EGN+ has moved to: !eurographicnovels@piefed.social

Copyright Jean Giraud & Starwatcher Graphics. All rights reserved.

I first saw this one in the Summer 1988 issue of Heavy Metal. I'm leading with the first line of the story instead of the actual title (To Draw or not to Draw) because the first line (in the upper left, see?) easily gets lost upon reading.

-----> https://imgur.com/gallery/a03BUpl <-----

This Grimmsian-kinda tale stood out to me because the ~~orange~~ purple admiral in the story reminded me of a modern contemporary whose base wants to begin dismantling democracy early next year. (yes, I kid you not)

The author of course is legendary Uruguayan-Argentinian artist Alberto Breccia, working in a wild, colorful style that reminded me a bit of Corben & Strnad's utterly unique work on Denz, previously posted here. I believe Breccia's usually known more for his detailed but expressive B&W work on stuff like Mort Cinder, a sort of alternate Frankenstein's monster series which I bemusedly enjoyed.

There's certainly much more to say about Breccia and his son & daughters, each of whom seemed to riff on his style, yet finding their own paths. As usual, one place to read about the family would be: https://www.lambiek.net/artists/b/breccia.htm

A couple more Breccia stories in this incredible visual style are collected here: https://raggedclaws.com/category/alberto-breccia/

I think my translation needs upgrading, but--

Godammit!
Maurice, stop torturing
our ears with
that funeral march!
Why can't you be more positive?

In fact the trip was an actual thing, and this album Gringos Locos (2012) by writer Yann & artist Olivier Schwartz is a rare case of a comic about the lives of comic book artists.

(here they are in silhouette, contemplating their departing ocean liner)

Evidently these three Belgians, Joseph Gillain ("Jijé"), André Franquin and Maurice de Bevere ("Morris"), took this trip to America specifically to join Walt Disney Studios and make their fortunes there.

(Jijé's the big one, Morris' the blond,
and Franquin's the tall slim bloke)

As it happened the expedition was a failure across most fronts, and the trio returned to Bruxelles, their hopes of making it, dashed. Little did they know at the time that they'd go on to become some of the biggest superstars of BD.

(while Franquin's down in the dumps and Jijé's
fussing with his family, Morris has his fun!)

I'd say this series is primarily pitched towards kids and fanciers of the comic medium. The 'superhero' here is like a riff on ComicBookGuy from The Simpsons. He's completely out of shape, unremarkable in physical appearance, and wears one of the silliest outfits since the days of Ma Hunkel masquerading as The Red Tornado in the pages of the classic American comic, Scribbly. BUT he does have a 'comics superpower,' in that he can interact between panels, bending the very laws of the medium. (or dare I say "multiverse?")

We've occasionally seen this technique used before across various famous comics, going back to Little Nemo I think, but generally as more of a one-off gag. In this case it's developed much further, and is unambiguously the entire point of the series. Imbattable (i.e. Mr. Invincible) is amusingly billed as the 'one and only true comic book superhero,' and if you follow that logic, I think it works!

First appearing in Spirou, there are three collected books in this series, plus a special, authored by writer / artist / colorist Pascal Jousselin from Rennes, France. [list of his BD works] 'Mr. I.' has been nominated for multiple Eisner awards and did win an Italian award, the Bologna Ragazzi.

Of course there are some occasional hiccups with Mr. I.'s superpower. What would be the fun without a little kryptonite here and there?

There's a nice, longer-form article below by the School Library Journal's Betsy Bird. It does a fine job getting in to the nuts & bolts of the series, and raises some interesting points, such as the issue of what kinds of comics pander to kids vs. which truly respect their intelligence.

https://afuse8production.slj.com/2020/11/12/review-of-the-day-mr-invincible-local-hero-by-pascal-jousselin/

I first discovered Marco's art in the pages of Heavy Metal, specifically in the #267 issue from 2014. He's from Pontedera, Italy, and seems to have gotten in to comics via his dad, who lettered Tex.

(from the ~25pp story E.V.A. appearing in HM)

Aside from the fact that he also wrote the story, I was mighty impressed by how well he commanded the city architecture from any number of views, the human figures, and his lovely, somewhat 'electric pastel' color palette.

Turini launched the character "Claudia Poe" online (through Lycos and Dot Com), but she has subsequently appeared in dailies like Il Tirreno, La Nazione, Quotiano and Il Centro, on radio, television (local and MTV) and in a comic book called I Sogni di Claudia (Titivillus/Dot Com edizioni, 2002). In recent years, he has drawn for Miss Italia, Sesso Alieno, Blue and Underground Press. --Lambiek, with edits

Judging by his sites, it looks like he also does work for some American heavyweights:

ArtStation:
https://www.artstation.com/marcoturini

Artist site:
https://www.marcoturiniart.com/

I've always loved watercolors, but as a disabled artist with faltering energy, I also found them to be a lot of work to bring off well. Hence, why I'm honestly a bit jealous that nowadays, digital tools allow one to skip much of the drudgery of tediously hydrating paint medium and/or coaxing every little bit out of 'watercolor pencils.' 😮‍💨

But... yes, I must yield to the fact that digital watercolors (like this one) can be quite interesting, lovely, and even ground-breaking in their own way. Rosie herself doesn't seem to have a lot out there yet, but I do hope she keeps working away, as this is a great start IMO.

https://www.inprnt.com/gallery/pinkclouds/

I just loved the expression of this little rat, surprised whilst taking his daily bath. Checking on the author sent me down an interesting rabbit hole...

"Ptiluc" (Luc Lefèbvre) is a Belgian comic artist best known for his humor comics about rats: Pacush Blues (1980) and Rats (1995). Yet he has also taken other anthropomorphic animals as main characters, like apes and monkeys (Ni Dieu, Ni Bête, 1992) and pigs (La Foire aux Cochons, 1998). Ptiluc uses these animals as a satirical metaphor for human society, featuring black and bleak comedy, yet thought-provoking commentary at the same time. Since 2002, he's been a French national. --Lambiek, with edits

Veillée au coin du feu ("Fireside vigil")

Ptiluc's main inspirations come from American underground comix and the French magazines Fluide Glacial and Rigolo. He cites Hugo Pratt, Marcel Gotlib and André Franquin as his prime influences, but also adores the work of novelist George Orwell.

Pacush Blues : This gag comic about rats living in a drain would eventually become his signature work. Ptiluc said he closely identified with this animal species because people always said he resembled one, due to his long nose.

Urinoir : another day, another community bath

This looks like a funny animal comic at first sight, but contains sarcastic and often nihilistic commentary on humanity. There are no single recurring characters. While the comic features some black comedy gags at times there is also more poignant food for thought. The rats often wonder about the meaning of life and especially the role humans play in the destruction of the planet.

I'll be looking for these books and will likely post more of Ptiluc's work in future. It seems enormously promising on all fronts...

Copyright and Trademark, 1992 Mash Room Co.

If someone told me I could spend the rest of my life loafing through Henk's gorgeous ligne claire, I think I could die a happy enzymatic.

Which brings me to this panel, randomly discovered today. I had little idea what it said, but I loved the intrinsic layout and energy. Then I remembered that Nacktmull had previously discovered that Google-translate could make hay with this stuff. So why not?

Oh well, so it's about red nylons and dated bragging rights. Ho hum.

And of course, two people talking past each other, something definitely amusing in its own right. Two people focused on the greatest, most trivial of issues. In any case (he said, like the Lock-picking Lawyer), what have we learned here today?

Well, I guess it's that G-T is already pretty kick-arse at this stuff (DeepL doesn't seem to recognise images yet), but with some limitations. For example, it didn't naturally recognise the Dutch word "rimboe," because it had been split in two due to the needs of the panel limits. I tried to fix it there, but is "wilderness" really the best translation? I wonder...

I don't think I'm making any great insight to state that these hit me a lot like lightbox and stained glass art, but with a level of extra detail I really enjoy, and tackling subjects I haven't seen too often in this format. Either way, the designs are just gorgeous IMO.

The Last Betrayal

Mike (of Smirap Designs), was born in Manchester, UK, but now lives in Athens, presumably returning to his ethnic/national roots. He's a freelance graphic designer who works in a bunch of different specialties, up for various challenges.

L: Chasing the Sun, R: Lost Time

Lots more of his stuff can be found at his site:
https://smirapdesigns.com/

L: Khepri, R: La Divina

Personally, after finding and sharing plenty of continental stuff from England, Spain, Belgium, France, Italy, the Netherlands, a couple Nordic countries, Germany and Poland, I'm a bit relieved to finally share some nice work related to Greece. The Czech republic is next on my list, and eventually I'd like to post nice content from every Euro country I possibly can. Eastern Europe is still sadly under-represented here. :S

Well, cheers.

Today's little translation find:
The backstory here is that in order to help shirk work, Gaston has invented a rubber doll that looks exactly like himself.

Now I get the sense that these panels didn't originally appear in sequence like this, but were sprinkled in to an album, helping to keep the trick working for as long as possible.

https://mutalieju.tumblr.com/post/113201018957/mii-riam-spirou-gaston-lagaffes-lifelike-rubber

Clicking a panel blows it up, and then right-left moves through them. Enjoy.

There are already a couple posts here about Schuiten, but the other day I discovered both a nice little overview (EDIT!) and a full interview preserved through the Internet Archive:

Overview:
https://www.messynessychic.com/2016/06/30/where-has-this-amazing-comic-book-art-been-all-my-life/

Interview:
https://web.archive.org/web/20230402053916/https://neotextcorp.com/culture/francois-schuiten-interview/

I've read my share of whimsical, surreal graphic novels by Manara, but this was one of the few times I've come across one his short stories. In this one, I was thoroughly impressed how he tackled the chilling, abusive power of the Italian Catholic church in post-Ren times.

I also thought the jump cuts in the story were truly masterful, in which the reader gets exactly the amount of necessary info and context to move forward without waffling or delay. Note: The story was translated to English in the Heavy Metal Summer '88 issue.

----> https://imgur.com/gallery/w1CbNC1 <----

As for Manara himself, there's so much to say that I'm not sure where to really begin. To me, he's without question a genius of human expression, pathos, and the mysteries of human nature. I'm sometimes a bit frustrated by the same-ness of his female characters, the lack of story structure, and the fact that there always seems to be an erotic context to his stories, but based on my experience with Italian BD, those seem to be fairly lukewarm complaints.

More on him here:
https://www.lambiek.net/artists/m/manara.htm

Floor796 is an ever-expanding animation scene showing the life of the 796th floor of a huge space station. The goal of the project is to create as huge an animation as possible, with many references to movies, games, anime and memes.

Most of the characters are clickable: you can find out what kind of character and follow the link to the source. Non-clickable characters are fictional.

So this is a one-person project in which the author created the site, the animation software, and all the imagery. Somehow it's almost too good to exist, yet also the most 'internet-y' thing ever.

The particular block above is dedicated to the Spanish series of the same name from the early 90s (Farmacia de Guardia). In addition to characters from the series, the following references have been added:

Wunschpunsch;
Breaking Bad;
Asterix, Obelix & Getafix;
Severus Snape (Harry Potter);
Frieren: Beyond Journey's End.

----> https://floor796.com/ <----

Use the mouse to move around and the scroll wheel to zoom in & out.

She's a Chinese-born emigrant with the rare gift of absorbing and reflecting world-art & culture. A big part of the reasons for the very founding of this sub/community.

Hope you enjoy:
https://www.yuumeiart.com/

Copyright Jean Giraud & Starwatcher Graphics. All rights reserved.

The Blake and Mortimer series was created by Edgar Pierre "E.P." Jacobs, with a significant style & spirit flowing directly from his work for Hergé from ~1944-1947. [more] B&M is in fact Jacobs' signature series, representing by far most of his overall BD work.

Like Tintin, the B&M stories were meticulously researched and plotted, altho Jacobs tended not to go in for the amount of slapstick and humor that Hergé did, instead aiming for more serious, tense and spellbinding plotting, heavier on exposition & dialogue.

To attempt a total overview of Jacobs would be way more than I'm capable of at this time, but here're some of my favorite 'B&M in Egypt' imagery that I've randomly collected.

I believe the above two come from the 2-part Mystery of the Great Pyramid books from 1954-55.

LEFT: B&M was first published in Le Journal de Tintin, and rightly commanded several of its covers as one of the early, significant series in the magazine.

RIGHT: This is a parody / tribute cover, perhaps by an artist named "Helkarman," altho I wasn't able to dig up anything on it. Note how Hergé is paid back for depicting Jacobs as a mummy on the cover of Tintin's Cigars of the Pharaoh, this time by depicting Tintin and little Snowy as swaddled mummys!

RIGHT: The Last Pharaoh (2019), with art by Durieux and Francois Schuiten.

Jacobs wrote and drew 11 individual volumes from 1950 - 1977, passing away in 1987. Fortunately, Bob de Moor (another famous Hergé assistant) finished off the second volume of the unfinished two-parter, Professor Satō's Three Formulae. This helped open the door to a variety of writers and artists picking up the series and carrying it forward right to today, something which notably did not happen with the Tintin BD series.

Well... there it is.
And note WP's nice overview of the series:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blake_and_Mortimer

Another recent discovery.
He's got loads more nice pieces online...

SingulArt:
https://www.singulart.com/en/artist/yaroslav-kurbanov-10023

Oh, the embarrassment.

Note: I did have to look up the word "braguette." At first I thought it meant a long sandwich roll with bragging rights (lol). Also interesting is that the word is somehow feminine in gender. Ah, française... you continue to confound me with all your weird grammar.

Anyway, Martin's a great artist whose works we haven't gotten to here yet. A bit more info on him:

https://www.lambiek.net/artists/m/matrix.htm

Altho legendary artist Giger is Swiss and Rivera is Latino, this is in fact one of my occasional posts showing off mainly American content. Please apply to the customer service desk if not satisfied.

Elvis, sad Marilyn, and Captain Jack.

These 16 pieces are a combination of eight that I found in Heavy Metal magazine #263 from 2013, plus eight more I found online and upscaled. The eight from HM appear just below:

LEFT: Clint, Rod, Biggy, and Ron.
RIGHT: Mike, Danny, Steven, and Frank.

In the magazine, this text appeared:

Rafael Rivera (aka "DARAF") has been creating art since he was able to hold a pencil. Born April 23, 1973 in NYC, he also began to study boxing at age 7, eventually winning five Golden Gloves and two national titles, stopping all opposition 49 to 0, with 36 first round knock outs, before hanging up his gloves to focus on art. For the last 15 years (now 26 I guess), his versatility as an artist has allowed him to work on a variety of graphic and fine art projects as well as concept art for film and video games. Rafael is also a professional tattooist. His many art styles come as a result of being influenced by everything from graffiti, to anime, to comics, sci-fi and horror movies.

Larger versions of the four pieces in the lead-in image are here: H.R. Giger, Billy Idol, Judy Garland as Dorothy Gale, and Bruce Lee.

“Saruman rose to his feet and stared at Frodo. There was a strange look in his eyes of mingled wonder, respect and hatred. 'You have grown, Halfling,' he said. 'Yes, you have grown very much. You are wise, and cruel. You have robbed my revenge of sweetness, and now I must go hence in bitterness, in debt to your mercy. I hate it and you! Well, I go, and will trouble you no more. But do not expect me to wish you health and long life. You will have neither. But that is not my doing. I merely foretell.”
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Return of the King

For more of Rafael Rivera's work, see his ArtStation:
https://daraf.artstation.com/

And here're some prints for sale:
https://www.inprnt.com/gallery/daraf/

Cormac McCarthy's classic The Road is set for an English-language release in September, and the question was asked on r/bandedessinee about what our favorite literary adaptations were. Here's five of my favorites:

A Woman's Voice, adapted by Aude Mermilliod - a brilliant, moving, humanistic look at a woman with a sexual birth defect, along with the long-sundered doctor who originally delivered her. There's a good amount of pain and existential angst to work through, but the payoff is spectacular. (handkerchief alert) --Johnny

Jean is a medical student who’s about to start her final residency rotation in gynecology. But she’d much rather practice surgery than listen to simpering women moan about their problems all day. Plus, this department is headed by the notorious Dr. Karma, renowned throughout the hospital for his stubborn mindset and unorthodox practices. However, in her first week, Jean begins to realize that Dr. Karma’s reputation isn’t fully accurate, and, perhaps, the complexities of women’s stories are worth listening to and respecting. A modern classic of a revolution in women’s medical care, adapted from the bestselling novel by Martin Winckler. --EC

.

Adios Muchachos, adapted by Bacilieri & Matz - a wild, savage ride involving complex relationships between a street-scamming gal and the corporate scammers she runs in to. --Johnny

Alicia is a pretty drawing student from Havana, very independent and very free of morals, who sometimes lets herself be seduced by men she meets in town while traveling by bike. As she is poor, she feels free to accept gifts, but categorically refuses to be paid for fear of being confused with a prostitute.

As it happens, this facade is completely artificial. Alicia is in reality a jinetera (a “rider”), one of the many Cuban women who occasionally prostitute themselves to Western tourists in the hope of being kept or even married. With the full complicity of her mother Margarita, she strives to ward off the chronic poverty that plagues Cuba.

When this story begins, Alicia has just seduced the handsome Juanito, a Canadian on a long-term assignment for a large Dutch company in the tourism sector. Big house, big money and desperate fascination for Alicia's very... palpable arguments: the jinetera and her mother immediately feel that they have hooked the big fish. They don't imagine for a moment that Juanito's pedigree is also very different from what it shows... --Amazon

.

Babylon Berlin, adapted by Arne Jysch - set in the 1920's, this is a tremendously absorbing story of a police detective assigned to a new area, who comes up against the fact that one of his (big) bosses is in fact thoroughly corrupt... which he proceeds to deal with in rather precarious fashion. I liked that there was a noir style and sensibility that was different than the American and French versions I've seen in the past. --Johnny

Following an unfortunate incident of manslaughter and at a moment of radical change in Germany, Detective Inspector Gereon Roth moves from his old position in Cologne to a new appointment in Berlin. He stumbles into an ever-expanding criminal investigation into a pornographic sex ring, discovering that he can trust no one, not even the police. Set at the birth of the Weimar Republic amid great economic and political difficulties, this is a tale of corruption, trafficking, and scandal. --Amazon

.

Dodin-Bouffant, Gourmet Extraordinaire, adapted by Mathieu Burniat - here's a thoroughly fascinating and hilarious look in to the life of a local culinary genius and his right-hand chef, who unusually happens to be a local village girl. The story is surprisingly touching, and from out of nowhere I was absolutely awed by my impressions of the culinary techniques, end-results, and the amusing, moving reactions of the lucky few who sampled the dishes. Wrapped around these gastronomic pleasures is a simmering plot involving our hero's rival, the regional prince who fancies himself a better chef, and later attempts to abduct Dodin-Bouffant's irreplaceable cook. This is quite frankly one of the most unexpectedly wonderful BD's I've ever read. --Johnny

Dodin-Bouffant is a total food enthusiast. He lives for excellence and spends his time surrounded by a small circle of hand-picked gastronomes. When his beloved cook, Eugénie, dies, it turns Bouffant’s world upside down. After a long, hard search he finally finds what he is looking for in Adèle. Not without some complications, Adèle and Dodin-Bouffant form a strong bond and share many a delicious meal. This novel by Marcel Rouff (1887-1936) is a tribute to the famous French gastronome Brillat-Savarin, on whom the character Dodin-Bouffant is loosely based. --EC

.

Tom's Midnight Garden, adapted by Edith - an all-ages classic which leans upon a bit of magical realism to weave a truly lovely tale, beautifully adapted here. --Johnny

When Tom’s brother gets sick, Tom’s shipped off to spend what he’s sure will be a boring summer with his aunt and uncle in the country. But then Tom hears the old grandfather clock in the hall chime thirteen times, and he’s transported back to an old garden where he meets a mysterious girl named Hatty. Tom returns to the garden every night to have adventures with Hatty, who grows a little older with each visit. As the summer comes to an end, Tom realizes he wants to stay in the midnight garden with Hatty forever.

Winner of the Carnegie Medal, Tom’s Midnight Garden is a classic of children’s literature and a deeply satisfying time-travel mystery. This stunning graphic novel adaptation from award-winning French artist Edith transforms Philippa Pearce’s story into an engaging visual adventure. -Amazon

"Every worthwhile artist has their Moebius phase," according to a theory.

I found the first pic in a blog, and the rest of the story in Heavy Metal magazine #267, from January 2014. Here she be:

https://imgur.com/gallery/koo2fku

I'd never heard of this Italian artist before, but am loving his art (and yes, he has his own style as well). There's a bit more info on him over at Lambiek.

I recently read the second book of this unfinished series, which was Toppi's version of Arabian Nights. ("Sharaz'de" = "Shahrazad")

Initially, I didn't think this series was going to work for me, seemingly being a bit too... abstract, or self-indulgent, I don't know. On the contrary, I found that the slow-moving narrative works beautifully with the incredible imagery, creating a suspension of belief that helped thrust me, child-like, in to these ancient tales.

But yeah... I've rarely seen anything like Toppi's page layouts and art design before. To me he's highly experimental with his design work (I love the way he intertwines his colored inks with watercolors), yet somehow it's all perfectly down to earth and unpretentious.

More on this great Milanese artist-writer:
https://www.lambiek.net/artists/t/toppi_sergio.htm

Lehmann is a character artist from São Paulo, Brazil. He has so many cool fantasy pieces across a variety of styles that my head would asplode trying to put a sampler of his work together. So then...

His ArtStation:
https://www.artstation.com/thiagolehmann

And Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/thiago.lehmann/?hl=en