After ten years of absence from the cinema, Hayao Miyazaki, 82, made his big return on November 1, 2023 with The Boy and the Heron. The same day, an unexpected masterpiece from the master of animation was released, Le Voyage de Shuna, a forty-year-old illustrated book previously unpublished in France!
Completed entirely in watercolor, this hybrid manga, sparse with panels and often closer to an illustrated short story, adapts a Tibetan tale in which a prince sets off in search of a miraculous seed to save his people threatened with famine. The adventure will not be easy, populated by monsters and slavers. A darkness not recommended for sensitive children. However, hope exists and the beauty of nature, so dear to Miyazaki, irrigates the entire story. The title is also in the Éco-Fauve Raja selection at the Angoulême Comics Festival 2024.
Fans will recognize the seeds of the Japanese’s future work (Nausicaä, Princess Mononoké…) and others will be struck by the abundant richness of the proposed universe, with a special place reserved for the female protagonist. Unavoidable!
“The Journey of Shuna”, by Hayao Miyazaki, translated by Léopold Dahan, Sarbacane, 160 pages, 26 euros.
“When I was a child, I thought that all mothers had a number on their arm”… are the words that open the album Adieu Birkenau. The year is 1953, Ginette Kolinka has just given birth to her son Richard. On his arm, shown in close-up, appears a tattooed number. June 1944, Ginette, of Jewish faith, is 19 years old. Along with other women, she was deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau. Naked and scared, she waits for the 5-digit number to be engraved on her which will raise questions from little Richard years later. A survivor, his mother will never discuss the history of this number for 50 years. Until the day she agrees to be filmed by the Shoah Foundation, created by Steven Spielberg. When she finally breaks the silence, she will not stop testifying. For 20 years she went to numerous schools to tell the unspeakable and accompanied groups of students in Poland.
In 2020, Ginette, at the age of 95, made a final trip to Birkenau and took in her luggage the journalist from France Info, Victor Matet and the comic book scriptwriter, JD Morvan. A journey which will give birth to the album Adieu Birkenau, under the brushes of designers Efa and Cesc F. Dalmases. With their realistic style, they immerse the reader in the horror of deportation. The album relates the omnipresence of hunger, cold, fear, the brutality of the kapos, and humiliation. Mixing past and present, it modestly illustrates the woman of today who does not skimp on her energy and generosity to deliver her testimony. And without ever losing his joy of living. Upsetting.
Farewell Birkenau – An Auschwitz survivor tells the story, by Ginette Kolinka, Jean-David Morvan and Victor Matet (screenplay), Ricard Efa, Cesc and Roger Sole (drawing), Albin Michel editions, 112 pages, 21.90 euros.
Eva Rojas is a psychiatrist. She is free, exalted, without limits, eccentric… This is why this time, it is she who finds herself on the couch of one of her colleagues, Doctor Llull. The young Barcelona resident risks losing the right to practice. Eva must then tell the therapist in detail about the week that has just passed. A clever trick that allows the author to well orchestrate the flashbacks that punctuate this album. Eva has indeed not been idle in recent days… She has spent most of her time trying to solve a murder case in the sumptuous estate of the Monturos family, a rich dynasty of Catalan winegrowers.
This sunny thriller succeeds in taking the reader into an authentic Catalonia. We happily find the drawing between shadows and lights by Jordi Lafebre (Les Beaux Étés, Despite everything). All the places drawn by the Spanish author really exist. The scenario is rhythmic. Both the main and secondary characters are very well developed. Above all, the fall is truly unexpected. That’s what we ask of a good thriller.
“I am their silence”, by Jordi Lafebre, Dargaud, 112 pages, 19.99 euros.
Hey, another adaptation of Snow White? We are starting to know this story from the Brothers Grimm tale, the Disney feature film, the Once Upon a Time series and the dozens of other more or less inspired versions… Except that this time, the immense Neil Gaiman is at the helm. The recent television adaptations of his comic book The Sandman and his novel American Gods will convince the most skeptical of the Briton’s ability to brilliantly reinvent ancient and contemporary mythologies.
So what does this new avatar of Snow White look like? Well, to a creature of the night, a vampire who, despite her slender teenage body, is capable of surviving having her heart removed. Transformed into a heroine, the stepmother tries to fight against this supernatural seductress with “yellow and sharp teeth”. Will the poisoned apples do their job? What role will the king and the seven dwarves play?
Visually, the superb work of American Colleen Doran is inspired by the work of Harry Clarke (1889-1931), known for his stained glass paintings. Lovers of Art Nouveau – as well as sex and hemoglobin, it goes without saying – will be delighted!
“Snow White, Blood Red”, by Neil Gaiman (screenplay) and Colleen Doran (drawing), translated by Philippe Touboul, Black River, 88 pages, 17.90 euros.
The Brizzi twins do not lack ambition. After a career in animation (Asterix and César’s Surprise, The Picsou Gang, Fantasia 2000…), they continued to adapt comics of classics of world literature, with impressive ease. At the start of 2023, their Dante’s Inferno totally seduced us, evoking the splendid engravings of Gustave Doré. This time, in a radically opposite register, they tackle the famous Don Quixote by Cervantes.
Hungry for glory and prowess, the protagonist experiences a series of disappointments and defeats, convinced of his martial talents and the nobility of his mission as a knight-errant. His squire Sancho, finally joined by the scribe Carrasco, tries to save him from death, sometimes barely. Of course, we smile a lot, but the grotesqueness of the situations is nicely nuanced by the fact that the hidalgo’s hallucinations are shown as he sees them (the famous giants in place of the mills for example), and in color, so that the rest of the story is in black and white.
Although they have an undeniable talent for representing the bewildered expressions and comical postures of their characters, the Brizzi brothers nevertheless took care not to ridicule Don Quixote too much, which is ultimately quite touching. Is he not driven by the best feelings in the world?
“Don Quixote de la Manche”, by Gaëtan and Paul Brizzi, Daniel Maghen éditions, 200 pages, 29 euros.
Revealed to the French public in 2012 via the very beautiful collection Tohu-Bohu, Shin’ya Komatsu is a particularly endearing mangaka. While he shares his surname with a sometimes monstrous construction equipment company, the designer demonstrates unparalleled delicacy as an architect of the imagination. The comforting softness of his line and his myriad of poetic discoveries are all invitations to discover his unique universe. Present in the youth selection of the Angoulême festival, Yawns of the Afternoon is no exception.
No prerequisites are necessary and the work, although labeled “volume 1”, is sufficient in itself. Divided into four seasons, themselves subdivided into independent stories of only four pages, this manga is to be put into everyone’s hands, those of children of course, but also those of adults who are a bit dreamy. Precisely, it is while taking a nap that the heroine Awako misses an astonishing spectacle: the words of her book stand out from the pages and come to life! Even “the punctuation marks dance a wild jig.” Later, looking through a funny umbrella allows you to observe a ballet of marine animals in augmented reality. And we haven’t yet told you about the turtleneck sweater which, once put on, takes your head to another world…
A soothing and surprising comic book where humans and animals coexist. Without forgetting a certain Madame Delacage, whose female torso is topped with a bird cage. The tail feathers of the bird pass between the bars and thus form… a ponytail. You had to think about it.
“Afternoon Yawns”, volume 1, by Shin’ya Komatsu, translated by Aurélien Estager, IMHO, 176 pages, 14 euros.
In 1950, Puerto Rico was occupied by the United States. After having tried for a long time to free themselves by legal means, the nationalist leaders decided to take up arms. This little-known insurrection will be ruthlessly repressed. An assassination attempt on President Truman even took place at the Capitol.
“No one knows this story, not even most Puerto Ricans,” says John Vasquez Mejias, whose parents left the Caribbean island to settle in Spanish Harlem. An excellent reason to work on creating this “novel in engravings” for six years, alongside his work as a teacher. The result is striking, extremely dense (demanding?) but aesthetically fascinating. The amateur artist does not have to be ashamed of the comparison with his models of wood engraving, Lynd Ward and Frans Masereel. Let us salute here the meticulous work of Isabelle Le Roux who has magnificently reproduced the original lettering of the author, totally involved in the narration. The album is in the official selection at the Angoulême festival.
John Vasquez Mejias has since adapted his book into a puppet show, itself soon adapted into a short film. Looking forward to finding out!
“And the island burned”, by John Vasquez Mejias, translated by Julien Besse. Down here, 128 pages, 25 euros.
Should we still present the superb animal saga by Guarnido and Canales featuring Blacksad, the somewhat disillusioned cat detective, lover of beautiful girls and scotch? The Spanish tandem has just masterfully completed the diptych So, everything falls. Colorful gallery of characters, thrilling adventure, virtuoso drawing, mafia… All the ingredients of the sumptuous series come together again to captivate the reader.
After investigating the jazz and hard drugs scene of New Orleans and traveling the American roads of New Mexico, the feline detective is back in New York. The first volume opened with a theatrical performance in the middle of Central Park, where Blacksad accompanied by his friend Weekly reporter spent a relaxed moment before seeing the police arrive to interrupt the festivities. After the clashes, the detective meets Iris Allen, the director of the troop, to whom he gives his card. She will pass it on to her friend Kenneth Clarke, the president of the metro workers’ union in contact with the mafia who wants to liquidate him. Blacksad’s arduous investigation will put him on the path of Solomon, a megalomaniacal builder ready to do anything to make history in the city, who will not hesitate to put Weekly in trouble by having him accused of murder. which he did not commit.
In So Everything Falls, the authors take us into the tortuous environments of the underworld and political schemes against the backdrop of New York in the 1950s, where social poverty and its share of violence reign. A desperate father transforms into an exterminating angel, some driven by the hope of escaping poverty make a deal with an evil mafia eliminating the nuisances in the blink of an eye. Exciting, this new Blacksad adventure interweaves crime fiction, social drama and even romantic comedy, with the sleuth reuniting with his great love Alma. A city of all excess, New York becomes a character in its own right, magnified by the graphic virtuosity of Guarnido, between the breathtaking views from the height of skyscrapers and the underground world teeming with poverty-stricken people condemned to a very obscure life.
“Blacksad”, volume 7, “So, everything falls, second part”, by Juan Díaz Canalès (screenplay) and Juanjo Guarnido (drawing), Dargaud, 56 pages, 16.95 euros. First part, 16.95 euros.
In parallel with the classic series taken up by Jul and Achdé, Blutch pays a joyful tribute to the “lonesome cowboy” with Les Indomptés. A rereading which features Lucky Luke confronted with the infernal offspring of a family of bandits. Made up of the eldest Rufus, wanted by the authorities, the youngest Casper and the youngest Rose, the siblings do not obey any rules and will cause him a lot of trouble. Having put the eldest Rufus in prison who tried to steal Jolly Jumper from him, he will find himself managing the two youngest. The brave cowboy then turns into a nanny, a task in which he is far from excelling. As for the parents, two scoundrels who disappeared with the enormous loot of a hold-up under the beard of their accomplice Grubby Feller at the head of a gang of desperadoes relentlessly tracking them, there is no point in seeing any support there.
In a story rich in twists and turns and with a frantic pace, the reader will be delighted to rediscover the offbeat spirit of the humorous saga with the inept villains (here the gang of thugs led by Grubby Feller from L’Escorte published in 1968), or Jolly Jumper’s tasty comments. Without forgetting the sacrosanct and shattering saloon brawl brilliantly illustrated. A tasty album to immerse yourself with delight in the first excitement of reading and the magic of Christmas.
“The Untamed”, a tribute to Lucky Luke seen by Blutch, Lucky Comics, 48 pages, 13 euros.
The editor and screenwriter Olivier Petit, accompanied by Valérie Morice, press correspondent in Nantes for documentation work, and Valette for drawing, devote an album to the Xavier Dupont de Ligonnès affair and the thick mystery that surrounds it. The facts date back to April 21, 2011, when in Nantes the police discovered five bodies of members of the same family. The father, who is absent, is immediately suspected of being the author of this tragedy. Last seen on surveillance cameras on April 15 in the Var, the man disappeared into the wild.
Exciting, La Traque immerses the reader in the workings of an investigation with multiple twists and turns. It follows step by step the macabre discovery, the false leads, the findings of amateur investigators on the web, the disturbing testimonies or the media excitement after the unprecedented arrest of Guy Joao confused with Xavier Dupont de Ligonnès in Glasgow in 2019. The reader observes how over the years the hunt for the “most wanted man in France” has been exported beyond borders. How Netflix could also contribute to this. With great decency, served by Valette’s delicate watercolor drawing, La Traque explores the frightening and unfathomable depths of the human soul.
“The Hunt – The Dupont de Ligonnès Affair”, by Olivier Petit, Valérie Morice (screenplay) and Valette (drawing), Petit à petit editions, 128 pages, 19.90 euros.
