very thankful for that). I suppose that the comics became a little bit different from the one that we planned, but I can't say that it's a bad thing either.
| author = — Natalia Devova about the changes of the series during the publishing time<ref name="Kanobu1"/>
|width  = 30%
}}

In 2014 Russian publishing house [[Bubble Comics]], which has been already publishing four original comic series by that time, decided release two new series, so they announced ''Exlibrium'' and ''Meteora''. The publishing house couldn't decide on the name of the series for a very long time. As the editor-in-chief of Bubble, Roman Kotkov, wrote in one of the collections of issues of ''Exlibrium'', originally it was called ''Exlibris'', but it had to be abandoned since this name had already been registered. Other options ranged from ''Bookwizards'' to ''[[Fleur de Lis]]''. Eventually. the name "Exlibrium" was approved, the idea by Denis Popov, Bubble's designer. ''Exlibrium'''s name is a [[blend word]] from [[Latin language|Latin]] "ex libris" ("out of the books") and English "equilibrium".<ref name=":12">Vol. 1, 2015, Additional materials.</ref> The creators' comments on the original direction of the comic differ. Natalia Devova claims that at first series supposed to be comics for the females as a target audience;<ref name=":13">{{Cite web|title=Интервью со сценаристом Bubble Наталией Девовой - SpiderMedia.ru|url=http://spidermedia.ru/news/intervyu-so-scenaristom-bubble-nataliey-devovoy-0|access-date=2021-12-08|website=spidermedia.ru|language=ru}}</ref> according to the statement of  the CEO of Bubble, [[Artyom Gabrelyanov]], it was assumed that there would be both female and male main characters, as a 'student and mentor', but, to increase the number of central female characters in the publisher's lines, it was decided to focus on Lilia and to give another character a secondary role.<ref name=":14">{{Cite web|title=Интервью с главным редактором BUBBLE Артемом Габреляновым - SpiderMedia.ru|url=http://spidermedia.ru/news/intervyu-s-glavnym-redaktorom-bubble-artemom-gabrelyanovym-0|access-date=2021-12-08|website=spidermedia.ru|language=ru}}</ref>

The work on ''Exlibrium'' was entrusted to the writer Natalia Devova and the artist Andrey Rodin. At that time Natalia Devova had already been working on the plot for another publisher's comic book series ''[[Friar (comic)|Friar]]'' for two years, starting with the crossover ''[[Friar vs Demonslayer]]''. According to her, initially, the scripts had to be written according to synopses: 'they were giving me a brief retelling of the chapter and I was writing it into a complete script'. As time flew by, the publisher provided Devova with more and more creative freedom, which, ultimately, lead to the creation of her series.<ref name=":13" /> According to Artem Gabrelianov, he was the one, who came up with the idea of ''Exlibrium'', but it developed into the complete series under the hard work of Natalia Devova and another writer, Evgeny Fedotov.<ref name=":14" /> Choosing Andrey Rodin as an artist for the series was Devova's decision, who begged for a chance to work with him only.<ref name=":13" />

=== Character design ===
During the elaboration and creation process, some characters underwent strong changes. So, Lilia herself, was originally blonde and her name was Kate Odintsova, and her wardrobe would have consisted of casual clothes and accessories from her favorite video games. Despite the cardinal changes in Lilia's appearance, she still represented a geek girl, a pacifist, far from violence. The main features of her new appearance were thick eyebrows, long and sharp nose, and black eyes. Devova also planned to add a gap between the girl's front teeth, but her colleagues told her out of it. The selection of hairstyle caused difficulties – since two female characters, Red Fury and Meteora, already had long hair, Devova decided to focus on short and semi-long straight hair, but none of the options were approved by Andrey Rodin. According to Devova, the final option was suggested by Anastasia Kim, the main artist of ''[[Major Grom]]''. The clothes of the character remained just like the author wanted them to be in the first place — a blouse with print on sleeves, high-waisted jeans, and a black hat.<ref name=":12" />

Alexander and Arthur initially had the more classic style of clothing, consisting of jackets, strict suits, but later it was changed to more modern and casual. Changes in appearance affected Alexander in a lesser extent. His wardrobe was mostly filled with black clothes, unlike Arthur's lighter-colored clothes. Andrey Rodin, guided by the description, given to him by Natalia Devova ("Alexander's eccentric and bright partner") made Arthur a man of about middle age, with facial hair, with hair, smoothed back and gathered in a ponytail, before the character ended up in his final appearance (blonde hair, tall and slim build).<ref name=":12" /> Angelina Evgenievna's appearance was approved with the very first sketches. When Roman Kotkov saw them, he compared the character with American actress [[Jessica Lange]], famous for her role in ''[[American Horror Story]]''. At first, Devova insisted on a short hairstyle, but her colleagues denied her request, and the character had curly hair of medium length, however, in 25 issue she appears with short hair anyway.<ref>Vol. 2, 2016, Additional materials.</ref>

=== Publication ===
''Exlibrium'' (along with ''Meteora'', the other comic book series by Bubble) was presented for the first time on [[Comic-Con Russia]] in October 2014.<ref name=":14" /> The first issue came out 20 October of the same year; the following issues usually were also dated on the twentieth, but there were exceptions, as long as some were published a few days earlier than usual,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://club.bubble.ru/single/ru/1/9 |title=BUBBLE Club: Экслибриум № 8 — Костяной дом, ч.3 |language=ru |format= |website=Club.Bubble.ru |publisher=[[Bubble Comics]] |date=2015-05-18 |quote= |accessdate=2020-02-11 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20180607214232/https://club.bubble.ru/single/ru/1/9 |archivedate=2018-06-07 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://club.bubble.ru/single/ru/1/10 |title=BUBBLE Club: Экслибриум № 9 — Люди библиотеки, ч.1 |language=ru |format= |website=Club.Bubble.ru |publisher=[[Bubble Comics]] |date=2015-06-18 |quote= |accessdate=2020-02-11  |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20180807085102/https://club.bubble.ru/single/ru/1/10 |archivedate=2018-08-07 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://club.bubble.ru/single/ru/1/13 |title=BUBBLE Club: Экслибриум № 12 — Благими намерениями, ч.2 |language=ru |format= |website=Club.Bubble.ru |publisher=[[Bubble Comics]] |date=2015-09-18 |quote= |accessdate=2020-02-11 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20181111231302/https://club.bubble.ru/single/ru/1/13 |archivedate=2018-11-11 }}</ref> while others a few days later.<ref>{{cite web |author= |authorlink= |url=https://club.bubble.ru/single/ru/1/16 |title=BUBBLE Club: Экслибриум № 15 — Меж трёх огней, ч.1 |language=ru |website=Club.Bubble.ru |publisher=[[Bubble Comics]] |date=2015-12-21 |accessdate=2021-09-01 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20161203065014/https://club.bubble.ru/single/ru/1/16 |archivedate=2016-12-03 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://club.bubble.ru/single/ru/1/309 |title=BUBBLE Club: Экслибриум № 25 — Вот дом, который..., ч.1 |language=ru |website=Club.Bubble.ru |publisher=[[Bubble Comics]] |date=2016-11-21|accessdate=2021-09-01|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20161124094830/https://club.bubble.ru/single/ru/1/309 |archivedate=2016-11-24 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://club.bubble.ru/single/ru/1/377 |title=BUBBLE Club: Экслибриум № 34 — Морок, ч.3|website=Club.Bubble.ru |publisher=[[Bubble Comics]] |date=2017-08-21 |accessdate=2021-09-01 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20170825131752/https://club.bubble.ru/single/ru/1/377 |archivedate=2017-08-25 }}</ref> In addition, issues, usually dedicated to some festivals or being exclusive to some comic book stores, had an additional circulation with an alternative cover.<ref>{{Cite web|title=РосКомНадзор: Christmas is all around - SpiderMedia.ru|url=http://spidermedia.ru/comics/roskomnadzor-christmas-is-all-around|access-date=2021-12-08|website=spidermedia.ru|language=ru}}</ref> The fourth issue was the only one of the series, where two plots were presented simultaneously – the continual of ''...And The Door Will Open'' and a single about Alexander and Arthur. Issues 14-17 were included in the plot of the crossover ''[[The Time of the Raven]]'', but the characters of ''Exlibrium'' weren't presented in the series itself. 34 issue was published in the unusual, landscaped format – the comic book was printed horizontally, across the page. On the 28th of October, 2015 the first issue of ''Exlibrium'' was published on American online comic distribution company [[ComiXology]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Exlibrium #1 - Comics by comiXology|url=https://www.comixology.com/Exlibrium-1/digital-comic/294481|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171231211909/https://www.comixology.com/Exlibrium-1/digital-comic/294481|url-status=dead|archive-date=31 December 2017|access-date=2021-12-08|website=www.comixology.com}}</ref> Till the present time, 13 issues had been already translated and published in English.

On the 1st of October, 2015 the first volume was released, consisting the first five issues. Subsequently, other issues were also published as a part of collections. Each volume received a reprint with an alternative cover. In addition to the comics themselves, additional materials were included in the publications: comments from the creators, sketches of frames and characters, locations, cover sketches, and other, unused versions.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Экслибриум. Том 1. ...И дверь откроется|url=https://cbdb.ru/db/russian_comics/3909-ekslibrium-tom-1-i-dver-otkroetsya.html|access-date=2021-12-08|website=Комиксы на русском языке {{!}} База данных комиксов, изданных в России|language=ru}}</ref> In 2015 Cosmodrome Games even made a card game based on ''Exlibrium''.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Экслибриум {{!}} Tesera|url=https://tesera.ru/game/Exlibrium/|access-date=2021-12-08|website=tesera.ru}}</ref> In May 2016, Bubble Comics initiated a [[crowdfunding]] campaign on the [[Kickstarter]] platform to raise funds for the release of the printed collection in English. It was planned to gain 10.000 USD, in the end, they were able to gain twice more – 24.554 USD. The collection includes 1-8 issues and an additional story, created exclusively for the English edition.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2016-06-02|title=Bubble Comics Brings Russian Heroes To America With Exlibrium|url=https://www.denofgeek.com/books/bubble-comics-brings-russian-heroes-to-america-with-exlibrium/|access-date=2021-12-08|website=Den of Geek|language=en-US}}</ref> In December 2018, along with the release of the 50th-anniversary issue, the publisher announced that they are shutting down the series.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://fantlab.ru/blogarticle58293|title=Комиксы и Графические романы: Новости и новинки комикс-индустрии (с 24 по 31 декабря 2018 г.)|language=ru}}</ref> On the 21st of April 2019 a [[One-shot (comics)|one-shot]] spin-off 'Exlibrium. The Blank Sheet' was released. It tells a background story of some of the secondary characters.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Встречайте ещё одну новинку BUBBLE FEST — книгу "ЭКСЛИБРИУМ. ЧИСТЫЙ ЛИСТ"|url=https://twitter.com/bubble_ru/status/1116400733904044040|access-date=2021-12-08|website=Twitter|language=en}}</ref> A pilot issue of a sequel ''Exlibrium: Second Life'' was presented on Comic-Con Russia in October 2019.<ref>{{Cite web|title=На @comicconrussia дебютирует пилотный спецвыпуск "Экслибриум. Жизнь вторая"|url=https://twitter.com/bubble_ru/status/1177168702225207296|access-date=2021-12-08|website=Twitter|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Ребята из @bubble_ru подготовили просто очуменные обложки комикса "Экслибриум"|url=https://twitter.com/comicconrussia/status/1177207936285839361|access-date=2021-12-08|website=Twitter|language=en}}</ref> At the beginning of August 2021, the second spin-off, ''Exlibrium: Red Line'', was released, also dedicated to the background of secondary characters of the series. The action of ''Red Line'' happens before the actions of ''Second Life''.<ref>{{Cite web|title=ComicsBoom!. Дайджест новостей комикс-индустрии 19.07-01.08|url=https://www.1c-interes.ru/news/32302501/|access-date=2021-12-08|website=www.1c-interes.ru}}</ref>

== Reception ==
Critics gave ''Exlibrium'' mostly positive reviews. Comics was praised mainly for its original idea and interesting plot, the series itself was repeatedly called the best work by [[Bubble Comics]]. A well-developed fictional world, charismatic characters, and a pleasant drawing also stood out among other advantages. However, critics weren't so sure about the main character, Lilia Romanova. She was called a simple character, with whom a reader will easily associate himself, and, on the other hand, a typical example of a "sociophobic [[geek]]". Disadvantages included the length of the first introductory plot and excess of [[Popular culture|pop-culture]] references.

Alexander Strepetilov, a reviewer of the magazine ''[[Mir Fantastiki]]'' called ''Exlibrium'' the most original series by Bubble Comics and suggested that the comics will be liked more by fans of ''[[Harry Potter]]'' or ''[[Doctor Strange (comic book)|Doctor Strange]]'' than to the fans of ordinary superhero comics. Among the disadvantages, Strepetilov underlined an excess of references and the long duration of the first, introductory plot.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2017-03-07|title=Экслибриум. Том 1. Книжная магия для гиков {{!}} Комиксы|url=https://www.mirf.ru/comics/ekslibrium-tom1/|access-date=2021-12-08|website=Мир фантастики и фэнтези|language=ru}}</ref> 
A reviewer of the website Geek-Freak.Ru praised comics for a well-developed fictional world, charismatic characters, and a pleasant drawing. The quality of action was also praised, but the reviewed noted that there is not enough of it.<ref>{{cite web |author=Evgen |authorlink= |url=http://geek-freak.ru/obzor-komiksa-ekslibrium-bubble/ |title=Комиксы Bubble: Часть 7. Экслибриум. |language=ru |website=Geek-Freak.Ru |date=2017-01-31|quote= |accessdate=2020-04-01 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20180701142816/http://geek-freak.ru/obzor-komiksa-ekslibrium-bubble/ |archivedate=2018-07-01 }}</ref> Pavel Borchenko from Geekster praised comics for the same things, noting the detailed elaboration of the character of the main character, as close as possible to the behavior of peers in a real situation: she reacts the same way as a reader would if they were in Lilia's place.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2015-12-05|title=Хогвартс: Новое поколение|url=https://geekster.ru/hot-news/ekslibrium-review/|access-date=2021-12-08|website=Гикстер - издание о комиксах, кино, играх и гик культуре|language=ru-RU|archive-date=27 June 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170627140552/https://geekster.ru/hot-news/ekslibrium-review/|url-status=dead}}</ref> Evgeny Eronin, representing the website SpiderMedia.ru,<ref>{{Cite web|title=ОБЗОР: "Экслибриум №1" - SpiderMedia.ru|url=http://spidermedia.ru/blog/redson/obzor-ekslibrium-no1-0|access-date=2021-12-08|website=spidermedia.ru|language=ru}}</ref> had the same opinion; at the same time, a reviewer from Redrumers, on the opposite, told that the main character didn't cause any positive emotions – author of the review noted banality of her "geek" behavior, and it pushed him away.<ref>{{Cite web|last=ihaired|date=2015-11-12|title=Живые истории: "Экслибриум" Том 1|url=https://redrumers.com/2015/11/12/exlibrium-book-1/|access-date=2021-12-08|website=REDRUMERS|language=ru-RU}}</ref> Alexander Talashin from [[Meownauts]] praised authors of comics for originality, but warned them, that borrowing characters from others' work may cause accusations of cliche. He also pointed out well-development characters and good drawings by Andrey Rodin, but criticized Lilia, calling her "a closed and crazy person, who couldn't be found even in our time". All in all, comics were called nice, and Talashin was confident that the following issues will become better.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Талашин|first=Александр|date=2014-10-20|title=Пилот нового комикса Bubble "Экслибриум"|url=https://meownauts.com/bubble-exlibrium-01/|access-date=2021-12-08|website=Котонавты|language=ru-RU}}</ref>

Comics were also rated by some foreign reviewers. Karrie McClaine, representing BlackNerdProblems.com, in her review for two first issues, reacted positively to the multiple pop-culture references, drawing, interesting creatures, characters, and setting of ''Exlibrium''; eventually, the first issue got 8,5 points out of 10, and the second one - 9,5.<ref>{{Cite web|last=McClain|first=Carrie |date=2015-11-06|title=Exlibrium #1 Review|url=https://blacknerdproblems.com/exlibrium-1-review/|access-date=2021-12-08|website=Black Nerd Problems|language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=McClain|first=Carrie |date=2016-02-15|title=Exlibrium #2 Review|url=https://blacknerdproblems.com/exlibrium-2-review/|access-date=2021-12-08|website=Black Nerd Problems|language=en-US}}</ref> A reviewer from ComicBastards.com noted the availability to the understanding of the comic book by the American audience. It has nothing foreign to American reality, and, if it wasn't mentioned that action takes place in Russia, it's almost impossible to guess that they don't take place in America; the weak connection between the introductory text and the plot itself was negatively evaluated; author contrasted the comics with ''[[Star Wars]]'', where, without an introductory part, the setting is understandable after first five minutes of reading, whereas, in case of ''Exlibrium'', the story will be perceived completely differently without an introduction.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Review: Exlibrium #1|url=https://comicbastards.com/comics/review-exlibrium-1|access-date=2021-12-08|website=Comic Bastards|date=27 July 2016 |language=en-US}}</ref>

=== Awards ===
''Exlibrium'' was nominated in the category "The best original comic series" in ComicsBoom.net every year since 2014 till 2017.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://comicsboom.net/blog/4630-premiya-komiksbuma-2017-pyatyy-otborochnyy-etap-luchshaya-perevodnaya-kniga-komiksov-ili-van-shot.html|title=Премия КомиксБума 2017. Четвёртый отборочный этап. Лучшая переводная книга комиксов или ван-шот|author=Cooleach|date=2018-01-16|publisher=ComicsBoom.net|accessdate=2021-09-01|language=ru|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20180118024143/http://comicsboom.net/blog/4630-premiya-komiksbuma-2017-pyatyy-otborochnyy-etap-luchshaya-perevodnaya-kniga-komiksov-ili-van-shot.html|archivedate=2018-01-18}}</ref> Comics won in its nomination two years in a row (in 2014 it took the prize along with two other Bubble series ''Friar'' and ''Meteora''), however, according to the results in 2016, it received a second place (the first one was taken by ''[[Pantheon: The Cult Of Duplicity]]''). At different times the line was voted for by Evgeny Eronin (the editor-in-chief of SpiderMedia.ru), Stanislav Kuprianov (admin of ComicsTrade.ru website), Dmitry Zlotnitsky (reviewer of ''Mir Fantastiki'' magazine), Yury Kolomensky (author of SpiderMedia.ru website), Maria Krutova (author of Meownats website), Konstantin Buyanov (editor of Geekster.ru), Daniil Popov (author of ComicsBoom.net) and Maxim Usenko (author of ComicBoom.net). Members of the jury came to a common opinion, according to which ''Exlibrium'' represents the most original series by Bubble Comics, and is an indicator of the gradual growth of the quality of the publisher's comics.<ref name="Award2014">{{cite web|url=http://comicsboom.net/blog/2321-premiya-komiksbuma-2014-rezultaty-golosovaniya-zhyuri-itogi-i-pobediteli.html|title=Премия КомиксБума 2014. Результаты голосования жюри. Итоги и победители!|author=Cooleach|date=2015-02-15|publisher=ComicsBoom.net|accessdate=2021-09-01|language=ru|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150319071027/http://comicsboom.net/blog/2321-premiya-komiksbuma-2014-rezultaty-golosovaniya-zhyuri-itogi-i-pobediteli.html|archivedate=2015-03-19}}</ref><ref name="Award2015">{{cite web|url=http://comicsboom.net/blog/3119-premiya-komiksbuma-2015-itogi-i-pobediteli.html|title=Премия КомиксБума 2015. Итоги и победители!|author=Cooleach|date=2016-02-15|publisher=ComicsBoom.net|accessdate=2021-09-01|language=ru|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160217214922/http://comicsboom.net/blog/3119-premiya-komiksbuma-2015-itogi-i-pobediteli.html|archivedate=2016-02-17}}</ref><ref name="Award2016">{{cite web|url=http://comicsboom.net/blog/3841-premiya-komiksbuma-2016-itogi-i-pobediteli.html|title=Премия КомиксБума 2016. Итоги и победители!|author=Cooleach|date=2017-02-14|publisher=ComicsBoom.net|accessdate=2021-09-01|language=ru|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20170215153818/http://comicsboom.net/blog/3841-premiya-komiksbuma-2016-itogi-i-pobediteli.html|archivedate=2017-02-15}}</ref>
{| class="wikitable sortable"
!Year
!Award
!Category
!Result
|-
|2014
| rowspan="3" |ComicsBoom Awards
| rowspan="3" |The Best Original Comics Series
|{{Won|Winner}}<ref name="Award2014" />
|-
|2015
|{{Won|Winner}}<ref name="Award2015" />
|-
|2016
|{{nom}}<ref name="Award2016" />
|}

== Bibliography ==

=== Volumes ===

==== In Russian ====

* ''Devova, Natalia.'' …And The Door Will Open. — Bubble Comics, 2015. — Vol. 1 (№ 1—5). — 206 p. — (Exlibrium). — {{ISBN|978-5-9907068-1-1}}.
* ''Devova, Natalia.'' The Bone House. — Bubble Comics, 2016. — Vol. 2 (№ 6—10). — 204 p. — (Exlibrium). — {{ISBN|978-5-9907605-1-6}}.
* ''Kotkov, Roman; Devova, Natalia.'' Among The Three Flames. — Bubble Comics, 2016. — Vol. 3 (№ 11—17). — 264 p. — (Exlibrium). — {{ISBN|978-5-9908270-5-9}}.
* ''Devova, Natalia.'' Insult to Injury. — Bubble Comics, 2017. — Vol. 4 (№ 18—23). — 220 p. — (Exlibrium). — {{ISBN|978-5-9908710-0-7}}.
* ''Devova, Natalia.'' Here's The House, Where…. — Bubble Comics, 2017. — Vol. 5 (№ 24—29). — 206 p. — (Exlibrium). — {{ISBN|978-5-9500084-4-3}}.
* ''Devova, Natalia.'' Paper Cut. — Bubble Comics, 2018. — Vol. 6 (№ 30—34). — 170 p. — (Exlibrium). — {{ISBN|978-5-9500621-0-0}}.
* ''Bulatova, Anne; Devova, Natalia.'' The Fairytale Is Over. — Bubble Comics, 2018. — Vol. 7 (№ 35—40). — 202 p. — (Exlibrium). — {{ISBN|978-5-6041510-7-5}}.
* ''Devova, Natalia.'' The Revolt. — Bubble Comics, 2019. — Vol. 8 (№ 41—45). — 156 p. — (Exlibrium). — {{ISBN|978-5-6041511-8-1}}.
* ''Devova, Natalia.'' The Light Strip. — Bubble Comics, 2019. — Vol. 9 (№ 46—50). — 212 p. — (Exlibrium). — {{ISBN|978-5-6042724-3-5}}.

==== In English ====

* ''Devova, Natalia.'' …And The Door Will Open. — Bubble Comics, 2016. — Vol. 1 (№ 1—8). — 264 p. — (Exlibrium). — {{ISBN|978-5-9908270-2-8}}.

==References==
<references />

== External links ==
* [https://bubble.ru/en/catalog/12-Exlibrium/digital Official page of the comic series on Bubble Comics site]
{{Bubble Comics}}
{{Portal bar|Russia|Comics|Fantasy}}

[[Category:2014 comics debuts]]
[[Category:Russian comics]]
[[Category:Bubble Comics]]
[[Category:Fantasy comics]]
[[Category:Adventure comics]]
[[Category:Works set in Moscow]]