A desperate observation, essential reading
In the expression “sustainable development”, there is the word “development”, recalls the author ofA natural sacrifice. The subtitle of his comic strip, Failures in protecting biodiversity in Quebec, leaves no doubt about what he thinks. His 172-page work co-published by Atelier 10 and La Pastèque recounts in a dynamic and fluid manner a crucial fight, that of the protection of what remains of natural spaces in the greater Montreal region, and the constant threat which weighs on our woodlands and wetlands. From Saint-Jérôme to Sainte-Julie via Île Perrot, a similar scenario repeats itself: developers receive authorizations to destroy fragile environments, due to the weakness of the laws and processes in place. Martin PM actually tells one and the same story, that of a Ministry of the Environment which has very limited power… which it rarely uses. An observation with which those currently digging into the Northvolt file will surely not disagree.
A completely natural sacrifice
Workshop 10 + The Watermelon
176 pages
Love at first sight in New York
New York New York proves to be a happy new collaboration for Jillian and Mariko Tamaki, the authors of Skim And This summer. In a style full of curves, where we feel the influence of manga, Jillian Tamaki creates a fantastic fantasized New York, dreamlike pages and characters imbued with discreet sensuality. This stay in the Big Apple is indeed the occasion for love at first sight between Fiona and Zoé, brought together by chance by a mutual friend, Dani. The trio travels through the city, from pizza restaurant to museum, gets a little drunk and ends up splitting up imperceptibly. The romance between her friends leaves Dani a bit bitter. Mariko Tamaki skillfully navigates the emotions here, suggesting more than saying things, gently recounting the bad weather that shakes friendships and budding loves alike.
New York New York
Rue de Sèvres
448 pages
The meaning of the fall
What sense of fall he has, Jean Van Hamme! Mercy brings together seven short stories written by the prolific creator of Thorgal, XIII and Largo Winch, brought to life by seven designers, including Aimée de Jongh, Christian Durieux, José Luis Munuera and Emmanuel Bazin. The pleasure of these stories resting mainly on their outcome, we can practically say nothing about them, except that they demonstrate a mischievous inventiveness and a vast inspiration. His dramas take place in a peaceful house as in the depths of an imaginary Africa, in a past with futuristic fantasies or even in the good English society of yesteryear. The author does not turn his nose up at clichés, but above all knows how to take his reader hostage. Its designers just have to follow the guide and, if we don’t swoon at everyone’s style, there is plenty of visual sustenance. This is a nice surprise.
Mercy
Dupuis
94 pages
A story that haunts the mind
Inspired by real events, The Bernier curse looks back at a shipwreck that occurred in 1952 and which decimated a family of sailors and navigators. The story begins in contemporary times, in 2006, when the wreck of the missing ship was finally discovered off the coast of Baie-des-Sables. The following tells the story of the Bernier family, owners of the boat, and above all their lifestyle focused on navigation from generation to generation. The long road to mourning, too, for the affected families. This comic book is drawn in black ink and dipped in the blue of painful memories. The staging by Dante Ginevra (Argentine designer) skillfully plays with temporality and finds its strength in its sobriety. Even if the whole thing has something a little static and the dialogues are not always convincing, this story of corruption, fatality, death haunts the mind. Proof that it is well put together. To be released March 20.
The Bernier curse
Glénat
119 pages
Stories from another time
Monica brings together nine stories that make up the crazy, despairing and sometimes terrifying biographical tale of the title character. The daughter of a lost woman, she was raised by her grandparents. She experienced their death as abandonment and spent most of her life investigating her origins, searching for the trace of her incompetent yet beloved mother, Penny. Daniel Clowes (Ghost World, Patience) won the Fauve d’or at the last Angoulême comics festival with this composite story, which recalls horror stories of the genre Tales From the Crypt or imbued with a disturbing strangeness like Black Hole by Charles Burns. Hence this feeling of being before a work from another era, digging into the gutters of a certain American imagination where the Vietnam War, hippie revolution, sects and secret societies mingle. Disturbing, but without much inventiveness.
Monica
Delcourt
106 pages
A hundredfold cliché
It must be admitted that the longevity of Largo Winch is one of the astonishing things in the world of comics. Its style, its solid colors, its convoluted scenarios, its displayed sexism, all of that clashes in 2024. The golden percentile resume where The border of the night had left: Winch and Jarod Manskind, his rival in the conquest of space, are prisoners of a suborbital shuttle in free fall towards Earth. The fault lies with an eco-terrorist group called We Blue, which wants to kill a race harmful to the rest of humanity, that is to say the billionaires. A mix of James Bond and Tony Stark, Largo Winch always comes out unscathed, and this will again be the case in this adventure which is reminiscent of the very real competition that Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk are engaged in these days. Less murder attempts. The twists and turns are as unbelievable as they are impressive, as usual, and Largo Winch remains distressingly machismo…
Largo Winch – The Golden Percentile
Dupuis
48 pages