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Post by Dizzy D on Oct 22, 2021 6:45:25 GMT -5
Bought some random comics to have something to read in my holiday, so here they are:
Sisterhood #1: Contains 2 stories, both scenarios by Richard Boom, the stories written by Jeroen Kruithof and Gert-Jan van Oosten. Art by Diego Magno Loiola and Renee Rienties.
And I regret buying it, it's a terrible comic IMHO.
The main idea is that a grave robber in Egypt in the Early 20th century awakens a mummy, which in turn awakens several other mummies all over the world. They (all females) band together to follow the Egyptian god (now incarnated as a computer) Khepri in protecting humanity from those that would abuse magic and threaten humanity. The concept is a bit 80s cartoon show with a diverse cast of mummies from all over the world with each their own power guided by a living computer named Mummytron. Writing and artwise it's on the same level as those cartoons, though they found it necessary to include photos of several cosplayers playing mummies at the end of the story for reasons so I think they were aiming at an older audience. The writing is very much "I'm going to explain in detail what I'm doing, why I am doing it and when I will do it". The second story is a bit better in writing and in art-style, though it also is not treading any new ground.
Optic Squad by Sylvain Runberg and Stephane Bervas: It's better than Sisterhood, but still not something which I will follow.
The plot deals with a group of enhanced agents working for an international peacekeeping organisation at the end of the 21st century. Through implanted cameras in their eyes and several other implants, the agents are supported by a team of specialists that can give them information or administer drugs to ease their pain, keep them focused etc. As sci-fi goes, nothing too outrageous. Two agents (one experienced, the other a new recruit) are send into Seattle to infiltrate a gang of human traffickers.
The main idea is solid enough, the ezecution leaves something to be desired (at least by me). The plan of the human traffickers makes no sense (they are going through very high risks and costs to obtain a small group of people that they want to sell off, but those people have no specific skills, knowledge or ties. So there is no reason they would need specifically those people, who are all living in a heavily guarded compound). The supporting characters all are extremely one-note, the main character is not much more complex than that; their main emotion seemingly being "controlled hatred".
Barbe-Rouge #1 and #2 by Jean-Charles Kraehn and Stephano Carloni (or translated "The New Adventures of Redbeard): Redbeard is one of the classic French-Belgian comics, created by Jean-Michel Charlier and Victor Hubinon, with some historical inspiration, but the character is probably one of the few examples where a parody is morefamous than the original: Barbe-Rouge and his crew are parodied in Asterix as the Pirates. The series itself is far more realistic and down to earth in both art and story than Asterix.
Like many other classic Franco-Belgian comics, they decided that it was time for a revival by a new team (the original title ran from 1959-2004 with basically 4/5 different creative teams). Unlike most of these revivals, the new series continues the stories from the original series and is not a complete redo. I never read the original series, but this was a good time to check out the new series and it's pretty good. Kraehn has been around for a long time and has done various types of work, a lot historical, but also some thrillers set in modern day and a few sci-fi stories. Carloni has done the art for several series and all of them (as far as I know) are historical series.
Plot: Redbeard and his crew are no longer pirates, but are now operating as privateers for France, but Redbeard is unhappy with his new position; the nobles he's now working for are no better or even worse than the worst pirates he has met over the years. And now that the wars with England and Spain are over, Redbeard is bored as well. And boredom leads to trouble: after a fight with some guards who are hitting a child, Redbeard gets the order to hunt down another french pirate for the British (partly as punishment, but there are several reasons why the French governor wants Redbeard to hunt down one of their own).
And I liked this a lot, especially compared to the other European comics I read this week; characters have multiple facets (60+ years of history helps I guess), the art is good and filled with lots of details.
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Post by kirby101 on Oct 22, 2021 9:06:19 GMT -5
Had a great idea that was a total bust. What if I used a smart phone translation app to read the French Editions of the graphic Novels I have. Mostly Schuiten/Peters.
Downloaded a couple and tried them. Doesn't work, a few words of the captions are translated, but not the full text. Probable the script and length of the captions.
Now I wonder if anyone online provides a translation?
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Post by Dizzy D on Nov 9, 2021 6:41:40 GMT -5
After the disappointing batch of European comics a month ago (except for Barbe Rouge which was good), a big bunch of comics landed recently (haven't read them all yet, but here are the ones I did):
- Ekho # 10 by Alreston and Barbucci: Ekho remains light fluff with pretty art. Kinda disappointed that Fourmille gets possessed but her expressive haircut does not change this time (Main Character Fourmille gets possessed by ghosts in each issue and we can see when the ghost is in control, because her haircut changes to represent the ghost. This time it doesn't, though the possession is a bit different as well: the ghost can take control while Fourmille stays aware and active.) Storywise, Fourmille and Yuri travel to Ekho's version of China to hire a troupe of ballet dancers for their theatre. The dancers in question are all part of a Shao-Lin monastery though and won't perform for profit/publicity. Even when chased by assassins, the stakes never feel high in this title, which fits with what it is.
- Ythaq # 17: Is this the final issue? It kinda feels like the final issue. Arleston (again) and Floch. Granite is on a quest to get her powers back so she can defeat the series big bad, Sarkoen'hr. Basically a planet-sized moray eel made from shadows. Sarkoen'hr had possessed the Federation's regent, Callista, to take control of their fleet and armies, but leaves her body once his original body is freed. Big on action, Granite and Narvarth are for the most part outshined by their recent allies, a cyborg who is better at everything than Narvart and an amalgation of different persons who have bundled their knowledge and skills in one body and switch when necessary according to the problems they encounter.
I do like one subversion of the usual usage of somebody like the final character: when Granite says goodbye to the amalgam, she tells every single person in it goodbye, but then encounters another form that she does not recognise, who simply replies that they never needed his skills this time, but he enjoyed watching them. Usually when somebody in an adventure comic like this has X several skills/forms, the story will put X different obstacles in place.
The ending does leave me with a question
[spoil]So Sarkoen'hr was imprisoned ages ago by advanced aliens because they were unable to kill him. Instead they created another universe in which they imprisoned the creature and sealed that one off from their own universe. Granite defeats Sarkoen'hr by using her regained fire powers and then defeats him permanently by dropping him into a sun... You kinda expect that aliens with the power to create new universes and travel through them, would have the ability to drop something into a sun.[/spoiler]
- Largo Winch #23 by Franq and Giacometti, "The Kármán line". As the name suggests, this issue deals with space travel and billionaires interested in it (The Kármán line is the theoretical place where the Earth's atmosphere ends and space begins). Franq is still on this title, Vance left some time ago, but it's the one Vance title I kept following after he left, because it still did some interesting things. The previous issues dealt with the financial crisis and overpaid executives. This one deals with environmentalism, exploitation of indigenous populations in mining including child labour and of course space travel. The issue lacks the usual overview of the Group W's board of directors which is kinda a shame, because it was always a nice overview of the company and the major players in it. Two new board members are introduced (Group W has quite the turnaround). One to replace somebody who was fired in a previous story, another one to head Group W's new Innovation department. Cochrane feels sidelined once again and resigns (again), though I can't blame his reasoning (there are enough other companies where you don't have to deal with numerous assassins, kidnappers etc.) The story here mirrors the previous story that Winch encounters problems, but the main plot against him, he's still unaware off at the end of this part.
I still like this title and it keeps the issues complex enough that the solutions to Winch's problems are not easy.
- Le Renard de Morlange by Moreau and L 'Hermenier: For a change, not another issue in a long-running series, but a standalone. Adapted from the novel by Alain Surget, Renard de Morlange is a fairy tale: The Count of Morlange is an unpleasant human being: he exploits the farmers in his area, is abusive to his wife and is obsessed with his rival, count Robert of Florange. When extorting taxes from a hermit in his forest, the hermit turns out to be a wizard who curses the Count: every month, at a full moon, the Count will turn into a fox till he repents his actions.
At first the Count enjoys his nights as an animal, there are some risks involved, but it's only for a night and experiencing the world as a fox is a new experience, but then he makes a mistake which locks him permanently into the shape of a fox...
The art in the adaption is very good, but storywise I have the feeling that some things were cut out from the book. The Count knows about certain limits/conditions regarding his curse, but the wizard that curses him never tells him these and we don't get to see how he gets this knowledge. Likewise we are told about the rivalry between both counts, but never get to see any of it in action.
The title is aimed at younger readers, there are some questions and games in the back of the book after the story ends to check if the young reader understood the story.
Bought but not read yet: the new Franka (#25 Gratis Goud (Free Gold)) and an adaption of Jack Vance's Star King by Morvan and Traisci.
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Post by EdoBosnar on Nov 30, 2021 9:10:42 GMT -5
So, over the weekend I was rummaging through some books in the second row of an overstuffed shelf, and came across the some comics I'd almost forgotten I had. They're little mini-comics printed in the form of fold-out pamphlets with a total of 10 story pages:  These were published in 2013 by a Croatian comics and SF publisher; there are nine in the series, and I got six of them for free about a year or two after that when I was buying some other books at that publishers table at the Zagreb comics convention. I guess it was some sort of experiment that really never caught on, because I don't recall ever seeing any other ones. Anyway, I decided to finally get around to reading them and, well, the idea is interesting, but none of them really grabbed me storywise. The art in several is quite nice, though. My favorite was one called Sigma, by Darko Macan.   It's a tongue-in-cheek 4-page SF short.   The remaining six pages (the lower of the two in the first picture above) contain another humorous story, "Hugo & Jack," a sort of spoof of comic readers/hoarders. The other one I liked is the top one in the first picture, called Apokalipsa ('Apocalypse') by Tomislav Tomić. It's about the end of days for rabbits, as the Four Hares of the Apocalypse arrive.  The other four, covers below...  ...I didn't like quite as much. |
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Post by Dizzy D on Dec 6, 2021 11:40:27 GMT -5
The Demon Princes part 1 "The Star King" and 2 "Malagate the Woe" by JD Morvan and Paolo Traisci adapted from a book by Jack Vance.
The Demon Princes is a series of novels by Jack Vance (5 in total). The first novel in that series "The Star King" or "Star King" (depending on which edition you have) has been adapted in comic form (as will the rest of the series if everything goes according to plan) and in its adaptation has been split into two parts.
Despite its title suggesting a Fantasy or Horror story, it's in fact a Science Fiction series (though it does dive into Science Fantasy quite a bit): Kirth Gersen's parents were killed in an attack by 5 pirates/slavers who attacked his homeworld. These 5 are known as the Demon Princes. Kirth has dedicated his life to avenging his people, but takes a moment to rest on a quiet planet where he encounters an explorer who tells him that he has discovered a new inhabitable world, but fears that the peaceful world would be destroyed if the man who financed his exploration would get its coordinates. (The employer is Malagate the Woe, who also happens to be one of the five Demon Princes). Kirth exchanges ships with the explorer, which includes the navigation system with the location of the planet and sets out to find the identity of Malagate.
I was not a fan of Morvan's Spirou, but this is a solid adaption (honestly it has been ages since I read Vance's work so I may be very incorrect) and Traisci is a relatively new artist, but his artwork is very good. The downsides are mostly things I also had issues with in the original story: coincidence playing a large factor. Kirth just happens to have the exact same type of spaceship so that they can switch without anybody noticing and the explorer's employer just happens to be one of the five people Kirth has been looking for (especially as Kirth is portrayed to be very clever and cautious in the rest of the book, I'd expect his visit not to be as much of a coincidence as it first appeared, but no, he is genuinely surprised when he finds out). Still these are minor issues in the story and I do like Kirth a lot as a protagonist; his goal may be vengeance, but he's kind to the people he meets and seems to enjoy his life and is not consumed by vengeance like most other protagonist with similar origins.
Noir Burlesque by Marini: After splitting up with Desberg due to differences of opinion regarding the continuation of their series, The Scorpion, Marini goes full noir. The first issue is a 96 pages of black, white and red artwork and is a Crime Noir. Marini is both writer and artist here like he was in the Eagles of Rome. Story-wise, it's nothing too surprising: Slick has returned from the war to find his ex-lover, Debbie, now known as Caprice and working as a dancer at a club and being engaged to his rival Rex. It's like watching a car crash in slow motion, as each point you can see exactly what's going to happen and that none of the involved parties will ever even try to hit the brakes.
It's only part 1 of a longer story, so if nothing surprising is happening in the first issue, I'm not too bothered: setting up a solid foundation for the story is always good and with Marini the artwork will be the main draw, I think.
Blacksad #5 by Canales and Guarnido: It's a two-parter, so kinda disappointed that I'll have to wait for another issue for this story to finish, otherwise I think it's excellent. I think Slam did a longer review for this (as for once the American version came out before the Dutch version).
Franka #25 by Henk Kuijpers "Gratis Goud" ("Free Gold"). Franka is hired by the Museum to analyse a movie (or rather a movie fragment)whether it's real; it's a sci-fi movie from the 1930s set in "Future Amsterdam of the 1970s" and Kuijpers has some fun with some retro-futurism (and he also gets to design some unique houses later on). I also really like the detective part of the story: Franka consults various experts, while using her own wits and knowledge to gather various clues and take them to the various experts that can help her interpret these clues. And a simple film fragment that may or may not be real, suddenly has people willing to kill for it.
This was a great batch of comics, combined with Fine Print (see modern comics) it's been quite a while since I enjoyed a batch of comics that much.
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Dec 6, 2021 11:51:54 GMT -5
Blacksad #5 by Canales and Guarnido: It's a two-parter, so kinda disappointed that I'll have to wait for another issue for this story to finish, otherwise I think it's excellent. I think Slam did a longer review for this (as for once the American version came out before the Dutch version). Yeah, I was pretty surprised when they released this as a two-parter. Even more so when I found out that it's going to be over a year for part two to come out. I'm sure there were business reasons for the decision, but to me it would have made more sense to have it come out as a single album. |
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Post by berkley on Dec 7, 2021 1:52:01 GMT -5
The Demon Princes part 1 "The Star King" and 2 "Malagate the Woe" by JD Morvan and Paolo Traisci adapted from a book by Jack Vance. The Demon Princes is a series of novels by Jack Vance (5 in total). The first novel in that series "The Star King" or "Star King" (depending on which edition you have) has been adapted in comic form (as will the rest of the series if everything goes according to plan) and in its adaptation has been split into two parts. Despite its title suggesting a Fantasy or Horror story, it's in fact a Science Fiction series (though it does dive into Science Fantasy quite a bit): Kirth Gersen's parents were killed in an attack by 5 pirates/slavers who attacked his homeworld. These 5 are known as the Demon Princes. Kirth has dedicated his life to avenging his people, but takes a moment to rest on a quiet planet where he encounters an explorer who tells him that he has discovered a new inhabitable world, but fears that the peaceful world would be destroyed if the man who financed his exploration would get its coordinates. (The employer is Malagate the Woe, who also happens to be one of the five Demon Princes). Kirth exchanges ships with the explorer, which includes the navigation system with the location of the planet and sets out to find the identity of Malagate. I was not a fan of Morvan's Spirou, but this is a solid adaption (honestly it has been ages since I read Vance's work so I may be very incorrect) and Traisci is a relatively new artist, but his artwork is very good. The downsides are mostly things I also had issues with in the original story: coincidence playing a large factor. Kirth just happens to have the exact same type of spaceship so that they can switch without anybody noticing and the explorer's employer just happens to be one of the five people Kirth has been looking for (especially as Kirth is portrayed to be very clever and cautious in the rest of the book, I'd expect his visit not to be as much of a coincidence as it first appeared, but no, he is genuinely surprised when he finds out). Still these are minor issues in the story and I do like Kirth a lot as a protagonist; his goal may be vengeance, but he's kind to the people he meets and seems to enjoy his life and is not consumed by vengeance like most other protagonist with similar origins. Noir Burlesque by Marini: After splitting up with Desberg due to differences of opinion regarding the continuation of their series, The Scorpion, Marini goes full noir. The first issue is a 96 pages of black, white and red artwork and is a Crime Noir. Marini is both writer and artist here like he was in the Eagles of Rome. Story-wise, it's nothing too surprising: Slick has returned from the war to find his ex-lover, Debbie, now known as Caprice and working as a dancer at a club and being engaged to his rival Rex. It's like watching a car crash in slow motion, as each point you can see exactly what's going to happen and that none of the involved parties will ever even try to hit the brakes. It's only part 1 of a longer story, so if nothing surprising is happening in the first issue, I'm not too bothered: setting up a solid foundation for the story is always good and with Marini the artwork will be the main draw, I think. Blacksad #5 by Canales and Guarnido: It's a two-parter, so kinda disappointed that I'll have to wait for another issue for this story to finish, otherwise I think it's excellent. I think Slam did a longer review for this (as for once the American version came out before the Dutch version). Franka #25 by Henk Kuijpers "Gratis Goud" ("Free Gold"). Franka is hired by the Museum to analyse a movie (or rather a movie fragment)whether it's real; it's a sci-fi movie from the 1930s set in "Future Amsterdam of the 1970s" and Kuijpers has some fun with some retro-futurism (and he also gets to design some unique houses later on). I also really like the detective part of the story: Franka consults various experts, while using her own wits and knowledge to gather various clues and take them to the various experts that can help her interpret these clues. And a simple film fragment that may or may not be real, suddenly has people willing to kill for it. This was a great batch of comics, combined with Fine Print (see modern comics) it's been quite a while since I enjoyed a batch of comics that much.
I read one or two of Vance's Demon Princes series way back in the 1970s or '80s so I'm curious to see how they've been translated visually to B-D. I'll probably try to read the whole Vance series before trying this B-D, though, even if I like the artwork.
I just did an image search for Marini's Noir Burlesque and the art looks absolutely fantastic - which should be no surprise, because I've always liked Marini's stuff and he's very consistent, but I'd have to say this is some of the best I've seen from him, if I can judge by such a small sample. It looks like he's tailored his style slightly to suit the genre and the era (1940s-50s?) and I was blown away by the few pages and covers I was able to find online. Will definitely be looking for this very soon. Like, tomorrow.
Glad to hear Franka is still going strong. I've managed to pick up a few of the early '90s volumes and will probably give them a try soon. I've only glanced at them but even that was enough to tell me that I really like the artwork, and I already knew I liked the premise behind the series from hearing it talked about here a few years ago, probably in this thread. What language are you reading them in?*
From an earlier post that I didnt reply to, I was reminded of the Largo Winch series. I read the first story a few years ago, liked it, but never carried on. I should get back to that one, now that some of my classic comcis reading has moved into the early '90s.
*edit: Never mind, I see that you mentioned the Dutch title, so I assume you're reading them in the original. I asked because I've had some trouble finding some of the earlier volumes in French, the only language besides English that I can read a bit (with the help of a French-English dictionary or deepL, the online translator I've switched to recently).
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Post by Dizzy D on Dec 7, 2021 6:25:40 GMT -5
You're right on this being exceptional even for Marini who is always very good. The presentation of it is also a step above the usual work (or at least the version I got): it's a hardcover with better quality paper than usual. No text on front cover except title, author and publisher, only a single image on the backcover. (It's going to be a two-parter BTW, don't think I mentioned that, just that this was part 1)
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Post by berkley on Dec 7, 2021 14:19:58 GMT -5
You're right on this being exceptional even for Marini who is always very good. The presentation of it is also a step above the usual work (or at least the version I got): it's a hardcover with better quality paper than usual. No text on front cover except title, author and publisher, only a single image on the backcover. (It's going to be a two-parter BTW, don't think I mentioned that, just that this was part 1)
The only thing that's making me hesitate right now is whether I might not want to wait for a possible single-volume collection, but I'll probably not take the chance of holding out for something that might never appear, or not for a long time. Looks like I'll be waiting a little anyway, as the Canadian online book sites I checked say it isn't out here until January 2022.
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Post by EdoBosnar on Dec 12, 2021 13:23:47 GMT -5
Just recently received and read the third issue of the Croatian comics anthology book Strop...  I wrote a little about the first issue and then the second issue upthread. The third issue has the continuation of the three serialized features, by Darko Macan, Stipe Kalajžić and Krešimir Biuk and Dalibor Talajić. The latter in particular (called "Zagrebljuje") is just really good - a rather engrossing story about a down-on-his-luck guy who can't hold down a meal and who lets himself get talked into killing the wife of an old acquaintance, a woman he used to have a crush on and is still in love with. Talajić's pencil art is simply outstanding:  (This installment is pretty hot & sexy as well - this is probably on the only page in the entire story that's SFW.) The fourth feature is a contemplative short piece by an artist named Korina Hunjak, who's new to the whole comics scene:  |
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Post by berkley on Jan 28, 2022 21:30:49 GMT -5
Moebius/Jean Giraud question: I'd like to start looking into his work beyond Blueberry and the Incal. I'd prefer the French editions but which collections? I think there is some overlap.
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Post by antoine on Jan 31, 2022 11:22:01 GMT -5
Moebius/Jean Giraud question: I'd like to start looking into his work beyond Blueberry and the Incal. I'd prefer the French editions but which collections? I think there is some overlap. I have quite a few Moebius books and I would recommender this one. www.bedetheque.com/BD-Moebius-oeuvres-L-OEuvre-hermetique-370187.htmlIt contains everything he did for Métal hurlant and I think a couple more stories. GREAT book. Expensive I if remember correctly but well worth the price. |
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Post by berkley on Jan 31, 2022 17:24:47 GMT -5
Moebius/Jean Giraud question: I'd like to start looking into his work beyond Blueberry and the Incal. I'd prefer the French editions but which collections? I think there is some overlap. I have quite a few Moebius books and I would recommender this one. www.bedetheque.com/BD-Moebius-oeuvres-L-OEuvre-hermetique-370187.htmlIt contains everything he did for Métal hurlant and I think a couple more stories. GREAT book. Expensive I if remember correctly but well worth the price.
That's great, thanks Antoine. I was looking at some of the individual collections but wasn't sure how to mix and match them to ensure I had everything with minimal overlap or repetition amongst the different albums. Do you know if there's a companion volume to L'oeuvre hermétique that contains whatever is not in that one, if anything?
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Post by antoine on Jan 31, 2022 18:08:04 GMT -5
That's great, thanks Antoine. I was looking at some of the individual collections but wasn't sure how to mix and match them to ensure I had everything with minimal overlap or repetition amongst the different albums. Do you know if there's a companion volume to L'oeuvre hermétique that contains whatever is not in that one, if anything?
There's definitely more Moebius. This book is just the Métal Hurlant (French version of Heavy Metal) stuff. I also have this one www.bedetheque.com/BD-Moebius-oeuvres-Chroniques-metalliques-Chaos-345404.htmlReprints drawings, paintings, short stories, commercial drawings (publicités - not sure that "commercial drawings" is the right english term...) and more. Another great book. With these two, that covers quite a bit. He also drew I think an Issue of XIII, although it one pass the prime of that series. |
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Post by berkley on Jan 31, 2022 19:36:04 GMT -5
That's great, thanks Antoine. I was looking at some of the individual collections but wasn't sure how to mix and match them to ensure I had everything with minimal overlap or repetition amongst the different albums. Do you know if there's a companion volume to L'oeuvre hermétique that contains whatever is not in that one, if anything?
There's definitely more Moebius. This book is just the Métal Hurlant (French version of Heavy Metal) stuff. I also have this one www.bedetheque.com/BD-Moebius-oeuvres-Chroniques-metalliques-Chaos-345404.htmlReprints drawings, paintings, short stories, commercial drawings (publicités - not sure that "commercial drawings" is the right english term...) and more. Another great book. With these two, that covers quite a bit. He also drew I think an Issue of XIII, although it one pass the prime of that series.
Yeah, I was wondering about that one, whether it overlapped with L'Oeuvre hermétique. Thanks, I'll look for that one too.
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