European Graphic Novels++

Daggit, I thought I'd scheduled this post for earlier yesterday, whilst my step-dad has been visiting me for the past few days.

(eh, I could use a little help for the next few days with content creation)

In any case, here's Jake Wyatt's cool body of work, more or less:
https://www.deviantart.com/jakewyatt/gallery

Thanks, mates!
(I'm a bit temporarily distracted, these days)

cross-posted from: https://sh.itjust.works/post/42647318

Hoppe is a Polish-German artist currently working in Brooklyn. His site:

https://paulhoppe.de/

As for the above, Mssr De MesMaeker is of course one of Spirou Magazine's most important clients, perpetually on the verge of signing lucrative contracts with office-boss Fantasio.

For those unfamiliar with this classic André Franquin series, it's a spinoff of Spirou et Fantasio, set in a cartoon depiction of the real-life Spirou offices in Brussels. The main character is "Gaston Lagaffe," a lazy, accident-prone, yet relentlessly inventive junior office worker who reports to Fantasio.

Unlike some of the longer narratives seen in S&F, this comic simply aims for light, familiar, amiable humor. It's not necessarily wickedly clever nor side-splitting, rather the pleasure mostly comes from seeing whatever lunatic scheme Gaston is working on, usually to someone's detriment.

Btw, these all come from Cinebook's Mind the Goof album, in which Gaston's name is translated to "Gomer Goof" for English-speaking audiences. To me that happens to sound ridiculous, but oh well.

Certainly, one of the first questions any reader will ask is: why the hell wasn't Gaston fired long, long ago? Or: is Fantasio the most patient, long-suffering boss in the world, with a natural immunity to cardiovascular events?

Gaston's *official* backstory is that one day he showed up in the mailroom, started working, and for whatever reasons got hired. But let's face it-- he's almost certainly a 'nepo-baby,' and the whole office is simply forced to put up with his antics, other than Miss Jeanne (seen above), who thinks he's a genius.

Haha. Gotta love it when the tables turn, as with these last two...

Pretty wild panel I thought worth sharing! And from publisher Humanoids page:

Things are not going well for Commander Kaimann. Luz, the love of his life, is dead, his home of Tortuga destroyed, his crew ghostly apparitions, and his crocodilian mutation taking over more and more of his body -- Kaimann is fighting for his life on multiple fronts. Just when it seems like despair may overtake him, a chance encounter with a strange violin connects him to Aurora, a woman living in a future where she is staring down almost certain destruction...

With his passions renewed, Kaimann hatches a bold plan to find a cure for his mutation and a future with his newfound love. However, Kaimann’s past is catching up with him, and Aurora’s future. --[link]

More imagery here:
https://www.google.com/search?q=The+Incal+Dying+Star&udm=2

Also worth mentioning is that I thought writer Dan Watters did a downright remarkable job emulating the style of Alejandro Jodorowsky. It's uncanny, really.

Oh, btw-- Humanoids claims that this book is in the works to become a film, overseen by Taika Waititi ("Thor: Ragnarok").

As a nice little bonus, the book included a two-page 'reading order' list of the various Incal works, which have built up in to quite the impressive collection over the years. I believe this brings us up to 2025's chronology:

That's Enchanted Forest, above.

(zoom or right-click-open as needed)

Misty Moors

She's an independent artist, illustrator and photographer based in Finland.

The Night Garden

"I mostly make dream-like illustrations with fairytale, fantasy and nature themes. I work in a variety of styles that are based on various kinds of tools and techniques. I paint with watercolours or varied types of inks, and I draw with pens or coloured pencils."

Escape

"I mix traditional techniques a lot, and some of my works are partly digital. Even when I finish pieces in Photoshop, I like to do it by editing and combining drawings and textures that I’ve first created traditionally."

Valley at Full Moon

"Wild nature is definitely the most inspiring thing. Old-growth forests are an endless source of ideas, magic and peace of mind, and I try to visit the woods as often as possible. I also use my innate life as a fuel for my work – things like my dreams, memories, fears and hopes – but the way they sneak into my art tends to be subliminal, rather than intentional."

Wilderness

Full interview here:
https://blog.society6.com/now-view-ulla-thynell/

Swamp Tale

And her site:
https://ullathynell.com/

Note: slight edits above for brevity & clarity.

The above image jumped out to me on Pinterest of all places, in which I was simply enjoying the pleasant "LC" style. (for anyone unsure about the meaning of "LC," please see sidebar)

But dad-gum it, looking a little closer, this seemed to be from the age-old The Spirit franchise. I mean, I thought that one had concluded long before creator Will Eisner's death, with it's classic run being from ~1940 to the early 50's, or so.

But, no... turns out that unlike some properties (such as Tintin), the Eisner estate evidently allowed The Spirit to be continued on in to modern times, with DC comics being the publisher behind this particular issue:

https://i.imgur.com/PRLjU4O.jpeg

What's interesting here is that our lead image is like an LC-styled version of the official cover, with significant little differences everywhere you look, and yet it *still* seems to be by the same artist, "Moritat," i.e. American Justin Norman clocking in with a Euro-style pen-name.

But let's backtrack a bit when it comes to my assertion that Europe 'loved' The Spirit. Like... why would that be, man? For example, from Lambiek:

In Europe, Eisner gained followers in the U.K. (Alan Moore, NG), The Netherlands (Stefan de Groot, Gleever, Erik Kriek, Minck Oosterveer, Peter Pontiac, Joost Swarte, Typex, Piet Wijn), Belgium (Steven De Rie), Germany (Flix), Switzerland (Zep) and Spain (Belatz, Julio Ribera).

Personally, I also have a folder of Spirit-style tributes from various BD authors, which I'd never quite thought to post before or put more thought in to, yet today's finding explains a lot to me, I think.

https://i.imgur.com/KVXfeSZ.jpeg

Now, the above is totally, classically Spirit to me, lol. That is-- physically, he's a big, strong, two-fisted action-hero, with a good, thinking mind, but Eisner was a downright genius at depicting what a miserable failure all that could add up to as an 'urban hero,' of sorts.

And that is perhaps part of the key, I suspect. I.e. the Europe of the 40's and 50's had no use for 'American superheroes' of the day, which I suppose would be totally invincible-types such as Captain Marvel and Superman, et al. I would guess (and I could be totally wrong), but fantasy heroics was relatively useless to Euro audiences, which cemented perhaps a kind of shift towards the 'amusing everyman,' such as Tintin, Spirou, and countless others who essentially had to navigate their way mainly via resourcefulness, cleverness, and so forth.

TBH, this is kind of a shitty post, in which I'm trying to cover two main topics, and neither of them very well. So for one thing, I'd say just go here for more on the genius of Eisner, and how he evolved comics storytelling in the overall sense:

https://www.lambiek.net/artists/e/eisner.htm

But here's one last little comment upon DC handling the Spirit franchise:

https://i.imgur.com/4yrp3mY.jpeg

Dang, I love that colorful, bright lettering! Oof... and I actually *did* read through the entire 20pp comic book, and found it some of the most miserable fare, ever. I.e., a two-fisted anachronism socking out dozens of gun-carrying gang-members, inspired by the rescue of 'the princess.'

Eh, que ridícula. Show me the money, Lebowski!

NOTE: the above post was written while conspicuously sleep-deprived, but what the hey... content is content, lol.

Very good book, published by Fantagraphics.

https://www.fantagraphics.com/products/daughters-of-snow-and-cinders

This translates to "Dry Cleaning," and was published by Rue de Sèvres in 2022, a publisher I don't remember hearing about before.

https://www.bedetheque.com/serie-78913-BD-Nettoyage-a-sec.html

(zoom or right-click-open to expand these images)

Mertens is Flemish-Belgian, born in 1968, and seemingly worked in film most of his career, only turning to BD novels in 2019, doing this one and Béatrice so far, both as artist and writer.

As for the story, it's a classic slice-of-life look at François, an aging middle-aged man whose main ambition is to win the lottery, which would enable him to give his younger female friend and daughter the kind of life he feels they deserve. Meanwhile, he works a rather uncertain job as a delivery driver for a local dry cleaner. All in all, his is not *quite* a pathetic existence, but one can feel it inevitably slipping in that direction.

Perhaps the main theme here is actually "rain," and that's conveyed almost ceaselessly across almost every page. François is perpetually forgetting to bring his umbrella along, and therefore walks around across the entire story not unlike a drowned rat. Indeed, things take a turn for the tragic (amidst bitter irony) when it comes to his relationship with water.

But about the art-- I don't think I've ever seen rain in a city-scape portrayed with such lushness and power. Mertens very definitely takes some liberties with shading, lighting and coloring, and I'm pleased to say that he produces some of the most stunning BD art I've ever seen. Truly, this work can be thoroughly enjoyed in either the Dutch or French versions without needing to understand a single word. It really is that kind of wonderful.

If there's a weakness with this one, at ~140pp I feel that it probably could have been edited down a bit to tell the story a bit more efficiently and dramatically. But it's hard to care too much when the art is this incredible, and to be fair-- it's a strong story that feels reminiscent of classic Euro film.

Please settle down, silly geese...

Just finished this one, and found it a fine album, indeed. It's by consistently-excellent artist Ana Miralles and writer Emilio Ruiz.

https://www.bedetheque.com/serie-90856-BD-Ava.html

For me, it was a pretty fascinating little 'time-capsule look' in to the life a major Hollywood star (Ava Gardner), her notably iconoclastic nature, the social norms of the 50's, an obsessive overload of fans, the shamelessly aggressive press, and of course, a brief snapshot of Rio de Janeiro, itself.

https://i.imgur.com/CYtD7t5.jpeg

The unstated joke above is that Ava's agent Dave is thoroughly in to men, which works rather perfectly in the long run, as just-about any hombre swinging a 'third leg' is trying to make a play for her, somehow, some way. XD

https://i.imgur.com/7ZJ2eTG.jpeg

Okay, Ava scared me a bit right at the end, lol.

https://i.imgur.com/2jgBOyW.jpeg

(no idea how long these images will last given Imgur's hugely flaky nature, but what the heck, let's do FULL DETAIL with these)

Whups, oh yeah-- my main point here was actually that I LOVED how well Miralles both depicted and handled the night-life imagery of Rio in a realistic sense. I don't quite have words for it at the moment, but... I find there's a sort of 'clarity' there, if that makes sense.

For sure, it's an 'American product,' but it's also got that European-style, sly observational quality.

Oof, I suppose we could argue endlessly upon this stuff, but at the end of the day? I feel like I'm mainly correct in listing it here. Do speak up though if you feel I acted in error.

Oh, and I also cut down on a couple links that are no longer relevant, outdated, etc, upon yon sidebar. So you should only see eight total now, I believe..?

A Major Grubert poster by Jean Giraud.

https://www.bedetheque.com/BD-Impenetrable-503154.html

This image hit me fairly early-on as I was reading what I would later realise was a super-wonderful BD. But why this particular pic? Welp, because I absolutely LOVE it when comics artists find ways to reduce image detail in order to convey a clear message.

And meanwhile, as the reader, there's really nothing to complain about! Everything makes sense, and there's really no particularly good reason to add extra detail, at least as I see it.

Eh, here's the full page, anyway, in which both the author and subject Alix Garin are livin' it up in a Berlin nightclub:

https://i.imgur.com/eBdWFql.jpeg

Anyway, BDT has this to say about the album: (with a little translation help from some idiot)

]> In a deeply intimate and moving narrative, Alix Garin tells us about her liberating journey through the meandering, baffling nature of sexual disorders. About the struggle to regain possession of one's body and sexual desire. It is in fact a highly-moving quest for healing, emancipation and love.
]> ]> Through ups and downs, failures and victories, Alix explores the depths of her own psyche, the links between the physical and the mind, and the complexity of sexuality.

Anyway, more later on this magnificent, significant work, but here's a few more 'nightlife Berlin-style' pages I thought you might like. I know I did: :D

https://imgur.com/a/alix-enjoying-berlin-nightlife-from-superb-gn-bd-imp-n-trable-2024-jOj3luS

I'm imagining the title here being "Going for a new tattoo?," based on the sign. It's by German cyberpunk artist Puia, who runs Baka Arts. As of the moment it doesn't look like he's doing any BD, but I think he'd be a great fit.

There's loads more of his cool LC-style stuff at his Instagram. Note: the entry link below doesn't need you to be logged in to see the images.

INSTAGRAM:
https://imginn.com/bakaarts/

So, I'm currently finishing up a small project to look through every migrated post here, deleting where necessary, but mostly adding 'flair,' which you should be able to see on the sidebar. When I'm done, you'll be able to hit any of those buttons and see a curated list of matching posts.

Still a few things to do before I feel like this place is 'up to speed' after the move, but it's getting closer and closer. One annoying problem is that almost every inter-community link that's been posted here which once worked, is now broken, and even as the same community runner, I can't edit them except to add flair. Perhaps this is a feature that will one day be added across the Fediverse, though?

Anyway, the biggest blow of course remains the loss of almost 1200 subscribers, meaning we're somehow right back to where we started from in needing to get this place more exposure, some how, some way. Sort of ironic I guess, in that August 1st will mark our two-year anniversary. 🥴

Thanks for reading, and have a nice weekend, everyone. ^^