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Post by codystarbuck on Aug 30, 2018 18:25:58 GMT -5
I'm sure you will enjoy it. Patty Cake is all kinds of warm and funny awesome. If this had been Europe, it would have been a big hit! As it was, it was a nice, private treasure, while the rest of the gang at my LCS loaded up on Image tripe, generic Marvel and DC titles, and T&A. Let's just say they didn't sell too many Dan Clowes comics there. I think one other guy, besides me, read Hate, though I'm pretty sure I am the only one who was reading Terry Laban's Cud and Eno & Plum (spun off from Cud).
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Post by codystarbuck on Sept 1, 2018 1:19:24 GMT -5
As the Direct Market became more and more of a force for selling comics, more and more diverse material began to appear. Not only were we getting new comics, in a wider range of genres, beyond superheroes and horror, we were also getting reprints of classic comic strips and we started t see comics from other countries. Manga took a little longer; but, Europe got their foot in the door relatively quickly. Really, Europe had been on US shores, since the founding of Heavy Metal, the American version of Metal Hurlant. Heavy Metal began in 1977, at first adapting material that had appeared in Metal Hurlant, which was mostly French. It soon included American works and other European works, beyond just the Franco-Belgian axis. It did collect a few titles, into albums; but, didn't do it on a huge scale, preferring to stick more in the magazine format. Even then, that wasn't the first foreign material to reach our shores. In the 1960s, DC published a British adaptation of Dr No, in Showcase, while Warren was using material from Spanish artists, including Esteban Maroto, for some time. It was this relationship that would lead to Catalan Comminications. Catalan has its origins at the University of Chicago press, the publishing arm of the university. Working there was Bernd Metz, who had worked his way up to Assistant Advertising Manager, before moving freelance and moving on to New York. Through a friend in New York, he met up with Josep Toutain, of the agency Selecciones Ilustradas, which represented Spanish artists worldwide. They had been providing Warren with material and syndicated Warren material in Europe. Metz's friend worked with Toutain in this relationship; but, they had problems working together. Metz and Toutain hit it off, when Metz came in to help and a mutual agreement was made to let the friend out of the deal and have Metz take over. As time went on, Warren downsize their commitment to the material. Metz thought they could produce some of the Spanish work as graphic albums, via the Direct Market, especially since Toutain represented Richard Corben and Will Eisner, in Europe. Metz approached the Schanes brothers and Pacific about distributing Corben's Mutant World. They felt that the nudity and format needed to be altered; but, Metz decided to go ahead with it as is and sold out the print run. he continued with Anarcoma,a work by Spanish artist Nazario. It didn't do as well, as it was sexually explicit, with a homosexual character, and the audience wasn't quite there. Metz survived and continued, deciding to branch out more from just the Spanish market. He soon began publishing English translations from all over Europe and found great success at it. The average book had a price point of $7.95 and was published in color or black and white, depending on the original material. Catalan saved money by printing in Europe, where they could print smaller runs, more economically. They also retranslated some material, collecting errors in previous translations in Heavy Metal. They eventually added a younger imprint, Comcat, which published youth comics, like Yoko Tsuno (published as Yoko Suno) and Blake and Mortimer, as well as Vance and Van Hamme's XIII (as Code XIII). The company lasted from 1983, to about 1991/92, publishing a wide array of material. Since there is such a diversity, I thought I would approach things via the creators, since many had multiple albums published. We'll start with Corben, since his work began it all. Catalan published Mutant World, Bodyssey, Den: Neverwhere, Edgar Allen Poe, The Last Voyage of Sinbad, Werewolf and three volumes of Corben Collected works. I haven't seen all of these; but, it's Corben. The art is powerful, the colors vibrant, and the stories range from wild and over-the-top, to more thoughtful. One thing Corben never is is dull. Den is his most famous work, thanks to the Heavy Metal movie and that volume is probably pricier than the others, though he had his own Fantaco editions, too. Also on the American front is Frank Thorne, whose Ghita of Allizar was published in two volumes by Catalan. Ghita is, essentially, Thorne's Red Sonja, without the Code restraint. In fact, there are a couple of scenes in there that would make the average Marvel editor's head explode. Here's a more family friendly sample... A Matter of Time is from Juan Giminez. Giminez was one of the artists who worked on character designs for the Heavy Metal movie, working specifically on the Harry Canyon sequence (which was derived from Dan O'Bannon and Moebius' The Long Tomorrow). He would later gain a name working with Alejandro Jodorowsky, on the Metabarons series, a spin-off of The Incal. This is Giminez own work, a colelction of time travel stories, which covers a wide range of styles. Some of it gets a bit more explicit, though there is more violence than sex. Giminez has a wonderfully detailed style, and is adept at historical periods and futuristic settings, which this volume showcases. Code XIII (or just XIII, to use the European title) was by William Vance and Jean Van Hamme, from Belgium. The series was inspired by Robert Ludlum's The Bourne Identity; and, quite frankly, does a better job than Ludlum, if you ask me. The main character is a mysterious man, who washes up on a New England seashore, wounded and with amnesia. He is treated by an alcoholic ex-doctor, who discovers the Roman number XIII tatooed on his upper chest. meanwhile, his face appears in news reports of a presidential assassination. XIII spends his time on the run from the authorities, while trying to piece together his past. Catalan only published 3 volumes, of the original 16. The series was later reprinted, in its entirety, by British publisher Cinebook and was adapted into a tv mini-series and short-lived regular series. Vance art is very realistic and highly detailed and the story has all kinds of twists and turns. XIII uncovers at least three potential identities, in his search for the truth. Rebel and Zeppelin are from Pepe Moreno, better known here for his Batman graphic novel, Digital Justice, which was done via computer graphics, in the earlier days of the technology. Rebel features a future New York, where much of the city is a wasteland and Rebel and his group scavenge medicine and other necessities for his people, while avoiding rival gangs and the oppressive authorities. As you can see, Roger Corman's Death Race 2000 had an influence on some of the vehicles, as (probably) did Mad Max. Zeppelin is a collection of short pieces, including one that parallels the sci-fi movie, The Final Countdown, as a fighter pilot flies into a giant UFO, only to emerge in the past, where he collides with history. A couple of the stories appeared in Heavy Metal (as did Rebel). Moreno would go on to do what I think is his finest work, with Archie Goodwin, in the pages of Epic Illustrated, on Generation Zero. That story featured a group of young men, who are sent on an expedition to reach another civilization, in a post-apocalyptic future. They also investigate the missing father of the main hero and run into a fascist group, in the desert. The story was serialized in the latter issues of Epic Illustrated and was collected by DC, when Digital Justice was released. DJ was an interesting, if less satisfying work. It was done entirely on an Amiga computer graphics system and was far more advanced than Mike Saenz' work, on First Comics Shatter, though it still showed the limitations of pure computer graphics (at the time). Moreno ended up moving into the computer gaming and software development world, with the occasional comics piece. That'll do it for the time being; but, there is plenty more Catalan to come.
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Post by EdoBosnar on Sept 1, 2018 6:25:14 GMT -5
I've actually come across a few of the Corben books, in English (like Werewolf), at public libraries here in Zagreb. I wish they had them all...
Also like what I've seen of Gimenez's work; his style is a bit similar to Serpieri's, although without the tendency to devolve into rapey tentacle sex.
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Post by codystarbuck on Sept 1, 2018 7:21:13 GMT -5
Humanoids, in the 2000s, published Jiminez' Leo Roa, sci-fi adventure. Beautiful work, there.
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Post by mikelmidnight on Sept 1, 2018 11:48:28 GMT -5
Most of these went by me, although of course I know Corben's work well. I enjoy him in anthologies but a whole book of his work at a time tends to feel overwhelming to me. The exception was the original Den, and I think partially because my knowledge that it was originally done over a period of years in-between other projects complements the meandering, one-damn-thing-after-another feel of the strip.
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Post by beccabear67 on Sept 1, 2018 13:15:32 GMT -5
Ken Steacy's Summer Re-run was a collection of the shorts from early Vortex with new one page intros. The back cover reprinted the cover of Vortex #1 which was an expensive item as a back issue at the time selling for $20. I remember also buying a Mister Canoe-Head One-Shot with I think Ty Templeton art. I think that might've been Vortex, or maybe a one-off publisher name? Rick green who did a regular sf and comics show that ran on TV Ontario and B.C.'s Knowledge Network called 'Prisoners Of Gravity' featured Ty Templeton art. I mention that because it was as part of CBC comedy show Four On The Floor that Rick Green's Mister Canoe-Head (a Canadian super-person-whatever) was introduced. It's kind of been eclipsed by the later CBC show Kids In The Hall. The Toronto scene may have seemed overbearing and arrogant toward the rest of Canada at times, but I always paid attention... well, maybe not, I never knew about half of those Vortex series!
I'm getting into these Yoko Tsuno Euro-albums which collect Roger Leloup's comics from the famous Spirou from the late '70s onward... teen mystery with some science and space sometimes. Gorgeous realistic yet understated coloring where skies are blue and don't change to yellow or red in the next panel for no reason like in many U.S. comics. I used to buy similar Darguard albums of Asterix and Kelly Green (Stran Drake & Leonard Starr) in the early '80s, and more rarely single stories from Catalan after that who seemed more aimed at adult males.
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Post by codystarbuck on Sept 1, 2018 22:44:50 GMT -5
Bell's Theorem is from Mathias Schultheiss, a German artist from Hamburg, who began working in his native country. Germany was not known as a strong country for comic artists and the German comics scene was rather small, relative to the rest of Europe. Schultheiss toiled in it, beginning in the early 1980s. His first work, Trucker, barely made a ripple in Germany, though it did gather some interest, outside of Germany. However, it was Bell's Theorem, serialized in L'Echo des savanes (a once noted magazine of comic works) that brought Schultheiss success. The story features a convict, Shalby, who has volunteered for medical experiments, which earns him a pardon and release from prison, transporting him to a research facility. There, a series of injections and seemingly torturous procedures results in a battered body, with open wounds and heavy bleeding. Another test subject tells him that release is a smokescreen and test subjects never leave. he helps Shalby escape, providing a map of air ducts, allowing him to get out of the research building, to a supply train, while the other man knocks out the power. He gets away; but, his bleeding arouses suspicions and he ends up running from authorities, gaining help along the way. he is plagued by memories that are not his own and he searches for answers, while trying to avoid men from the project, from which he escaped. Schultheiss is a powerful artist and his color use is moody, adding to the graphics. However, his work here and in other early works (including Trucker) is very violent and the "hero" quite amoral. Schultheiss is not for everyone. The first volume opens with an attack in the prison shower, which ends in a rape, before guards break it up. Later, Shalby is helped by a female doctor, who treats his wounds and provides him with clothes and money and who he rapes when she rebuffs his request for sex. That's two rapes in one volume! Schultheiss bleak work earned him censorship from the German government, on another work and he ended up leaving comics for a while. In 1993 he published a pseudo-superhero tale, for Dark Horse, called Propellerman, which is where I first encountered his work. It was a good series and vastly different from American comics, mainstream or indie; but, it wasn't a bi seller. He focused on teaching, though he returned to comics, producing far lighter tales than those of the 80s. Also fitting into the amoral mode is Torpedo 1936 (or just Torpedo, as it was originally published). The series features Mafia hitman (a "torpedo") Luca Torelli and his somewhat dim partner, Rascal. The stories are varied and feature Luca on jobs, as well as follows his recreation, between jobs. The hero is thoroughly amoral and violence abounds, both in guns and fists, and violence against women (there is some physical violence and there might even be some rape, though I haven't read this in a while). The stories, by Enrique Sanchez Abuli are darkly comical, though some are far darker than other. The original artist was Alex Toth, on the first couple of stories; but, reservations about the morality of the protagonist and the level of violence led Toth to quit. He was replaced by Jordi Bernet, a wonderful artist with a style that draws comparisons to Joe Kubert. Bernet handles the violence and comedy well and there is a moodiness to his work that really aids the stories. Early stories were in black & white; but, color came on hand in the later volumes. IDW, more recently, has collected the stories in hardcover albums. On his own, Jordi Bernet produced Light& Bold, about a beautiful woman and her monstrous protector. It's very "beauty and the beast" and gets into more erotic territory than Torpedo (though it has plenty of sex). Bernet has produced other erotic stories, some getting into the more fetishistic world of things. This is a bit of a mixture of noirish crime story/dark comedy, with elements of sex and romance. It's got some of the same flavor of Torpedo; but, goes more into its own world. Another that threads its way through a dark world is Joe's Bar, from Carlos Sampayo and Jose Munoz. This is an extension of their Alack Sinner, about an ex-cop who leaves the force, de to corruption and becomes a PI. Joe's Bar features his favorite watering hole and stories of several of the people who pass through there, including a dishwasher, an ex-boxing champ and several others. Munoz' stories are in stark black and white and without Alack Sinner, there is no Sin City. Frank Miller took many cues from Munoz about stark lighting and the seedier parts of the city. Kieth Giffen took his whole style and even his layouts, as the Comics Journal illustrated, in one issue. Joe's Bar features a pretty bleak world; but one with real people. Anarcoma was the second work published by Catalan and their first failure. It features a detective, set in a world of drag queens and gay clubs, which severely limited the audience, at the time. According to Bernd Metz, it sold well in gay comic circles and got favorable reviews in gay publications; but, most comic shops didn't want to touch an explicitly gay album, particularly from a Spanish artist unknown in the US. Nazario was one of the pioneers of the Underground comics in Spain, and his work involving homosexual characters, like Anarcoma, dropped him into hot water with censors, under the Franco government, though his work fed much the same audience as the early work of Spanish director Pedro Almodovar. Nazario was one of the original contributors to the groundbreaking Spanish comic magazine El Vibora and his work was even pirated for a Lou Reed album, Live: Take No Prisoners, by RCA. Nazario sued and won a settlement, from RCA and remarked that if he had been asked he probably would have contributed it for free. That will have to hold, for now. Next, we will look at the works of Vittorio Giardino, with detective Sam Pezzo and spy Max friedman, as well as an erotic pastiche of Little Nemo in Slumberland.
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Post by codystarbuck on Sept 2, 2018 21:09:14 GMT -5
Vittorio Giardino is an Italian artist who published his first comics story in 1978, after giving up an engineering job (his degree is in electrical engineering). His first notable recurring character was the private investigator, Sam Pezzo. Sam Pezzo is a low rent private eye, working for low rent customers, doing seedy business transactions. He is the stereotypical noir detective, complete with trenchcoat, booze and .38 revolver; plus, an office in a run down building, with frosted glass. What he really is is a tribute to the works of Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler, and the film noir movies that they inspired. The last name, Pezzo, is even a play on things, as pezzo translates to piece, and can be used in conjunction with a gun. Sam is a tribute to Sam Spade, no doubt. The cases are the usual affairs of the genre; but, Giardino has such a craft to his work that it moves beyond the genre conventions. Sam works the mean streets of Bologna, which is Giardino's home town. He has a talent for real characters and his style (infused with the Franco-Belgian linge claire aesthetic) provides detail, while paring things down to the essential lines. There were about 9 Sam Pezzo works, though Catalan only produced this one collection. These are samples of Sam Pezzo, though I'm not sure what stories appear in this collection. Pezzo would prove a kind of training ground for Giardino's more renowned and critically lauded character, Max Friedman. Friedman is a retired spy, who gets pulled in to assist on some special cases, either by his former masters or friends. The stories are set in 1930s Europe, and range from Eastern Europe to the Spanish Civil War. The character first appeared in 1982 and Catalan published the first two, highly acclaimed stories, Hungarian Rhapsody and Orient Gateway. In Hungarian Rhapsody, we first meet Max, who is retired from a shadowy job, raising his daughter. He is approached by French authorities and sent into Budapest to find a colleague. . There are double crosses galore and Friedman has to play cat and mouse with the opposition, while meeting up with a woman and helping her escape. It is also a mature tale, involving adult relationships, including sex. Orient Gateway is set in Istanbul, where Max has been sent to locate an engineer, named Stern, who is also being sought by other forces. Both books are filled with exquisite detail, capturing the art deco of the period, as well as mull culturally unique architecture and landscape, such as the historical settings of Istanbul. Giardino does his research on clothing, advertising art, food and drink; you name it. Meanwhile, Max Friedman is no James Bond and this isn't Ian Fleming's BS. This is more reality-based espionage, in the traditions of Graham Greene and John Le Carre and it is definitely of literary quality, comparable to those giants. Max is a thinker, with much in common with George Smiley, though he is more physically involved in his cases. These two were later reprinted by NBM, when they picked up some of his later work, including the newer novel, No Pasaran! (told in three volumes) which features Max travelling back to Spain, to locate a comrade, from his days in the International Brigade. The work captures the historical detail of the conflict, the manipulations of the European powers and the hopeless cause of the socialists, in the face of the German-backed Franco onslaught. Giardino doesn't shy away from depicting the dreamers and the Soviet influence s manipulating them, as well as the atrocities of the Franco and German forces. However, this is still a more personal story and the rest is backdrop for that journey. The NBM volumes collect three parts as No Pasaran, even though that is only the title of Vol 1. The others were Without Illusion and River of Blood, whch they used as subtitles. Deadly Dalliance is a bit different from the previous two series. It is a collection of short vignettes, with a unifying theme. Each involves a romantic relationship, that revolves around murder. The stories are a bit more explicit than Max Friedman, but still in keeping with the noir conventions, though in modern settings. The artwork is beautiful, the settings exotic, the women beautiful and dangerous. Very atmospheric and wonderfully crafted. Giardino produced others in this series, though Catalan only published the first. Catalan published one other Giardino work, his most purely erotic... Little Ego is probably Giardino's most famous work over here, appearing in Heavy Metal, in several installments, while the collected edition has been published by Heavy Metal, Catalan and NBM. The stories are an erotic take on Little Nemo in Slumberland, where our heroine, Ego, finds herself in wild and beautifully drawn dream scenarios, only to wake up at some point, seing how her reality has affected the dream. These were Giardino's most explicit work, though they are joyful and full of fun, something that elevated it above the average Heavy Metal sex story and making them more positive and healthy than some of Manara, Serpieri, Altruna or Crepax's work. It is truly erotica, not porn (though that is in the eye of the beholder. This is about as clean an example as I can find, for this one... Giardino is a true master of the form and all of his works are worth reading. his art is elegant and subtly powerful, the colors soft and warm (though they can be moody, when the story needs demand it). he is adept at drama and comedy and is one of the artists who deal inerotica in positive and fun ways, not just for shock value or titillation. His other noted work, published by NBM, was Jonas Fink, aka A Jew in Communist Prague. It deals with a young man's coming of age, during the post-Soviet crackdown, in Czechoslovakia. Joans' father was denounced and imprisoned, leaving his mother to fend for them. Her quest to find her husband ends up leaving Jonas alone to navigate life. It is a wonderfully sensitive tale, with adult depictions of Jonas' sexual awakening, though that is a minor element, compared to his education and experiences. I'll look at those works in more detail, when I move on to NBM. Next, a look at the works of Enki Bilal.
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Post by EdoBosnar on Sept 3, 2018 12:47:42 GMT -5
Giardino's work is truly outstanding, and yes, the Little Ego features contain refreshingly (for a European comics creator) light-hearted erotica/soft porn. I really need to read more of his work.
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Post by codystarbuck on Sept 3, 2018 18:55:16 GMT -5
Enki Bilal is our next subject. Born in Belgrade, as Enes Bilalovic, the son of Josip Tito's tailor. At the age of 9, his family moved to Paris. At 14, he met Rene Goscinny, who encouraged him to pursue comics and his first work was published in Goscinny's Pilote, in 1927. In 1975, he began collaborating with Pierre Christin (who also collaborated with Jean-Claude Mezieres on Valerian & Laureline). His work reached these shores in the pages of Heavy Metal and then via Catalan. They published his collaborations with Christin, as well as his solo work, up to that point. let's start with the collaborations. The Town That Didn't Exist was one of several dream-like tales from Bilal & Christin. It tells the story of an industrial town, fallen on hard times after the death of the local oligarch. The board of directors want to keep the company in their control and bring in the granddaughter of the patriarch to be the figurehead, while they streamline things, laying off workers. She proves tougher and offers up, instead, full employments and devotion to creating a utopia, under a dome. The workers prove hardest to persuade; but, they do join in. however, in the end, we see that not everyone can accept paradise. Bilal's moody work is perfect for both before and after, as he showcases a downtrodden society and its rebirth, while capturing the melancholy of those who choose not to join in with the vision. The work was later reprinted by Humanoids, along with a few other similar stories, from Bilal & Christin. Exterminator 17 was a collaboration with Jean-Pierre Dionnet, one of the founders of Metal Hurlant and Less Associates Humanoides. It tells stories of warrior robots, who have fought mankind's wars, for years. When the creator's mind is put into one of the robots, he has an awakening and leads the robots in rebellion, in a bid for their freedom. The series was told in vignettes, which were eventually collected. Bilal's world looks fully lived in, with little details that add character to locations and ship, as well as people and the robots. Outer States collects several short pieces from Bilal, both on his own and in collaboration. Much of it was seen in Heavy Metal, in the early 80s. Getting back to Christin brings us to two of Bilal's finest works, from a story standpoint. Ranks of the Black Order (aka Black Order Brigade aka Les Phalanges de l'Ordre Noir) is a political thriller, set in the 1980s, but with a tie to the Spanish Civil War. A fascist group, the Black order Brigade, commits an atrocity, wiping out an entire village. Years later, a journalist and former member of the International Brigade, learns that the group still exists and assembles a group of 9 other survivors of the International Brigade, including a Mossad agent, a Hollywood screenwriter, a famous poet, a priest, a judge and a philosophy teacher. Together, they seek to expose and bring down the Black order Brigade. Their journey starts in Spain, where their contact is murdered by a bomb, and continues across Europe, to even behind the Iron Curtain. It is one group of old men and women chasing another old group, with the searchers losing their humanity in their obsession. The Hunting Party is another political work, as a group of senior Communist officials, from various Warsaw Pact nations and Soviet Satellites come together for a hunting party, at the dacha of their old mentor. One of them is there to kill and all hold secrets. Their mentor was a hero of the Revolution and the Great Patriotic War (aka WW2). He is now old and paralyzed. His history an theirs is revealed through the course of the story. Both of these are truly mature works and the art is staggeringly powerful and amazing. Both deal in history and disillusionment, as ideals of youth become the failures of middle age. For my money, this is Bilal at his best, in service to superior stories, from the master Christin. Now, left to his own devices, Bilal crafted fine stories and classics. However, they tended more towards the esoteric, losing the realism that Christin infused. However, the flights of fantasy are mindblowing, as we see in Bilal's most noted work, the Nikopol Trilogy, of which Catalan published the first two volumes (after appearing in Heavy Metal. The third, the Cold Equator, was later collected with the others, by Humanoids. Gods in Chaos (aka The Carnival of Immortals aka La Foire aux immortels) is the opening chapter. The year is 2023 and Alcide Nikopol returns to Paris, after imprisonment in space for 30 years. paris is ruled by the fascist dictator Choublanc. It is also being visited by a pyrmid-shaped craft, carrying alien gods, who first visited the Egyptians. They request fuel to move on and Choublanc seeks immortality as payment. One of the gods, Horus, goes down to the planet and encounters a wounded Nikopol in the Metro tunnels. Nikopol agrees to allow Horus to take control of his body and they fight against Choublanc and his forces. The Woman Trap picks up the story, as Nikopol and Horus encounter the blue haired Jill Bioskop, a journalist. The stories are at first told in parallel, as Nikopol has been detained in a mental hospital, after the first volume, while Jill covers a story in London. After the murder of a friend, she tries to commit suicide and is saved by a colleague, who brings a story of the Egyptian gods to her. She travels to Berlin and Nikopol eventually arrives there, and the pair meet. The art is breathtaking and the detail is amazing. The world is decayed and dying, its corpse rotting away. Rooms have chipped and cracked walls and stained tiles. Buildings are crumbling, people are emaciated and sickly. Decadence and depravity rules. Violence is extreme. It is a nightmare world; but with dreamlike imagery. Bilal would eventually adapt the work into film (largely ignoring The Cold Equator, which has little to do with the other two chapters, in the end). It was shot entirely on a soundstage, using greenscreen techniques and computer imagery for everything from sets to backgrounds. The budget wasn't at Hollywood levels, so the CGI is neither ILM nor Weta Digital. The story is rather obtuse, as it was on the page and the only major name was Charlotte Rampling, who is better known in the UK than the US. The film was titled Immortel (ad Vitum) or just Immortal, in the US, on the dvd release. It's a visual feast, if not particularly satisfying dramatically. In many ways, that parallels the original work, as it is a visual feast, with a convoluted story that is often overwhelmed by the visuals. It is certainly hard to root for any of the characters, as they are either massively flawed or weak or both, which makes them hard to sympathize. Still, it is a major piece of visual art. Next, we look at two very different artists: Frenchman Francois Boucq and Spaniard Daniel Torres.
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Post by EdoBosnar on Sept 4, 2018 5:18:41 GMT -5
Ah, Bilal. Such a fantastic artist, but the stories he wrote himself... I almost threw my copy of the Nikopol Trilogy against the wall. The art is so, so, so beautiful and I wanted to like it so much, but the story was just a complete mess. And, worst of all, it was just kind of dull - none of the characters or the story itself was even remotely compelling. So yeah, he's definitely at his best when collaborating with another writer.
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Post by MDG on Sept 4, 2018 10:34:47 GMT -5
I finally read a full collection of Torpedo a couple years ago and was surprised by the amount of humor in it (I think it was album 7, so late in the run). Bernet's art is excellent--his drawing technique does have a lot of Kubert in it, the layouts less so, but it comes together.
I was a fan of Munoz and Sampayo after seeing their work on RAW, so tracked down Joe's Bar and Sinner collections. I think I picked up on the influence on Giffen before others, but it seemed a phase he needed to go through to break through to a new phase.
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Post by mikelmidnight on Sept 4, 2018 11:59:01 GMT -5
Pezzo would prove a kind of training ground for Giardino's more renowned and critically lauded character, Max Friedman. Friedman is a retired spy, who gets pulled in to assist on some special cases, either by his former masters or friends. The stories are set in 1930s Europe, and range from Eastern Europe to the Spanish Civil War. The character first appeared in 1982 and Catalan published the first two, highly acclaimed stories, Hungarian Rhapsody and Orient Gateway. I am great devotee of Giardino's and consider it a scandal that Hungarian Rhapsody is not currently available in English. It's one of my favorite comic stories of all time. I enjoyed these, although they're insubstantial. He has done quite a few other short pieces which have never been reprinted in English. Even lighter and fluffier! Not particularly erotic to me, but harmless good fun.
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Post by mikelmidnight on Sept 4, 2018 12:24:34 GMT -5
Enki Bilal is our next subject. Born in Belgrade, as Enes Bilalovic, the son of Josip Tito's tailor. I am a fan of Bilal's but I didn't know this biographical piece! I believe this is some of his earliest work. I enjoyed them greatly in Heavy Metal, but they pale in comparison to the depth and complexity of his later books (most of whom I'm not commenting on individually). This is among my favorite of Bilal's work. I acknowledge that that third book is nigh-incomprehensible <g> but also the most masterfully drawn to make up for it. I find the characters compelling and the plot draws me right in.
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Post by mikelmidnight on Sept 4, 2018 12:26:30 GMT -5
I was a fan of Munoz and Sampayo after seeing their work on RAW, so tracked down Joe's Bar and Sinner collections. I think I picked up on the influence on Giffen before others, but it seemed a phase he needed to go through to break through to a new phase.
I also discovered Munoz & Sampayo through RAW. Similar to what I said about Corben, I find a whole book from them so dark as to be oppressive, but in small doses I love their work. I'd say no mature collection is complete without at least one Munoz & Sampayo strip in it!
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