Dig into the story to get to the bottom of things
The French author and illustrator Marion Montaigne has, since her arrival in the world of comics in the early 2000s, established herself as a standard-bearer for scientific popularization. Above all, she was able to make a personal, funny and intelligent voice heard, through a subject that may seem impersonal, by tackling themes that go beyond explanation, being interested in the place of humans, with everything what this entails, in the world of scientific discovery. In short, a rigorous, funny and witty approach, as evidenced by his most recent album, Our Lost Worlds, which presents the history of paleontology and, above all, asks why we are so interested in extinct animals. Could it be because we are afraid of our own purpose? Honestly, we laughed and learned a lot of things in this album, whose drawing is reminiscent of, for example, a Claire Brétécher who is a little more messy, but just as effective.
François Lemay
Our lost worlds
★★★★1/2
Marion Montaigne, Dargaud, Paris, 2024, 205 pages
The very credible story of psycho
Psychologist and author, Frenchman Jean-François Marmion is particularly known for a series of works that he directed, a series which focused on bullshit and the place it occupies in the public sphere. On the drawings, Pascal Magnat, a regular in the genre since he has contributed to other works along the same lines as the one that interests us, including The Incredible Story of the Chained Duck. So what about this incredible story of psychology in comics, at a time when we are constantly talking about mental health? Because although this science is still young, the fascination we have for mental illnesses is not new. And if it is not a work as rigorous as a university treatise (we did not expect it anyway), this album still offers a clear, honest and friendly reading of our attempts, sometimes unsuccessful, to understand ourselves.
François Lemay
The incredible history of psychology in comics
★★★1/2
Jean-François Marmion and Pascal Magnat, Editorial, Montreal, 2023, 272 pages
Her Majesty’s two servants have returned
Until now, he had always refused to take up the iconic series of gentlemen Blake and Mortimer, but now the famous illustrator and designer Floc’h, better known in recent years for his cinema posters, succumbed to temptation by finally signing a unpublished opus from the famous British duo, with a screenplay by Bocquet and Fromental. The result is a superb, ambitious album with ample panels and colorful graphics which does not hesitate to transport the reader to the heart of a singular story while keeping the spirit of the original adventures created in 1946 by the Belgian Edgar P. Jacobs. Head to New York in the 1950s. Francis Mortimer and Philip Blake go to the headquarters of the United Nations, where an important assembly for world peace is soon to take place. But obviously, nothing goes as planned for our two friends, since the vengeful Colonel Olrik appears almost out of nowhere, who has lost none of his Machiavellian imagination.
Ismaël Houdassine
The art of War
★★★★
Floc’h, Jean-Luc Fromental and José-Louis Bocquet, Blake and Mortimer editions, Brussels, 2024, 128 pages
I came to tell you I’m going
A couple who meets, falls in love and separates. In the pages of this touching graphic novel, cartoonist Giada Duino and screenwriter Giulia Pex address the incommunicability in the sentimental bonds between two young adults imprisoned by what is left unsaid. Adria, a marine biology student, and Mat, an aspiring musician, suffer from a fixed and routine relationship. Everything here is a question of finesse and gentleness, despite the inner chaos and the complexity of sometimes contradictory feelings. How to regain your individual freedom, imagine yourself without others to escape from an increasingly heavy and alienating daily life? Italian authors explore these fundamental questions of love life through subtle dialogues while avoiding the pitfalls of pathos. The background and the form intertwine in drawings in autumnal and nostalgic hues, in connection with the psyche of the two characters, who find calm and comfort in the affection they have for animals.
Ismaël Houdassine
Horses of Tennessee
★★★1/2
Giada Duino and Giulia Pex, Très lune editions, Melesse, 2023, 144 pages