For more than 20 years, readers enjoyed the adventures of the world’s greatest cowboy, Lucky Luke, “the comic strip character who can shoot faster than his own shadow.” Created by Morris and later joined by René Goscinny (of Asterix and Obelix fame), Lucky Luke is a bande dessinée where the titular hero and his trusty…
The Complete The Killer: The Craft of Pasting Ethics Over Action
The Complete The Killer Matz and Luc Jacamon, translated by Matz and Edward Gauvin, with lettering by Marshall Dillon (Chapters 1-10) and Deron Bennett (Chapters 11-13) Archaia for BOOM! Studios The Complete The Killer (RRP $39.99) is unbelievably long. Unreasonably, as a PDF—my internet’s not great, but even so—it took a full hour to load…
Fragments of Femininity: A Clichéd Look at Womanhood
Fragments of Femininity Olivier Pont (writer and artist) Europe Comics 18 January, 2017 IZNEO HAS PROVIDED WWAC WITH A VIP ACCESS PASS. What makes a woman feminine? Olivier Pont’s graphic novel, Fragments of Femininity, translated from his 2015 French graphic novel, DesSeins, aims to study the symbol of women’s femininity—their breasts—through the stories of seven women…
Haytham: A Childhood in Syria: Poignant and Subtle Look at Refugee Life
Haytham Nicolas Hénin (writer), Kyungeun Park (artist) Europe Comics at izneo.com 17 June, 2017 IZNEO HAS PROVIDED WWAC WITH A VIP ACCESS PASS. Based on the true story of a Syrian refugee in France, Haytham: A Childhood in Syria chronicles the life of a Syrian family as they escape an oppressive regime in their home country.
Thorgal: A Folk Metal Song in Pictoral Form
Thorgal Jean Van Hamme (writer), Grzegorz Rosiński (illustrator) Cinebook Thorgal is a silly name. It doesn’t inspire confidence. The art is what attracted me to reviewing this classic European series—one that still goes on today, albeit with writers changed out. Grzegorz Rosiński’s art is extraordinarily well-composed, to the point of being cinematic. Scouring the pages was…
Mermaid Project: Whiteness and Capitalism in a Soft Cyberpunk Murder Mystery
Mermaid Project Volume 1 Leo & Fred Simon & Corine Jamar, Europe Comics, izneo.com IZNEO HAS PROVIDED WWAC WITH A VIP ACCESS PASS. Mermaid Project tracks a young woman trying to prove herself as a detective in the Paris of the near future. She becomes unexpectedly linked to an international, industrial scandal and is sent to America…
Dark Side of the Moon is a Bizarre Place
Dark Side of the Moon Blutch (writer and artist) Europe Comics at izneo.com February 15, 2007 IZNEO HAS PROVIDED WWAC WITH A VIP ACCESS PASS. Sometimes, I want an adventurous read. Something that feels very personal, something that challenges me to do something more than simply experience a story. I am not going to lie,…
French Pirates and Feminists! Long John Silver: Lady Vivian Hastings
Long John Silver Vol. 1: Lady Vivian Hastings Xavier Dorison (writer), Mathieu Laufray (illustrator) Dargaud (French version) May 18, 2007 Cinebook (English version) February 16, 2011 “But in these dark hours at last, I find the courage to pass along these terrible memories…” Long John Silver Vol. 1, Lady Vivian Hastings opens with an ominous…
Emma and Violette Vol 1: One Dream For Three
Emma and Violette Vol 1: One Dream for Three Jérôme Hamon (script), Lena Sayaphoum (art) Europe Comics, Izneo.com Released January 17, 2018 IZNEO HAS PROVIDED WWAC WITH A VIP ACCESS PASS. We all have dreams. Some of those dreams are easily within our grasp, some may take a lifetime to achieve, and others yet may…
Yoko Tsuno is a Heroine On the Edge
Yoko Tsuno: On the Edge of Life Roger Leloup (Writer and Artist) Cinebook August 16, 2007 There is something special about Franco-Belgian comics from the 1970s. The comics of Spirou Magazine, Tintin, and Pilote solidified the dominance of Franco-Belgian comics into the modern era. Large format, long-form narrative storytelling, complex characters, and clean, clear artistic…
The Best Thing I Didn’t Know About Valerian & Laureline
It’s that they love each other. Valérian and Laureline is a french-language comic, originally published over six decades (the late 1960s through the first ten years of the 21st century), and in English currently by Cinebook. They put out single-volume books as well as bonanza compendiums; I’ve only, so far, read three of the former….
Lea & Julius Antoine: A 1980s French Comic About Ephebophilia
Lea: The Confessions of Julius Antoine Serge Le Tendre (writer), Christian Rossi (artist) Fantagraphics, 1989 First published in French by Albin Michel, 1985 This article contains discussions of ephebophilia and paedophilia.