Undeniably, some of the most adored European comics characters were born in France and Belgium. And the best proof of this is the continuous “resurrection” of Franco-Belgian characters born in earlier decades. With such quintessential favorites as Bob Morane and Ric Hochet, here is a reading list you’re bound to love, dedicated to fresh new stories based on beloved classic characters.

Bob Morane

Bob Morane is back! This thrilling reboot from Lombard reintroduces the heroic soldier and all his classic associates in a new, present-day world. The whip-smart, physically skilled, and drop-dead gorgeous Morane has volunteered for a peacekeeping mission to Nigeria, where his conscience runs him afoul of his commanding officers and puts some very important people in his debt. Eventually, he finds himself organizing the largest humanitarian operation that has ever been undertaken in Africa. But there are many forces at play, some more shadowy than others—and some are extremely nefarious…

Ric Hochet

Ric Hochet, the famous Parisian newshound, is not himself. He’s wearing a mysterious bandage, he isn’t driving his usual car, and a strange smell is emanating from his apartment… When he’s invited to his old friend Police Commissioner Bourdon’s wedding in the South of France, his infallible memory starts failing and his legendary luck begins to desert him. Then an attempt is made on Bourdon’s life. What’s eating Ric and why would anyone want to murder Bourdon? Clearly, things are not all what they seem—least of all Ric himself.

Superdupont

The unique and truly French super hero is back, like a phoenix from the ashes, to save France once again and to restore it to greatness in a world going to the dogs. Superdupont’s reboot gets a kick-start with the birth of his son who, astonishingly, has inherited the supernatural powers of his father. Perhaps together they can finally bring down the enemies of their wonderful homeland!

The Man Who Shot Lucky Luke

Does Lucky Luke know what he’s getting himself into when he arrives at Froggy Town on a stormy night? As in many cities of the Wild West, a handful of men pursue the madcap dream of finding gold. Luke is just looking for a place where he can make a quick stop to replenish his tobacco supplies. But he can’t refuse the request for help made by a committee of citizens to find the gold that was stolen the previous week from the poor miners. With the help of Doc Wednesday, Lucky Luke leads a dangerous investigation while facing up to the ruthless siblings – the Bones brothers.

The Adventures of Kid Lucky

He’s got a yellow shirt and a red neckerchief, unruly locks and a sprig of grass in his mouth. He maintains law and order at the Nothing Gulch School, and he runs faster than his shadow as soon as there’s even the slightest hint of chores to be done. It’s Kid Lucky, a young cowboy knee-high to a grasshopper, always ready to discover the customs of the Wild West, and, most of all, to muck about with his buddies. This is the birth of a legend: the greatest (but still quite small) cowboy of the Wild West! In this first album, Kid Lucky learns his very first cowboy lessons.

Lucky Luke: Swiss Bliss

Even a hero from the Far West needs a vacation from time to time, and looking after a few Swiss cows seems like the perfect opportunity for Lucky Luke. These milk cows happen to produce the precious substance necessary for the production of authentic Swiss chocolate! The West has just discovered cocoa, and chocolate should soon be a commodity in all mouths. And yet… between vicious autograph hounds, the chief of the Chicoree tribe, and two cowboys whose frustrated love leads to even more frustrating brawling, will Lucky Luke end up yearning for a reunion with the Daltons?

Lucky Luke Saddles Up

“What… a… darn… stupid… contraption!” The 1st Columbia San Francisco Bicycle Race seems like the perfect opportunity for Albert Overman to impress the nation with his revolutionary design. But when a rival manufacturer hires two goons to intercept him, it‘s up to Lucky Luke to save the day once more. The lonesome cowboy will find himself swapping stirrups for pedals as he heads west in the saddle of Overman‘s invention. Will he make it to the starting line in time, or will the dawning of the modern age be stopped by ruthless thugs, stubborn hillbillies, and wary Apache? And what will Jolly Jumper think of his cowboy changing steeds?

Thorgal

It’s been a long, cold winter, and the Vikings are suffering major food shortages. Many of the men have left on a long voyage. In their absence, Björn, son of the village chief, Gandalf-the-mad, has been left in charge. Which is not good news for Thorgal, a young skald of mysterious origins, marginalized by the Viking tribe. Lucky for him, he has the beautiful Aaricia to look out for him. When Thorgal’s singing attracts three whales into the bay, the villagers hope they might finally be able to feed themselves. But something tells Thorgal that these are no ordinary whales…

The World of Thorgal: Kriss of Valnor

Of all the enemies Thorgal has faced in his life, Kriss of Valnor is by far the fiercest. She is also one of the most ambiguous, as the mother of one of his children and someone who has committed countless unspeakable acts. Can she find redemption? Perhaps, as Kriss sacrificed herself to save not only her son Aniel, but also Thorgal’s wife Aaricia. An act of selfless bravery for which she’s rewarded with waking up in the kingdom of the gods. But Valhalla is not quite yet hers… She is brought before the valkyries to face up to her deeds and have her life judged by the goddess Freyja.

The World of Thorgal: Wolfcub

While Thorgal is away looking for his son Aniel, his family faces the hostility of certain inhabitants of their Viking village. Thorgal’s daughter, the fiercely independent little Wolfcub, finds herself particularly targeted, as her strange talents make people ill at ease. Her ability to speak with animals will come in handy, though, when she finds herself caught in a trap with a genuine wolf. So begins an adventure that will take her far, far from home…

Spirou: Hope Against All Odds

It seemed inevitable that Europe would once again be in the dark clutches of war, and now that conflict has broken out, Spirou must face its horrible reality while staying true to himself. He does his best to maintain his friendship with Fantasio, even as the latter enlists in the Belgian army. And when Spirou meets Felix, a German‐Jewish painter, his eyes are opened to the plight of the Jewish people and the dangerous situation in Europe and beyond. On top of all that, Spirou’s girlfriend Kassandra has been lost in the confusion of the war. In the first of four volumes, the orphan bellhop’s adventures will take him all across war-torn Belgium, discovering the world as it falls apart around him.

Spirou by Émile Bravo

Summer 1939, Brussels. The orphaned teenager Spirou is working as a bellboy at a fancy hotel, living in a small apartment with his pet squirrel, Spip, and taking his first steps into the land of romance with a girl whose name he doesn’t even know. Meanwhile, the world is rushing headlong towards war. Conflict is not inevitable, however, as Polish diplomats have agreed to meet the Nazis at Spirou’s hotel in a last-ditch effort to prevent war. Communist spies, Nazi ambitions, and ridiculous reporters can’t stop Spirou’s naïve mind from outsmarting them all—and possibly saving the world! If only he can get a little help.

His Name Was Ptirou

The best part of Christmas is getting to hear one of Uncle Paul’s stories. This year, Uncle Paul treats the kids—and us—to the story of the real-life boy who inspired the beloved Spirou. It’s 1929. Ptirou is a circus acrobat who, while the world’s economy is crashing, sees his own world fall apart. Orphaned, and possessing only his skill, a bottle of perfume, and an inherited dream, Ptirou sets out for New York and new adventures. With saboteurs on one side, the lovely Juliette on the other, and his own knack for mischief, Ptirou finds adventure aboard an ocean liner before it’s even left port.

Spirou in Berlin

Spirou and Fantasio are caught up in another amazing adventure, set in a real historical context. It’s summer 1989, a few months before the fall of the Berlin Wall, and the evil Zantafio is trying to take over East Germany. When he kidnaps the Count of Champignac, our two heroes find out and try to rescue him. But to do that, they have to cross Europe’s most heavily guarded border. East Germany’s notorious Secret Police, the Stasi, are soon hot on their trail, and Fantasio is arrested. So Spirou now has to free his friend as well as foil Zantafio’s diabolical scheme.

Marsupilami: The Beast

Belgium, 1955. A mysterious animal is caught in the jungles of South America and transported to Europe on a cargo ship, where it ends up starving and half-dead on the outskirts of Brussels. François, a young boy with a fondness for taking in strays, finds it and brings it home to his mother and his menagerie—his best and only friends. As the son of a departed German soldier, François is the favorite target of every bully in school. Nobody can identify the strange creature with the voracious appetite and the stupendously long tail, and François figures his new pet is perfect for show-and-tell… But with a wild beast and a small classroom, things quickly get out of hand. Will this spell the end for François’s new animal friend? The real story of the legendary Marsupilami!

Michel Vaillant: Short Story Classics

In 1957, Jean Graton created the legendary race car driver Michel Vaillant, who was featured in a series of short stories published in Tintin magazine. These stories marked the beginning of a long-running adventure saga that continues to this day. This collection includes seven early stories that brought Vaillant onto the scene and made him what he is today. A fascinating look into the origins of a classic, with a vibrant retro style.

Michel Vaillant

Michel Vaillant is the star of all the biggest international auto racing circuits, and he’s revving up for a whole lot more than just a spin around the block. The Vaillant team finds itself up against new technological innovations, as well as some disconcerting changes in the world of auto racing. The fate of the Vaillant dynasty is in the hands of three generations of men and women. The first challenge is to fight their way to the top on the race track, with their sights set on Formula 1. The second is to try to keep the family together, despite increasingly differing points of views. And it will be up to Michel to ensure their success on both fronts.

Header image: The Mighty Return of Ric Hochet V2 © Zidrou & Simon Van Liemt / Le Lombard

Whether you’re into historical fables that take you back to yesteryear, paranormal stories where love and desire are reimagined, good old rom-coms, or seriously erotic novels that are just way too steamy, we’ve got comics to make you feel all the feels. Unwrap a chocolate or two and get ready to turn up the heat with our long list of romance graphic novels and comics this Valentine’s Day!

A Love for the Ages

Jean and Germaine are the most affable couple the little village of Colle sur Loup has ever seen. A duke married to a commoner, they have no children, no jobs, and are disastrous cooks! They like to indulge in life’s small pleasures; their books, their garden, and their after-lunch naps. They live for each other, and for their love. Their simple happiness intrigues, fascinates, infuriates and is the envy of all those around them.

Daniel Pennac knew Jean and Germaine well. He spent his time at their house reading, watching, learning, and, of course, trying Germaine’s catastrophic efforts in the kitchen! He’s now taken it upon himself to tell the story of those happy days, and of a love that has always captivated him.

SHI

During the 1851 Great Exhibition in London, two women’s lives become irrevocably intertwined when they both fall victim to a nefarious underground fraternity of ex-soldiers from England’s upper crust who have sworn their lives to defending the British Empire—as well as their own decadent lifestyles. In this first volume, young rebel Jennifer Winterfield and the mysterious Kitamakura from Japan forge an unlikely alliance along with Jennifer’s doctor uncle and a street urchin named Pickles. Together they lay the groundwork for a criminal organization that will go on to sow terror in the hearts of the colonialists and industrialists who tried to put them down.

Sleeping Beauty

Oxana, a young dancer from the turn of the 19th century, is the victim of a terrible curse that plunges her into a deep sleep. She awakens a hundred years later with no memory of the past in a time that is not her own. Why has she lost her memory? What power does her strange medallion hold? What are the intentions of the mysterious man in white who comes to her assistance?

Love Love Love

In a futuristic Paris, robots have evolved into sentient beings whose rights are being revoked due to the perceived threat they pose to human society. But not everyone has turned their backs on these so-called mechas. When the cherish bot Karel and down-on-her-luck Elle meet in the subway, they soon become friends, and something more… But a robot resistance is forming, and the two of them are dragged unwittingly into the chaos. Not only that, but Karel’s programmed life expectancy is mysteriously decreasing… Will they be able to stop the countdown, and steer clear of both the robot rebels and human police?

Hematite

Hematite is a young vampire who is trying to find her way. As a member of the illustrious Blackwood family, she faces pressure to conform to high society standards, but such grandstanding isn’t for her. And neither is drinking blood—she’d rather have vegetable soup! So it is that she opts for the more diverse Wolven School, rather than joining the ranks of her fellow vampires at the Diaemus Academy. Being different can be hard, though, and doesn’t always help to make friends. Luckily for Hematite, she has her poetry, as well as Drunela—a draugr who won’t let their differences keep them apart—and Emile, a human boy fascinated by the occult who would just love to take a peek at the Blackwoods’ private library. Unfortunately, bridging societal divides isn’t always easy, and can lead to terrible consequences…

Djinn

The series follows the paths of two different women, in two different eras. One is the exquisite Kim Nelson, a young English woman on a quest for a treasure she believes is rightfully hers. The other is her legendary ancestor Jade, a djinn of the utmost expertise in the art of love, who, through the power of her body, holds the whole world in the palm of her hand. Her quest? To make her mark on the memory of the world by passing into legend. But both women must withstand many trials in order to attain their goals. This is a series constantly in movement, migrating from Turkey and the harems of the Ottoman Empire, to Africa and the magic of ritual, and then on to India and the glittering Pavilion of Pleasures. A captivating tribute to the power of desire, sensuality, and the instinct to love.

The Revenge of Count Skarbek

1843, Paris. A sensational trial stuns the art world and has the streets of the capital buzzing. Is the famous art dealer Daniel Northbrook nothing but a swindler? Count Skarbek, a rich Polish businessman, will do everything he can to prove it, revealing a sensational tale of love, hatred, passion, and revenge. A gripping thriller in the vein of the great popular fiction by Hugo and Dumas. Includes a new preface from scriptwriter Yves Sente and exclusive extra content from artist Grzegorz Rosinski (for mature readers only).

The Secret Garden

When Mary’s parents die, she moves to England, where she is sent to a strange mansion in the middle of the Yorkshire moors, belonging to her uncle. It is here that she discovers the comfort of friendship… and a wonderful secret that she soon shares with her new companions: a garden forgotten by everyone, whose key, as if by magic, also opens the doors to broken hearts. This is a two-part graphic adaptation of Frances Hodgson Burnett’s 1912 classic of children’s literature.

Vesper

Vesper, the Amazon of the Knights of Nyx, is a formidable warrior versed in the practice of Etheric magic. She uses her talents in the service of Prince Crimson Nyx, with whom she shares the dream of a kingdom where people of all races can live together. But in the midst of celebrating an important victory for their kingdom, the two heroes are ambushed by the Ekklesia, a religious order that sees in them the manifestation of dark forces that must be stamped out… A fast-paced first entry of a thrilling fantasy series not to be missed.

Lucky Luke: Swiss Bliss

Even a hero from the Far West needs a vacation from time to time, and looking after a few Swiss cows seems like the perfect opportunity for Lucky Luke. These milk cows happen to produce the precious substance necessary for the production of authentic Swiss chocolate! The West has just discovered cocoa, and chocolate should soon be a commodity in all mouths. And yet… between vicious autograph hounds, the chief of the Chicoree tribe, and two cowboys whose frustrated love leads to even more frustrating brawling, will Lucky Luke end up yearning for a reunion with the Daltons?

Tanz!

Germany, April 1957. Uli has a dream: to become a famous Broadway dancer. But as a modern dance student at the prestigious Folkwang school, Uli’s energetic and outgoing personality stands out in sharp contrast to the melancholy of post-war Europe. During a trip to Berlin, he meets Anthony, a young American dancer. The attraction is immediate. Anthony convinces Uli to come to New York and try his luck on Broadway. The young men part ways, but Uli will pack his bags and embark on an adventure that will take him to a new life overflowing with life, color, and movement — but also disappointment, harsh reality, and a good dose of heartbreak.

Don Vega

The year is 1849, and the future state of California is under the control of former soldiers from the Mexican-American War. Their leader, General Gomez, is busy buying up the locals’ land for pennies on the dollar, so that he and his cronies can maximize their profits from the coming gold rush. But he and his men are dogged by a series of masked, would-be avengers all calling themselves Zorro. They are an almost laughable annoyance, simple peasants living out the fantasy of a local legend. Until one man shows up and starts picking off Gomez’s men one by one, as stealthy as a fox. He brandishes a sword which he uses to carve the letter Z into his victims’ cheeks… Could this be the true Zorro?

Contrapaso

Madrid, winter of 1956. Franco’s fascist dictatorship controls the press and maintains the fiction of an idyllic nation. Faced with the Regime’s attempts to cover up the country’s most sordid crimes, two journalists from the crime beat, the jaded veteran Emilio Sanz and the young and intrepid Léon Lenoir, seek to reveal the truth. Confronted by a wave of unexplained murders, the duo sets out to uncover the dark secret connecting them, buried in a cruel past. Brilliantly written and illustrated by Teresa Valero, Sanz and Lenoir’s investigation plunges us headfirst into an era and society as dark and as violent as it is full of hope. A bracing journalistic thriller revealing the lengths the Francoist regime was willing to go to in its attempts to stifle any form of dissent.

In Shadows

Arzhur, a disgraced knight, has taken on a new mission to restore his honor: save Princess Islen from the Black Castle. The only problem is, the mysterious Islen doesn’t want to be saved…The reluctant pair must nonetheless cross the kingdom—pursued by a trio of sinister witches—in hopes of finding refuge with Islen’s father, the king. But will their secrets catch up with them first?

Forever

What is this “love” everyone talks about? Viola doesn’t yet know. But it is a question she is asking herself more and more, because at her age there are some kinds of problems you feel even in the air that you breathe: your self-image and the way you think others see you, the relationship between you and your body and the other gender, couple issues, the freedom to follow your aspirations, and the need to fit in socially accepted categories. On vacation with her parents, during the idle hours of the afternoon while everyone is sleeping, Viola’s encounters and experiences will help her grow as a person and get answers to the hard questions that everyone has to face sooner or later, and she will reshape her identity, in a summer she’ll never forget.

Noir Burlesque

After a hold-up gone wrong, Slick finds himself deep in the red with local mafia boss Rex. But that’s not the only thing setting them at odds: they also have their sights set on the same woman, the beguiling Caprice. She’s engaged to Rex and headlines his club, where she thrills the nightly crowds. She’s off-limits, but Slick has never been one for limits. And he has unfinished business with Caprice, who was once his own sweetheart before the war pulled them apart. After all these years, there’s no love lost between them, but that doesn’t mean the old spark isn’t alive… And now, they’re playing with fire. Taking inspiration from the Hollywood noir films of the 1950s, Enrico Marini delivers a gritty graphic novel combining crime, love, jealousy, and betrayal.

A Love for the Ages

Jean and Germaine are the most affable couple the little village of Colle sur Loup has ever seen. A duke married to a commoner, they have no children, no jobs, and are disastrous cooks! They like to indulge in life’s small pleasures; their books, their garden, and their after-lunch naps. They live for each other, and for their love. Their simple happiness intrigues, fascinates, infuriates and is the envy of all those around them.

Daniel Pennac knew Jean and Germaine well. He spent his time at their house reading, watching, learning, and, of course, trying Germaine’s catastrophic efforts in the kitchen! He’s now taken it upon himself to tell the story of those happy days, and of a love that has always captivated him.

Alt-Life

On a dying Earth in a not-so-distant future, Josiane and René are the first to enter a new virtual world where just about anything is possible… Part dystopian love story, part psychedelic meditation on human nature, “Alt-Life” takes the reader down a mind-bending rabbit hole of desire, loneliness, and self-discovery.

Glory Days

Three young women lacking direction struggle with the challenges of life and relationships: Violet has dumped her boyfriend and is finding it hard to move on; Leila has betrayed her best friend and finds herself now ostracized by her social circle; and Helen struggles to find a balance between her personal life and the doctoral thesis taking up all her time and energy. A realistic slice-of-life portrayal of the growing pains of young adulthood.

Taxi

“The Fragrant Lady” is a tale that brings to life the recollections of an old gentleman in the back seat of Yalcin’s cab. The man tells of the time he spent with an enviable French woman named Floré during the silver age of Istanbul. His too-good-to-be-true story unravels with rich illustrations by Ergün Gündüz, which are throwbacks to the days of urban glamor in Beyoglu, in stark contrast with the current state of the district.

A Woman’s Voice

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.

Empress Charlotte

At sixteen, Princess Charlotte falls in love with an Austrian archduke, Maximilian of the House of Habsburg. Soon enough, she finds herself enmeshed in the cruel and unpredictable world of international diplomacy as her marriage founders. Increasingly shrewd, naïveté and idealism replaced by practicality and skepticism, Charlotte will help ensure that she and Maximilian are sent to Mexico to reign as emperor and empress…

School of Love

Linon and Garance are best friends with very different ideas about love. To get to the bottom of what all this romance stuff is really about, they decide to conduct an investigation into some of the older students at their middle school. Why are certain kids more popular than others? Why do some already have a “bad reputation” by the 8th grade? Why is everyone so obsessed with appearances? Along the way, the pair discover that, for best friends who are supposed to share everything, they’ve both been keeping some pretty big secrets of their own.

Hearts at Sea

Jean-Paul is a shy, slightly gawky young man leading a rather unremarkable life in which his oppressive mother is all too present. As the anniversary of his father’s death approaches, he feels increasingly dissatisfied with his life, and increasingly aware of his loneliness. It’s time for things to change. So, without telling anyone, he embarks on a singles cruise and takes his first steps in a brave new world.

Come Back to Me Again

This is a dramatic graphic novel because it is about life. This is romance, because there is love. This is crime, because it’s about mysterious death. It’s also a graphic novel about dreams, because there is a lot of sleep in it. Come Back to Me Again is an emotional journey into yourself. This diary of feelings jagged by addiction. Alcohol addiction. Drug addiction. Love addiction. And life addiction. This story is about the continuous falling asleep and waking up. About daydreaming and life without sleep.

Body and Soul

The lives of a handful of Parisian characters trying to connect with themselves, their bodies, and each other intertwine in this insightful snapshot of modern society: mothers and daughters, sons and parents, lovers, friends, and neighbors interact and experience each other in ways both simple and profound.

Degas and Cassatt

Founder of the Impressionist movement of which he was one of the most merciless critics, too bohemian for the bourgeois and too bourgeois for the artists, Edgar Degas was a man of many paradoxes. A loner, he loved only one woman without ever courting her. Looking into this unique relationship at the twilight of Degas’ life, Efa and Rubio open the pages of the artist’s notebooks hoping to unravel the mystery of this genius full of contradictions.

Incognito

This is the story of an invisible man. He’s a man that no one ever notices. He is transparent, whatever he does. This is rather a difficult cross to bear! One night, the man who so wants to be seen loses it. He’s had enough. He wants to feel things too! His outburst costs him an ankle injury, which in turn leads him to Berenice, the lovely young physiotherapist. She soon sets him straight: we are all victims in one way or another! Gregory Mardon develops a narrative based on the infernal spiral of human relationships, in which love is manipulation, kindness is selfishness and cruelty is an art.

A Lapse in Judgment

Any resemblance to persons living or dead or actual events would be strangely coincidental… In a town in the east of France, Sylvestre Ruppert-Levansky, a president of the circuit court, begins his last trial, in the same place his career began. Everything here reminds him of Rachel, his first love, and most of all, Mathilde, a manipulative, diabolic serial killer. The old magistrate has a spotless reputation. He is considered tolerant and fair. But then a police officer from his past asks to see him. Perhaps the legend of Sylvestre, the eminent judge, isn’t so cut and dry… In a gripping tale full of surprises, Denis Robert and Franck Biancarelli reinvent the thriller.

Flora and the Shooting Stars

40-year-old Flora has just gone through a bitter divorce after 20 years of marriage. Thankfully, she can count on the support of her friends: Roxane, the cool hippie who loves to garden, Lea, the tireless career woman, and her old neighbor, Venerable. Like her friends, Flora would love to find her soul mate, but it’s just not that simple. She has several promising dates, but once the first flush of passion is over, her lovers seem to disappear into the night. Why does this keep happening? Is she not attractive enough? Is she so difficult to be around? Or is she being sabotaged by someone close to her? A story for the divorced (and perpetually single) 40-somethings who just want to take a moment to catch their breath, and maybe even enjoy their singledom, told through the eyes of Flora and her hilarious entourage.

Gentlemind

New York, 1940. Navit, a young, penniless singer, inherits ownership of an old-fashioned girlie magazine: “Gentlemind.” Combative, intelligent, and audacious, she sets herself up as the publication’s new director and takes on the immense challenge of turning it into a modern magazine. Haunted by the memory of her lover who left for the front lines of Europe, she must confront the realities of an American society that is in its golden years, but remains highly patriarchal. A deeply touching story spanning three decades, relating the American dream from a woman’s perspective!

Giselle & Beatrice

Beatrice is stuck in a depressing office job: her hard work is overlooked, her paycheck’s so small she’s about to lose her apartment, and her boss won’t give her a promotion unless she sleeps with him. But Beatrice just took a vacation to Africa, where she learned a very particular set of skills, both in and out of the bedroom. She’s about to transform her boss’s life in a way that he never saw coming. She’ll get a maid to clean her dirty apartment. And maybe, in the process, Beatrice will finally find love…

Just Enough

Manuel and Mia live together in Bologna, in a house that is so crowded they have a roommate they’ve never seen. Mia is almost thirty, hates her job, and has a deep desire to dig into life before it’s too late—before becoming hopelessly adult. Manuel is publishing a serial novel online about courtly love, which he hopes might one day find a publisher. Mia and Manuel have dreams, but are unhappy. They don’t know how to face the void created between them. They’re losing themselves, even though they love each other. If they’re to straighten things out, they must find the right measure.

Hibakusha

Ludwig has never been a soldier. A childhood injury left him lame in one leg, which has allowed him to largely sit out the war on the sidelines, as a translator. Fleeing his passionless marriage, he accepts an assignment in Japan, allowing him to return to the land of his youth. But the year is 1945. It is not a good time to be Japanese, or German… much less stationed in Hiroshima. Ludwig is tempted by love and, in furtively tampering with his translations of classified documents, by the chance to do something heroic. But none of that will save him…

Limited Edition

Claire is a thirtysomething neonatal nurse who is becoming increasingly discouraged about her prospects of getting into a long-term relationship and starting a family. She thinks she may have finally met her man in Franck—if not a Prince Charming then at least a friendly and compatible person—but societal pressures and gender norms seem to rear their heads at every turn and Claire begins to wonder if it will ever be possible for her to be happy with another person on her own terms.

Aude Picault’s chronicle of everyday romance is full of wit and sympathy but it is also backed up by a bibliography of feminist essays and studies of gender relations, offering a valuable and complicated case study of the challenges facing modern women.

The Summer of Irreverence

Lenny June is your average happy-go-lucky expat, out for a good time and a quick buck. And on Tyr Mayam, a technologically backward planet riven by religious rivalries, he has it easy. It helps that he’s quick-witted, handsome, and an exclusive member of the Galactic Confederation’s Terran delegation to a world that’s been declared an ethnologically protected zone for the next 500 years. But Lenny’s life is about to change. For one, his fiancée is due from Earth any day now. And Tyr Mayam, with its doomsday cults and competing sects, has surprises in store, buried deep in ancient history…

The Zolas

Mexico, August 1923. Edward Weston has just abandoned his wife and children and joined his mistress Tina Modotti. Daughter of Italian emigrants, Tina started out on a career as a Hollywood actress before discovering a passion for photography, in Edward’s wake. In Mexico, the lovers soon discover that revolution goes hand in hand with artistic expression. The walls of public institutions are colored with the vibrant paintings of Diego Rivera, Xavier Guerrero and all those who would go down in art history as ‘ the muralists.’ In this pivotal period between the old world, still struggling in the aftermath of the First World War, and the new world, yet to be constructed, Tina and Edward become deeply involved in the artistic political movement of the epoch. For Tina, sex, freedom, art and politics become the pillars of her lifestyle, leading her to sometimes make choices that are difficult for Edward to deal with. But passion burns the senses, and suffering kindles the fires of creation…

The Lion of Judah

1920s Nairobi. When two Africans are found gruesomely murdered, all signs point to John Wallace, a promising young plantation owner with a bright future ahead of him and a beautiful bride-to-be. What drove him to kill these men? His silence and a corrupt system lead to internment, without a trial, in a vicious Kenyan prison camp. But sadistic guards, conspiring cellmates, and harsh desert labor are no match for the suffering that Wallace feels inside over the life he lost, and how best to get it back. He’s willing to do anything for revenge—even loose the mysterious beast lurking within…

Mademoiselle Baudelaire

Baudelaire: poète maudit, enfant terrible, lyric genius, crippling perfectionist. Bereft of a father at age five, he spent his days squandering the former’s fortune on prostitutes and paintings, opium and alcohol, finery and laundry bills for his impeccably white dandy’s collars. He loved a woman and gave her syphilis. This is her story. Muse, mulatto, mistress, mystery… little was known of Jeanne in her day, and even less remembered since. Yslaire pays tribute to a brimstone-and-hellfire affair from the annals of literature, two misunderstood souls who in their mutual misunderstanding afforded each other what little solace they found in life.

The Mask of a Thousand Tears

After a horrific battle in a mythical Asian land, a peasant soldier with a mysterious past encounters a young woman who has come to find the body of her dead fiancé. She is determined to travel to Takedo Castle and get her hands on the Mask of a Thousand Tears, a golden mask which will allow her to travel to the underworld and bring her fiancé back to the land of the living. The peasant, Masamura, accompanies Sadakyo on her quest. She discourages him but soon learns that she has no chance of surviving without his help. They are both determined, for different reasons, to see this mission through to the end, no matter what the cost. A story in two volumes.

Nationalist Love

When Zapsky and Byro meet during a right-wing nationalist march, their joint escape from the police results in an unexpected and violent outburst of passion. Their initial euphoria quickly turns into doubt and fear—after all, if their buddies found out about them, the consequences would be terrible… But now that they’ve come together, will they be able to simply forget and move on with their lives? Or is it something more lasting, despite the risk it represents for both? “Nationalists in Love” is the third graphic novel by Jakub Topor, nominated for the graphic novel of the year award at the Lodz Comics Festival.

Our Alchemical Bodies

Are you ready for revolution? Revolution of the mind. Revolution of the body. At Camille’s invitation, Sarah and Aniss arrive in the Tuscan countryside to take part in a unique experience. Camille hopes to achieve a complete fusion of three souls and three bodies into a single organism. An act of spiritual and organic alchemy. Revolution!

Black Water Lilies

Three willful women: one old wicked, one young and selfish, and the third in the prime of her life. A man murdered three ways: stabbed, bludgeoned, and drowned in a stream. The mystery brings brash young Inspector Laurenç to the postcard-perfect Norman village of Giverny, home to Impressionist Claude Monet’s gardens and studio. Like any small town, Giverny has its secrets. But have they to do with greed? Lust? Missing paintings? Jealous husbands? Laurenç soon finds himself head over heels for a pretty schoolteacher—and in over his head. Dider Cassegrain brings Michel Bussi’s bestselling novel to life in lush, delicate watercolors worthy of the famous canvases that lend the book its name: Monet’s immortal Water Lilies…

Olympia

Allow us to introduce Olympia, an exquisite young woman living in post-First-World-War Berlin, a time when the town was continually shaken up by internal revolutions and cultural turbulence. Olympia is beautiful. Louise Brooks-style beautiful. She is the archetype of that generation of war-women, the likes of which we’ll never see again. Her father, Count Van Den Golzt, sends his daughter to Berlin following the Bolsheviks’ establishment in Courlande, a move that he knew was a threat to the safety of his family. She soon becomes a fascinating character, with lovers from all walks of life, from bespectacled Communist intellectuals, to pimps. Alongside her decadent lifestyle, she fights passionately for the Socialist cause. Nihilistic, but driven, she ends up in the arms of the most unlikely suitor.

The Princess of Cléves

Entering life at the French royal court, a world in which “what is shown is rarely the truth,” the young Princess of Clèves learns of passion’s torments, of heartbreak, and of the agony of love. Claire Bouilhac and Catel Muller’s graphic-novel adaption of this classic tale—often referred to as the forerunner of the modern psychological novel—remains faithful to the original 17th-century text, while also providing surprising and original insight into both the mystery of the creative act, and the link between the author, Madame de La Fayette, and her heroine, the Princess of Clèves.

Someone to Talk To

Samuel is feeling blue, and for good reason! He’s single, lives in a tiny Paris apartment, and is languishing in a job he hates. Alone on his birthday, he decides to amuse himself by calling the only phone number he knows by heart: the one for his childhood home. To his surprise, someone picks up… His past self! All 10-year-old Sam wants to do is play soccer, travel the world, and write books to impress girls. How will Samuel ever be able to tell him the truth without crushing his dreams? It’s time he got his life back on track.

Raowl

Raowl is not a hero for the faint of heart: he slices, dices, and decapitates anyone standing between him and a kiss from a princess. Unfortunately for Raowl, the first princess he encounters doesn’t find him to her liking. So when Raowl rescues a second princess, he doesn’t take no for an answer—and as it turns out, the two have a lot in common! Raowl’s rage is all the greater when the princess is kidnapped and taken to a castle full of cannibals, and he doesn’t waste any time leaping into the mouth of the beast! A rollicking rewrite of classic fairy tales, filled with guts, quips, and colorful characters.

Shelley

Born into an aristocratic family, Percy Bysshe Shelley has no intentions of following in his father’s political footsteps. The rebellious young poet finds himself drawn to more scandalous pursuits: supporting anti-royalist and anti-clerical causes, championing vegetarianism, and extolling the virtues of atheism, an act that ultimately leads to his expulsion from Oxford University.

Tales from Behind the Window

“Tales from behind the Window” is based on memories of an Anatolian grandmother and women she knew who suffered from male dominance over their lives. Writer and illustrator Edanur Kuntman seeks a unique way to express and give voice to women in her grandmother’s memories and in our reality who were not able to reconcile their inner emotional depth with their rural worlds in Northern Turkey. One long and two short stories included in this book revolve around terrifying emotional burdens such as forced marriages, being betrayed by patriarchs, and lost love, which have haunted and still haunt many in rural Anatolia.

Modern Speed

Modern-day Paris. One night, as she’s leaving rehearsal, Lola, a young dancer, is approached by Renée. She introduces herself as a writer, and asks Lola if she could share her life for a while in order to gather material to write a book about her. Despite not feeling entirely comfortable with the idea, Lola accepts. The very next day, Lola and Renée experience the strangest day of their lives, involving an absent father who reappears at random points throughout the book, a bashful but psychopathic admirer, Omar Shariff, and a huge spider… All this is set against a backdrop of a general power cut, a highly demanding dance class and a very rainy day. In the world of today, where everything goes too quickly, twenty-four hours is sometimes enough to change your life.

Header image: Always Never © Jordi Lafebre / Dargaud

February is Black History Month. Here is a reading list with a rich selection of comics and graphic novels that show that there is no defeat in the hearts of those who fight for justice.

Colored – The Unsung Life of Claudette Colvin

A few months before Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a segregated bus in Montgomery, Alabama, kicking off the U.S. civil rights movement, making headlines around he world and becoming an enduring symbol of the fight for dignity and equality, another young black woman refused to give up her seat on a segregated bus in Montgomery, Alabama. She was the wrong person at the right time, and so History did not choose her. Her name was Claudette Colvin and this is her story.

Turntable

Virtuoso Belgian violinist Eugène Ysaÿe is invited out to the Congo by the governor to give a concert. How could he refuse such an invitation? Eugène waves goodbye to the infamous gray Belgian skies and hops on a plane taking him to the dazzling colors of Africa. He is invited to stay a few weeks at his nephew’s house, by the stunning Lake Maï Ndombé. And that’s where he meets Turntable. Through their mutual appreciation of music, the servant and the celebrity gradually form an unlikely friendship, breaking the boundaries of convention.

The Danes

When an Aryan baby is born to a Muslim woman living in Copenhagen, her husband’s family shuns her. But DNA tests prove Sorraya’s fidelity. And she is just the first in what soon becomes a rash of similar cases across Europe, threatening widespread social change even as they ignite passions in immigrant communities and incite familiar racial hatreds. What mysterious conspiracy connects a retrovirus, a young slacker biogeneticist, a former punkette, a dogged reporter, and pharmaceutical giant Keoxis? Clarke delivers a contemplative slice of near-future science fiction paced like a thriller but full of probing questions about our prejudices.

Louisiana

The Forgotten Slaves of Tromelin

This story takes place on a tiny, far-flung island in the middle of the Indian Ocean, whose nearest neighbor is Madagascar, 500 kilometers away… In 1760, the Utile, a ship carrying black slaves from Africa, was shipwrecked here and abandoned by her crew. The surviving slaves had to struggle to stay alive in this desolate land for fifteen years… When this tale got back to France, it became the cornerstone of the battle of Enlightenment to outlaw slavery. More than two hundred years later, the artist Sylvain Savoia accompanied the first archeological mission in search of understanding how these men and women, who had come from the high mountains of Madagascar, had survived alone in the middle of the ocean. This is the story of that mission, through which we’re exposed to the extraordinary story of the slaves themselves.

Black Cotton Star

White All Around

Canterbury, Connecticut, 1832: a charming female boarding school has found success among the locals, with two dozen girls enrolled. Some in town question the purpose of educating young girls—but surely there’s no harm in trying? At least not until the Prudence Crandall School announces its plans to start accepting black students. Thirty years before the abolition of slavery in the United States, in the so-called “free” North, these students will be met by a wave of hostility that puts the future of the school in question, and their very lives in peril. Even in the land of the free, not all of America’s children are welcome.

Lomax: Collectors of Folk Songs

In 1933, folklorist John Lomax and his eighteen-year-old son, Alan, embarked on a tour of the American South with a modest budget and a lofty aim: to preserve America’s folk heritage. Together, they visited churches, plantations and penitentiaries under the auspices of the Library of Congress, seeking out and recording the very best folk songs, gospel, and blues. Among their discoveries were the Delta bluesman Son House and the jailed singer Huddie Ledbetter, better known as Lead Belly. On this, their most ambitious musicological expedition, John and Alan Lomax saved for posterity thousands of songs that might otherwise have vanished without a trace. More than that, they amassed an archive of recordings that would shape the blues-driven rock ’n’ roll of the 1960s and beyond. As George Harrison once remarked, “No Lead Belly, no Beatles.”

Header image: Colored – The Unsung Life of Claudette Colvin © Emilie Plateau / Dargaud

Award-winning writer Fabien Nury is known for his masterful storytelling in an array of genres, spanning from crime to literary adaptation. Often his stories are described as “fiction, based on solid fact,” as is the famous case of The Death of Stalin, adapted for the big screen by director Armando Iannucci. We have put together a reading list with all of Nury’s graphic novels that we have in our catalog, which will allow you to discover his lesser-known works. Bur first, here is a bit more about him.

Born in 1976, Fabien Nury began his career by co-writing with Xavier Dorison the script of W.E.S.T (Dargaud; Spooks, Cinebook), a hit series illustrated by Christian Rossi. Nury independently wrote Je suis légion (Humanoïdes Associés), a trilogy illustrated by the American John Cassaday, and in 2007 he also started working on Le maître de Benson Gate (Dargaud) with Renaud Garreta. From 2007 to 2012, Nury wrote the script for the six volumes of Il était une fois en France (Glénat), a historical series illustrated by Sylvain Vallée that received both critical and public acclaim (over 850,000 copies sold). Since then Fabien Nury has been gaining success in various genres, with the historical dark comedy The Death of Stalin (Dargaud; Titan Comics in English), illustrated by Thierry Robin; the thriller Steve Rowland, volume 5 of the XIII Mystery series (Dargaud, Europe Comics/Cinebook; illustrations by Richard Guérineau); and the literary adaptation Atar Gull (Dargaud, Titan Comics in English), illustrated by Brüno. In 2013, Nury and Brüno went on to collaborate on the noir graphic novel Tyler Cross (Dargaud, Titan Comics in English). Alongside Thierry Robin, Nury also created the two-part series Death to the Tsar (Dargaud, Titan Comics in English), and in 2014, with Eric Henninot, he published A Son of the Sun (Dargaud, Europe Comics), an adventure album adapted from two novels by Jack London. In 2017, alongside artist Sylvain Vallée, Nury struck again with the hard-hitting historical fiction series Katanga (Dargaud, Europe Comics in English), which takes place in 1960 in the post-colonial Congo. More recently, he worked on the biography of Empress Charlotte, lavishly illustrated by Matthieu Bonhomme.

Empress Charlotte

At sixteen, Princess Charlotte falls in love with an Austrian archduke, Maximilian of the House of Habsburg. Soon enough, she finds herself enmeshed in the cruel and unpredictable world of international diplomacy as her marriage founders. Increasingly shrewd, naïveté and idealism replaced by practicality and skepticism, Charlotte will help ensure that she and Maximilian are sent to Mexico to reign as emperor and empress…

The Death of Stalin

On March 2nd 1953, in the middle of the night, Joseph Stalin, the “Father of the People,” the man who reigned in absolute power over the people of Russia, had a stroke. He was declared dead two days later. Two days of fierce competition for the supreme power, two days that encapsulated all the insanity, the perversity and the inhumanity of totalitarianism. This is the story of a dictatorship plunged into madness. And it’s all based on truth.

A Son of the Sun

Parlay is the French king of a dying island tribe and the father of the sublime Armande. He’s selling his pearls, a fortune collected from his island’s lagoon. The wealthiest traders in the Solomon Islands have been invited to the auction, except for David Grief, the Englishman the natives call the Son of the Sun. Come hell or high water—probably both—Grief will be there. And he isn’t coming for the pearls. This is a thrilling adaptation of two Jack London novellas, “A Son of the Sun” and “The Pearls of Parlay.”

Tyler Cross

It’s 1950, and Tyler Cross has just robbed 17 kilos of pure heroin from the Mafia. He has 20 dollars in his pocket, a Colt in his belt, and he’s on foot, alone, in deepest darkest Texas. He’s heading for Black Rock, a down-and-out southern town under the thumb of a petrol magnate and his sons. We can safely say that the hillbillies of Black Rock won’t be forgetting this gangster’s visit any time soon…

Katanga

Mrs. Hubeau looks after her 40-year-old handicapped son, Michel. Despite many happy moments, her daily life is far from easy, but she faces it with unparalleled courage and generosity. This is a beautiful homage to all the admirable people fighting in the shadows.

The Man Who Shot Chris Kyle

A former Navy SEAL and Iraq War veteran, Chris Kyle is the most lethal sniper in American military history. His autobiography, American Sniper, was a best-seller in the US. On February 2, 2013, Chris Kyle is killed by another veteran, Eddie Ray Routh. The murder takes place on a shooting range in Stephenville, Texas. But that’s only the beginning of their story.

Death to the Tsar

Moscow, September 17th, 1904. A crowd, brandishing sticks, stones and rotten vegetables, gathers in the forecourt of the palace of Moscow’s Governor. They’re not happy. The state of their country and their standard of living is rapidly becoming intolerable. Up on the balcony, Governor Sergei Alexandrovitch drops his handkerchief…

Was it intentional? Or a tragic accident? Whatever the case may be, it’s the signal: the soldiers open fire on the crowd. In an explosive political context, where the people are gathering together in the fight against an autocratic regime, this unfortunate event is nothing short of a death sentence for the Governor of Moscow…

Atar Gull

Africa, 1830. Atar Gull, a strapping young slave, finds himself on a certain Captain Benoît’s ship, on his way to the West Indies to be sold. This is no ordinary slave. He is the son of one of the great tribal kings, an athlete, a warrior. He will come at a high price, and not just in terms of money. After a long, unimaginably tough trip, Atar Gull winds up in Jamaica in the service of a plantation owner. It is with this plantation owner that his tragic destiny is entwined. This is a staggering adventure narrated through a superb 88-page volume that will be sure to haunt you long after you’ve turned the last page.

XIII Mystery: 5. Steve Rowland

Steve Rowland. It’s under this name that XIII received the fateful and nearly fatal wound that deprived him of his memory. By then the real Rowland was already dead, breathing his last in his wife Kim Carrington’s arms. But what had driven that man, a patriot and war hero, to betray his government? What events, what trauma—what manipulations—had made him into someone capable of assassinating the President of the United States?

Header image: Empress Charlotte © Fabien Nury, Matthieu Bonhomme / Dargaud

January 27 is International Holocaust Remembrance Day. To commemorate this day we’ve put together the Europe Comics Jewish Interest reading list. From established creators such as Michel Kichka, Jordi Lafebre, Zidrou, André Juillard, Marvano and others come extraordinary titles that cover one of the most tragic periods in world history.

Red Poster

Marcel Rayman is executed by firing squad on 21st February 1944 at Fort Mont-Valérien. He is 21 years old. The Red Poster tells the story of this young, Jewish pacifist from Poland who took up arms against the heinous Nazi regime, alongside Missak Manouchian and other resistants in the FTP-MOI: a communist section of the French Resistance composed entirely of foreigners, fighting for France and liberté, egalité, fraternité until their network was dismantled. Far from the glorious clichés, this innocent young man gradually becomes a seasoned warrior and a skilled strategist. Over the course of two gruelling years, during which his family are deported, Marcel Rayman becomes versed in underground resistance fighting, armed warfare, assaults, urban guerilla tactics, death, fear… and betrayal.

Mezek

1948. The state of Israel is still in its barest infancy, at risk of being crushed any moment under its enemies’ fierce attacks.  It can count only on the courage of its soldiers, who are few in number and poorly equipped. As in all modern conflicts, an army is useless unless it can fly.  The planes owned by the Israeli military, the Tsahal, are made up of parts stripped from planes from the Second World War; their pilots are often foreign mercenaries. It’s a war without hope, fought by exhausted soldiers and surrounded on all sides by crushing, hostile powers.  A war where only true heroes could possibly make a difference…

Second Generation

I am a child of the Second Generation of the Shoah. It took me over thirty years to understand.  A childhood burdened by the silence of traumatized parents who spoke in Yiddish when they didn’t want their children to understand. A house where the ghosts of my grandparents and my aunts roamed, that my father carried with him everywhere, although trying to look good in a society that wanted to turn the page and build the future. And then one fine day, mourning my little brother who had just ended his own life, my father began to speak. It came out like a dam that suddenly breaks, causing a huge flood.

Vice Squad

This tale takes place in 1937, but begins in 1944 in Paris, where, during an RAF bombing, several people are hiding in a shelter. Aimé Louzeau is among them. He tells his story in one long flashback, with a final epilogue in the shelter. It is the winter of 1937, and Aimé Louzeau lives with his mother and their servant. One day, he goes to the Quai des Orfèvres, the police prefecture of Paris, to speak with the vice squad. He currently works in the Criminal Investigation department, but crimes of passion and back alley stabbings really aren’t his thing, so he requests a transfer from Chief Inspector Séverin. The atmosphere immediately darkens, as Louzeau is thrown straight into the interrogation of a pimp called Guapito and his prostitute.

Falafel With Hot Sauce

Acclaimed political cartoonist and comic book author Michel Kichka (Second Generation) brings us the fascinating, informative, and uplifting autobiographical tale of his love affair with Israel, a land he was inspired to move to at the age of twenty. From culture shock and Israeli customs to the mandatory military service, from art school to political conflict and human tragedies, he delivers a richly detailed account of his life as an artist, family man, peace advocate and Belgian Jew turned Israeli, living in the beautiful and troubled city of Jerusalem.

The Jewish Brigade

In 1945, the war in Europe is over. Camp survivors have no homes to go back to and they want only one thing – to leave Europe. No country wants to welcome them. They could feel safe in only one place, a Jewish state that does not yet exist, though it had once been
promised by the British. Without any hesitation, “displaced persons” are once again herded behind barbed wire. In some cases, they remain in the same camps from which they were supposedly liberated. A brigade forms along the frontiers of Italy, Austria and Yugoslavia, under the watchful eye of the British army. This brigade decides to do justice as it sees fit. Across Europe, the news spreads – a Jewish army in Europe! Armed Jewish soldiers! The brigade goes into action. It devotes itself to saving Jews and will stop at nothing.

The Photographer of Mauthausen

This is a dramatic retelling of true events in the life of Francisco Boix, a Spanish press photographer and communist who fled to France at the beginning of World War II. But there, he found himself handed over by the French to the Nazis, who sent him to the notorious Mauthausen concentration camp, where he spent the war among thousands of other Spaniards and other prisoners. More than half of them would lose their lives there. Through an odd turn of events, Boix finds himself the confidant of an SS officer who is documenting prisoner deaths at the camp.

Little Sister

Susie has two older sisters: the vivacious Effie, and the elegant Sandra. Life is hard when you’re the baby of the family! No one ever lets you do anything. No one ever pays any attention to you. Everyone makes fun of you. Bestselling children’s author Susie Morgenstern takes readers back to 1950s Newark and all the everyday charms and heartbreaks of the year she turned ten: spelling bees, synagogue, Christmas lights, Halloween candy, nights out at the movies, sneaking fast food. In his joyous art, Johann G. Louis lovingly evokes the era and a young girl awakening to life.

Bear’s tooth

Silesia, 1930. Three children play with toy airplanes. Three friends – Max the Polish Jew, Werner and Hanna the Germans. All dream of becoming pilots, but they won’t all have the same opportunities, and the world is heading down a dark road… 1944. Max is now an ace in the US Navy, while Hanna is one of Germany’s top test pilots. Will anything remain of their old friendship, as the sides they each chose are locked in a struggle to the death?

Three friends, united by their love of flying, torn apart by different origins. Amidst the madness of WW2, what will prove strongest: friendship, or loyalty?

Behind the Curtain

The year is 1938. Yaël and her sister Émilie are two ordinary children growing up in a village in the south of France. But even if they don’t understand everything they see, they are starting to catch glimpses of the secrets that adults struggle to keep. Who is hiding behind the curtain in the guest room? Why does their maternal grandfather call their father a “goy”? What does it mean to be Jewish? As Yaël grows up, she is caught up in the harsh realities of the war and the antisemitic laws of Vichy France. Her path to understanding her identity will be a painful one.

Header image: Second Generation © Michel Kichka / Dargaud

Who can turn down a fascinating royal story set in our favourite historical periods? Here is a list of comics and graphic novels centred around European kings and queens adorned with crowns, tiaras and coronets, and brimming with ambition to rule.

Empress Charlotte

At sixteen, Princess Charlotte falls in love with an Austrian archduke, Maximilian of the House of Habsburg. Soon enough, she finds herself enmeshed in the cruel and unpredictable world of international diplomacy as her marriage founders. Increasingly shrewd, naïveté and idealism replaced by practicality and skepticism, Charlotte will help ensure that she and Maximilian are sent to Mexico to reign as emperor and empress…

Death to the Tsar

Moscow, September 17th, 1904. A crowd, brandishing sticks, stones and rotten vegetables, gathers in the forecourt of the palace of Moscow’s Governor. They’re not happy. The state of their country and their standard of living is rapidly becoming intolerable. Up on the balcony, Governor Sergei Alexandrovitch drops his handkerchief…

Was it intentional? Or a tragic accident? Whatever the case may be, it’s the signal: the soldiers open fire on the crowd. In an explosive political context, where the people are gathering together in the fight against an autocratic regime, this unfortunate event is nothing short of a death sentence for the Governor of Moscow…

The Princess of Cléves

Entering life at the French royal court, a world in which “what is shown is rarely the truth,” the young Princess of Clèves learns of passion’s torments, of heartbreak, and of the agony of love. Claire Bouilhac and Catel Muller’s graphic-novel adaption of this classic tale—often referred to as the forerunner of the modern psychological novel—remains faithful to the original 17th-century text, while also providing surprising and original insight into both the mystery of the creative act, and the link between the author, Madame de La Fayette, and her heroine, the Princess of Clèves.

SHI: 4. Victoria

In this final volume, Kita and Jay plot their ultimate revenge against the “Glorious Eries,” the secret cabal of Royalists that’s seeking to take back the newly independent American colonies with the covert help of Queen Victoria herself. Meanwhile, the ruthless police commissioner Kurb is on their trail and finds unexpected and unwitting help from the street urchin Pickles. Jay’s family continues to come apart but her estranged mother makes one last attempt to reach out to her. Everything is set in motion now: can anyone change the course of events, or is it too late?

Berezina

n 1812, in order to keep his stranglehold on Europe, Napoleon had no choice but to declare war on the Russian emperor, Alexander. After three months of marching, his men, starved and exhausted, finally made it to Moscow… only to discover that the city had been deserted. Thus Napoleon and his army took up residence in the Russian capital without even the slightest resistance. But by nightfall, Moscow was on fire. Houses, churches and even the Kremlin were ablaze, and the entire French army risked being reduced to ashes. Caught in the trap, Napoleon was forced to leave the city and get back on the road to face his enemy.

The Battle

It’s May 1809. Napolean’s great army is getting ready to cross the Danube on the immense floating bridge that they constructed overnight on the orders of the France’s most famous military genius. On the other side of the river, Archduke Charles and his Austrian army are waiting for them, determined to get their revenge for the humiliating defeat they suffered at Austerlitz. And so the horror begins…

Game of Masks

Paris, 1802. Bonaparte has just been proclaimed First Consul, provoking Fouché’s departure from the Police headquarters. The two men are now both set on finding a certain object, stolen by a beautiful prostitute, which could change their destiny. Bonaparte calls on the services of François, a petty thief otherwise known as “The Torpedo,” to recover the mysterious object.

History’s Greatest Villains: 1. Dracula

Everyone knows about Dracula the vampire, but have you ever heard of Voivode Vlad Dracula of Wallachia? Perhaps you know him better by his nickname: Vlad the Impaler! The bloodthirsty prince was the inspiration for Bram Stoker’s notorious character, but although the real Dracula gained infamy for his favorite method of execution—impaling—few know the true details of his life. Swysen and Solé have created an intimate and accurate portrait of this vicious tyrant, allowing you to follow his journey from childhood to death, with guaranteed laughs along the way.

1066

King Edward of England is dead. Edward’s son Harold, one of the potential successors, renounces his oath to yield the throne to William of Normandy. From that day forth, William will have no peace until his rightful claim to the throne is acknowledged. As the famous Halley comet soars across the heavens, giving rise to much speculation among the scholars of the time, William, Duke of Normandy, launches into the arrangements for the conquest that will change the face of England — one of the most formidable military expeditions History has ever seen.

Cover banner from Empress Charlotte © Fabien Nury, Matthieu Bonhomme / Dargaud

The 49th edition of the Angoulême International Comics Festival will take place on January 27th-30th, 2022. One of the world’s largest and most prominent comics festivals, Angoulême is also known for its prestigious awards, and we are extremely happy to announce that 10 books from our catalog have been nominated across all categories. Scroll down to start binge-reading them!

Blacksad – V6

By Juanjo Guarnido and Juan Díaz Canales

Nominated for the Grand Prix

Maiden – V2

By Florence Dupré la Tour

Nominated for the Grand Prix

In part two of this autobiographical tale, Florence has left her childhood behind and is crashing headlong into the awkwardness and pain of adolescence. Her body is changing, but she is still just as cruelly clueless about it as she ever has been. And now, The Thing—the one you’re not supposed to talk about—is starting to pulse… Florence Dupré la Tour continues her masterpiece of inks and watercolors in this gut-wrenching, hilarious, and ultimately powerful look at what happens when a child is deprived of a proper education: the more they grow up, the smaller the adults around them get.

Spirou: Hope Against All Odds

By Émile Bravo

Part 3 is nominated for the Grand Prix

It seemed inevitable that Europe would once again be in the dark clutches of war, and now that conflict has broken out, Spirou must face its horrible reality while staying true to himself. He does his best to maintain his friendship with Fantasio, even as the latter enlists in the Belgian army. And when Spirou meets Felix, a German‐Jewish painter, his eyes are opened to the plight of the Jewish people and the dangerous situation in Europe and beyond. On top of all that, Spirou’s girlfriend Kassandra has been lost in the confusion of the war. In the first of four volumes, the orphan bellhop’s adventures will take him all across war-torn Belgium, discovering the world as it falls apart around him.

Yojimbot

By Sylvain Repos

Nominated for the Grand Prix

In a dystopian not-too-distant future in Japan, Hiro lives with his father on an island populated by androids, where they eke out a meager existence while trying to keep out of sight. But when they run afoul of a troop of high-tech military thugs, Hiro’s dad sacrifices himself to save his son, turning Hiro’s already-bleak world upside-down. He is then rescued by a samurai robot called a “yojimbot,” and together they seek to avenge his father’s death and make contact with a mysterious associate known only as the “rights holder,” before the soldiers and their drones close in…

The Sauroktones

By Erwann Surcouf

Cycle 2 is nominated for the Young Adult Prize

In the near future, the Earth has become a very different place. An unknown disaster has upended our way of life: cars sit rusting where they stopped, cities have been reduced to no man’s lands, and invertebrates have mutated into giant, deadly beasts. Faced with the threat of these roaming monsters, humanity’s hopes lie with the Sauroktones, small bands of warriors who risk their lives to fight these creatures. Amid it all, three youths are thrown together by circumstance, and will go to great lengths to stay united, help each other, and make their way through the strange, futuro-medieval landscape of a ravaged world.

Desolation

By Appollo and Gaultier

Nominated for the Eco-Award

Jean-Louis Payet is a man on the run. Reeling from a breakup, he changes his name and heads south from his home on Réunion Island. Way south: the remote Kerguelen Islands, an inhospitable archipelago whose scientific bases are civilization’s last bastion before the frozen Antarctic wastes. The mere journey, aboard a resupply vessel, will take a month. Payet spends the endless hours feeling diffident and superior, pining for his ex, hating his fellow passengers, and dreaming of a new life. But when he reaches the windswept wilderness of the former Desolation Islands, will he finally come face to face with something he can’t run away from?

Inhuman

By Rochebrune, Denis Bajram and Valérie Mangin

Nominated for the Reader’s Choice Award (High School)

A small exploratory vessel crashes onto an unknown ocean planet after its crew is seized by a sudden madness. After escaping their sinking ship, the five survivors are helped to the surface by giant squid-like creatures who guide them to what appears to be the planet’s only island. To their surprise, they are greeted on the shore by primitive humans, who prove to be welcoming despite their cannibalistic rituals. But their fixed smiles and total docility suggest that something more sinister is going on. Are the castaways doomed to join them in submitting to the will of the mysterious Great One?

White All Around

By Stéphane Fert and Wilfrid Lupano

Nominated for the Reader’s Choice Award (High School)

Canterbury, Connecticut, 1832: a charming female boarding school has found success among the locals, with two dozen girls enrolled. Some in town question the purpose of educating young girls—but surely there’s no harm in trying? At least not until the Prudence Crandall School announces its plans to start accepting black students. Thirty years before the abolition of slavery in the United States, in the so-called “free” North, these students will be met by a wave of hostility that puts the future of the school in question, and their very lives in peril. Even in the land of the free, not all of America’s children are welcome.

Urbex – V1

By Dugomier and Clarke

Nominated for the Reader’s Choice Award (Middle School)

School friends during the day, Alex and Julie meet in secret at night to enjoy a little urban exploration. Deserted villas, forgotten clinics, and derelict factories are their favorite playgrounds. But one night, their exploration becomes a nightmare when they come face to face with the ghosts of two young girls in an abandoned mansion. Alex and Julie are certain about one thing: they can see the dead. But what if they’re also able to heal the wounds of the past…?

The Keeper of the Little Folk – V1

By Charline Forns, Carbone and Véronique Barrau

Nominated for the Reader’s Choice Award (Elementary School)

While visiting her in the hospital, Élina discovers that her grandmother is the Keeper of the Little Folk, protecting fairies, nymphs, naiads, and other fantastical creatures! And now, her grandmother is ready to pass her responsibilities on to Élina. It’s not a moment too soon—Llyam and Nelvyna, creatures of the Little Folk, have sent up a distress signal, because a naiad has gone missing from Bird Lake. Will Élina be able to figure out how to see the fairy creatures in time to help them in their search?

Cover banner from Yojimbot © Sylvain Repos / Dargaud

Here is an ecology reading list from our catalog with titles that have the climate crisis at their heart. Here are comics and graphic novels for the environmentalist in each of us.

A Diary of the (Nearly) Zero-Waste Family

In 2014, a French family of four decided to start living a “zero waste” lifestyle for a year, which made headlines and eventually led to a new career centered on their experience and approach: through downsizing, composting, recycling, eliminating, DIY, buying in bulk, resourcefulness, and rigorous self-discipline, they essentially managed to reduce their yearly household waste down to one small jar of miscellaneous items. This is their story, as told and drawn by the mother herself. Entertaining, educational, and as vitally topical as you can get!

Gaia Blues

Gaia is the ancient name of our Earth, a place now endangered by growing human pollution. A family of polar bears is about to discover what are the effects of this situation, in a story told entirely with no words.

Hubert Reeves Explains: Biodiversity

After spending many years gazing up at the stars, Hubert Reeves has turned his attention to the future of our planet. The world’s friendliest and most enthusiastic astrophysicist takes us on a surprising journey, which will make us all realize how important it is to protect our environment.

Hubert Reeves Explains: Forests

Forests were home to our most distant ancestors. They show us our history and link us to our past. When we enter a forest, we step back in time and rediscover life on Earth as it once was. Thanks to recent scientific discoveries, we now know that the animal world and the plant world are more alike than we thought, and that, in their own way, trees can sense, feel, and communicate. It is up to us to ensure that forests are sustainably managed, and that all the plants and animals that live in them and make up their ecosystem are protected for future generations.

Hubert Reeves Explains: Oceans

In a voyage of discovery that takes us to the bottom of the sea, Hubert Reeves explains how the oceans formed, what makes them salty, and what causes currents and tides. He reveals the wonders of life below the waves and shows us how the oceans can determine the very future of our precious planet. This is why they need our protection.

Underworld

Hades, God of the Underworld, is seeking a successor. The prize? His fabled horn of plenty, source of boundless wealth. But to winnow down the applicant pool, Hades has devised a series of challenges as deadly to hopefuls as they are enlightening to readers, taking us all on a tour of the soil: its uses and abuses, riches and resources. Beneath our feet lies a world teeming with life, whose fate is intimately tied with our own. In this fantasy adventure Mathieu Burniat deftly blends pop science and mythology to educate and enthrall on a topic vital to our troubled times.

Jeremy: 5. The Plastic Hunters

On land, at sea, and in the air… In his latest adventure, Jeremy is confronted with plastic trash wherever he goes! Enough is enough, and so he asks Professor Braynard to invent a machine to remove the plastic waste from the rivers and the seas. And the professor has just the thing: the “Plastic Hunter,” a whale made of recycled plastic that transforms plastic waste into green energy. They quickly set about turning his plans into reality, but alas, not everyone has good intentions… A couple of villains have other plans for Professor Braynard’s phenomenal invention!

Yasmina and the Potato Eaters

Eleven‐year‐old Yasmina and her dad lead a modest life in a small city apartment. Luckily, the food-loving Yasmina can whip up just about anything in the kitchen, with an assist from her edible herb books and her friends from the community garden. That is, until the day the garden disappears, bulldozed and replaced by a field of potatoes that are both experimental… and completely addictive! The only solution is for Yasmina to track down and eradicate the source of the problem. A fun and colorful tale for all ages.

Extinctions: Twilight of the Species

Two journalists travel to an island in the Arctic Circle where scientists are searching for fossils of extinct animals. Like all journalists, they have a lot of questions: how is it possible for an entire species to completely disappear? Word has it that we’re in the midst of a sixth mass extinction, but what exactly does that mean? How did the first five happen? What is the scientific definition of an extinction? Alexandre Franc adeptly illustrates the narrative by Jean-Baptiste de Panafieu, a specialist in natural sciences and doctor of biological oceanology. Panafieu, who has already authored a number of popular science books, gives a clear explanation of what mass extinctions are, cleverly comparing past extinctions with the one we are witnessing now. The two authors present us with a clear, intelligent, and lighthearted perspective on a fascinating phenomenon.

Days of Sand

United States, 1937. In the middle of the Great Depression, 22-year-old photographer John Clark is brought on by the nascent Farm Security Administration to document the calamitous conditions of the Dust Bowl in the central and southern states, in order to bring the farmers’ plight to the public eye. When he starts working through his shooting script, however, he finds his subjects to be unreceptive. What good are a couple of photos against relentless and deadly dust storms? The more he shoots, the more John discovers the awful extent of their struggles, coming to question his own role and responsibilities in this tragedy sweeping through the center of the country. A moving and unforgettable tale, inspired by real-life stories of courage and perseverance against all odds.

Amalia

Amalia is on the verge of burnout. Her family life—with her husband, Karim; her 4-year-old daughter, Lili; and her 17-year-old stepdaughter, Nora—is nothing but rushing around, screaming, and doors slamming. At work, they talk about agility, flexibility, and adaptation, but her workload is slipping away from her. As she drives through the countryside, she sees diseased wheat fields and polluted rivers. She can’t even listen to the radio without some new story about deadly attacks and a dying climate. Amalia struggles, tries, fails… and eventually, she cracks.

World Without End

Is this the end of the world? Perhaps not yet… With humor and intelligence, “World Without End” is the fruit of a years-long collaboration between two of the most accomplished contemporary figures in comics and climate research. Together, Christophe Blain (“Quai d’Orsay,” Dargaud) and Jean-Marc Jancovici (Carbone 4, The Shift Project) explore our dependence on fossil fuels, the profound changes our planet is undergoing, and the resulting consequences for society as a whole. The dream of endless economic growth might be an illusion… but that doesn’t mean we are doomed to destruction, if we take the necessary steps today. A candid and empathetic analysis that leaves readers with a better understanding of today’s world and where we go from here as a society.

Going Green: Giving It (Almost) My All for the Planet

From recycling and making your own deodorant to buying second-hand furniture, Maïté Robert brings us a collection of humorous and thought-provoking vignettes about the many steps people can take in their day-to-day activities to live a more planet-friendly, environmentally-aware life… and about how easy it is to postpone such admirable resolutions. Told in the first-person and drawn from the author’s personal victories and setbacks in her own efforts to go green.

Desolation

Jean-Louis Payet is a man on the run. Reeling from a breakup, he changes his name and heads south from his home on Réunion Island. Way south: the remote Kerguelen Islands, an inhospitable archipelago whose scientific bases are civilization’s last bastion before the frozen Antarctic wastes. The mere journey, aboard a resupply vessel, will take a month. Payet spends the endless hours feeling diffident and superior, pining for his ex, hating his fellow passengers, and dreaming of a new life. But when he reaches the windswept wilderness of the former Desolation Islands, will he finally come face to face with something he can’t run away from?

Header image: Hubert Reeves Explains © Nelly Boutinot, Hubert Reeves, Daniel Casanave/ Le Lombard

Comics are known for their versatility when it comes to adapting various other media including film, animation and video games. With this month’s reading list we invite you to explore graphic adaptation of classic works of prose that made their way to the Europe Comics catalog.

How Much Land Does a Man Need?

A humorous adaptation of Leo Tolstoy’s short story about a farmer in a small village who develops a lust for acquiring ever more land and who, against the advice of his much more reasonable wife, will stop at nothing to become the biggest landowner around, traveling to a distant part of the country where the soil is said to be fertile and virgin and abundant and where grass grows chest high.

A Son of the Sun

Parlay is the French king of a dying island tribe and the father of the sublime Armande. He’s selling his pearls, a fortune collected from his island’s lagoon. The wealthiest traders in the Solomon Islands have been invited to the auction, except for David Grief, the Englishman the natives call the Son of the Sun. Come hell or high water—probably both—Grief will be there. And he isn’t coming for the pearls. This is a thrilling adaptation of two Jack London novellas, “A Son of the Sun” and “The Pearls of Parlay.”

Berezina

This is Ivan Gil and Frederic Richaud’s wonderful adaptation of Patrick Rambaud’s work on Napolean’s greatest feats. After the battle of Essling, they take us through the disastrous Russian campaign, the infamous Berezina.

In 1812, in order to keep his stranglehold on Europe, Napoleon had no choice but to declare war on the Russian emperor, Alexander. After three months of marching, his men, starved and exhausted, finally made it to Moscow… only to discover that the city had been deserted. Thus Napoleon and his army took up residence in the Russian capital without even the slightest resistance. But by nightfall, Moscow was on fire. Houses, churches and even the Kremlin were ablaze, and the entire French army risked being reduced to ashes. Caught in the trap, Napoleon was forced to leave the city and get back on the road to face his enemy.

Dodin-Bouffant: Gourmet Extraordinaire

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.

The Battle

“Of all the great battles of the Napoleonic Wars, the Battle of Essling is not the most famous. It was, however, one of the most bloody. Forty thousand died on the banks of the Danube over the course of two days in May 1809. Balzac decided to turn it into a novel for Scenes of Military Life” (The Human Comedy, Vol. 8). In 1833, he described his plan thus to Madame Hanska: “Not a woman in sight, cannons, horses, two armies, uniforms; on the first page, the cannon roars, and on the last, falls silent.”Balzac, busy with a thousand other projects, never had time to execute his plan.  But Patrick Rambaud has realized it with scrupulous attention to detail. The Battle does not tell a story; it unfolds like a mural that surveys all the troops’ strategic movements, notes the details of the terrain that made such a difference to the battle’s outcome, and sketches the portraits of the great figure of the Napoleonic era, Lannes, Bessières, Masséna. But this comprehensive view doesn’t come at the expense of detail.  Not a single cartridge belt, not a single garter button is missing from this immense army. The combination of precise detail and epic sweep that brings these pages to life makes this novel a unique achievement. It won the Prix Goncourt in 1997.” – Gérard Meudal

Hibakusha

Ludwig has never been a soldier. A childhood injury left him lame in one leg, which has allowed him to largely sit out the war on the sidelines, as a translator. Fleeing his passionless marriage, he accepts an assignment in Japan, allowing him to return to the land of his youth. But the year is 1945. It is not a good time to be Japanese, or German… much less stationed in Hiroshima. Ludwig is tempted by love and, in furtively tampering with his translations of classified documents, by the chance to do something heroic. But none of that will save him…

The Bleiberg Project

The life of Jeremy Corbin, an unhappy, alcoholic Wall Street trader, takes a drastic turn when he learns shocking news about his long-lost father. He soon finds himself headed to Switzerland to pick up a mysterious safe deposit box whose contents hold the key to a terrible secret: horrific experiments carried out by the Nazis during WWII in their quest to create the Superman. With modern-day Nazis on his tail, a pretty, wise-cracking CIA agent assigned to protect him, and a deadly spy from Israeli intelligence blasting onto the scene at the most critical moments, his early-morning cocktail is suddenly the last thing on Jeremy’s mind.

The Princess of Clèves

Entering life at the French royal court, a world in which “what is shown is rarely the truth,” the young Princess of Clèves learns of passion’s torments, of heartbreak, and of the agony of love. Claire Bouilhac and Catel Muller’s graphic-novel adaption of this classic tale—often referred to as the forerunner of the modern psychological novel—remains faithful to the original 17th-century text, while also providing surprising and original insight into both the mystery of the creative act, and the link between the author, Madame de La Fayette, and her heroine, the Princess of Clèves.

Black Water Lilies

Three willful women: one old wicked, one young and selfish, and the third in the prime of her life. A man murdered three ways: stabbed, bludgeoned, and drowned in a stream. The mystery brings brash young Inspector Laurenç to the postcard-perfect Norman village of Giverny, home to Impressionist Claude Monet’s gardens and studio. Like any small town, Giverny has its secrets. But have they to do with greed? Lust? Missing paintings? Jealous husbands? Laurenç soon finds himself head over heels for a pretty schoolteacher—and in over his head. Dider Cassegrain brings Michel Bussi’s bestselling novel to life in lush, delicate watercolors worthy of the famous canvases that lend the book its name: Monet’s immortal Water Lilies…

Ivory Pearl

Ivory Pearl is the final work by the French master of noir fiction, Jean-Patrick Manchette. But this wide-reaching geopolitical thriller, blending action and adventure, was only known to readers in its unfinished form, as written by Manchette before his passing in 1995. Now, using his father’s notes, Doug Headline has finally put together the full tale, alongside artist Max Cabanes. Together, they have brought Ivory Pearl to vivid life in a graphic novel not to be missed.

Delacroix

In 1864, a year after the death of Eugène Delacroix, Alexandre Dumas recounted the memories that marked his friendship with the great painter. From one anecdote to the next, Dumas’ text reveals the personality of both painter and writer. All the while, a colorful portrait of the period takes shape; a period in which works of art are subject to fiery debates, intense admiration, and irrevocable rejection. With humor and passion, Catherine Meurisse invites herself into this very personal adaptation of Dumas’ tribute to his friend.

Raven

Raven is a fearless young pirate as capable of legendary exploits as he is of epic fails. In this inaugural volume, he finds himself on the high Caribbean seas on a search for a treasure meant for the Governor of Tortuga. Allied with the dreadful Lady Darksee, whose hope is to gain royal pardon, the terrible Governor must act quickly. But the impetuous and talented Raven has grand plans to beat them to it…

A Woman’s Voice

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.

Little Sister

Susie has two older sisters: the vivacious Effie, and the elegant Sandra. Life is hard when you’re the baby of the family! No one ever lets you do anything. No one ever pays any attention to you. Everyone makes fun of you. Bestselling children’s author Susie Morgenstern takes readers back to 1950s Newark and all the everyday charms and heartbreaks of the year she turned ten: spelling bees, synagogue, Christmas lights, Halloween candy, nights out at the movies, sneaking fast food. In his joyous art, Johann G. Louis lovingly evokes the era and a young girl awakening to life.

Someone to Talk To

Samuel is feeling blue, and for good reason! He’s single, lives in a tiny Paris apartment, and is languishing in a job he hates. Alone on his birthday, he decides to amuse himself by calling the only phone number he knows by heart: the one for his childhood home. To his surprise, someone picks up… His past self! All 10-year-old Sam wants to do is play soccer, travel the world, and write books to impress girls. How will Samuel ever be able to tell him the truth without crushing his dreams? It’s time he got his life back on track.

The Secret Garden

When Mary’s parents die, she moves to England, where she is sent to a strange mansion in the middle of the Yorkshire moors, belonging to her uncle. It is here that she discovers the comfort of friendship… and a wonderful secret that she soon shares with her new companions: a garden forgotten by everyone, whose key, as if by magic, also opens the doors to broken hearts. This is a two-part graphic adaptation of Frances Hodgson Burnett’s 1912 classic of children’s literature.

U4

“My name’s Jules. From the window of my Paris apartment, I’m looking in horror at the piles of bodies in the street below. My parents are on the other side of the world. They’re almost certainly dead. My older brother, Pierre, can only drown his sorrow in drugs, but I must look after Alicia, a little girl who somehow escaped the virus and is all alone. But what can I do for her? My only hope is to join the other Warriors of Time masters…This meeting is where I’ll find out who Khronos really is…”

You choose which volume to read first. The first four are parallel stories, so it doesn’t matter which one you start with. But you must finish with Khronos, where the four threads are finally brought together.

A Report to an Academy

A man is invited to the Academy of Sciences to give a report on his incredible metamorphosis: in five years, he transformed from an ape into a man. He describes to the members of the Academy how, following his capture, he was forced to kneel, to demonstrate resilience, to observe, to adapt, and ultimately to renounce his animalistic state in order to survive and enter the world of men. But has he truly become human?

An Enemy of the People

An adaptation of Ibsen’s play: Dr. Stockmann discovers that his town’s thermal springs are contaminated with bacteria, so he decides to warn everyone. But to fix the problem, expensive work would be necessary. The town’s mayor, who is none other than the doctor’s own brother, tries to silence Stockmann.

Header image: How Much Land Does a Man Need?  © Martin Veyron / Dargaud

AI, machine learning, hi-tech homes… Humanity is still establishing the role of robots in everyday life, but what if in the not-so-distant-future humans have to fight to earn their place in a robot-dominated world?  Here is a collection of comics, graphic novels and a webtoons with robots and androids, good and bad.

I, Robot

What do we mean when we talk about artificial intelligence? Are we talking about beings more intelligent than humans? Wiser? Would we be able to coexist with such beings and overcome our presumption of superiority? These and other questions are what Isaac Asimov explores in his legendary stories of robots. And what Raúl Cuadrado has now dared to illustrate.

Yojimbot

In a dystopian not-too-distant future in Japan, Hiro lives with his father on an island populated by androids, where they eke out a meager existence while trying to keep out of sight. But when they run afoul of a troop of high-tech military thugs, Hiro’s dad sacrifices himself to save his son, turning Hiro’s already-bleak world upside-down. He is then rescued by a samurai robot called a “yojimbot,” and together they seek to avenge his father’s death and make contact with a mysterious associate known only as the “rights holder,” before the soldiers and their drones close in…

Love Love Love

In a futuristic Paris, robots have evolved into sentient beings whose rights are being revoked due to the perceived threat they pose to human society. But not everyone has turned their backs on these so-called mechas. When the cherish bot Karel and down-on-her-luck Elle meet in the subway, they soon become friends, and something more… But a robot resistance is forming, and the two of them are dragged unwittingly into the chaos. Not only that, but Karel’s programmed life expectancy is mysteriously decreasing… Will they be able to stop the countdown, and steer clear of both the robot rebels and human police?

Roger and His Humans

Things look like they might be starting to turn around for thirty-odd year old no-hoper Hugo, when he finds a robot in his house on his birthday. But, as he soon discovers, this is no birthday present (no one seems to have remembered to get him anything!), but the handiwork of his cousin, an engineer in the French army, who realized that the robot he had been building was designed to destroy humanity. Forced to hide out with Hugo, Roger – as he decides to call himself – must learn to live with humans… No mean feat!

Read the webtoon here.

Last of the Atlases

Birds wasting away in a national park, refusing to migrate. Identical geometric markings on the wings of completely different insect species. A pillar of dust in the desert. A small-time hood travels to India’s shipbreaking yards in search of a giant nuclear-powered construction robot. A big-time crime boss makes a killing off the Algerian Revolution, in a world where it happened fifteen years later than in our own. “A good story,” insists reporter Françoise Halfort, visited abruptly by a post-menopausal pregnancy, “is one that draws unexpected connections between seemingly unconnected events.” Four star creators join talents on a vast canvas that takes in the entire French 20th century.

Giga Years Robot

In this adventure where our immortal hero would do anything to die, what secrets about his distant origins will be revealed? Will they shatter our beliefs about life and death? Was it fate or chance that brought our societies together around completely different visions and perspectives about what it means to live out our lives on a lonely rock in a far-reaching universe? An ambitious series that faces all of these questions… alongside non-stop intergalactic action.

IAN

Intelligent Artificial Neuromechanoid… Ian. It’s the name of the newest recruit in Team 21 of the SRS – the ‘Special Rescue Section.’ Ian is an android, impossible to tell apart from a human being with the naked eye, and his creators claim that he’s controlled by a true artificial intelligence – capable of learning, adapting, and even of experiencing emotions. Not every member of the team is happy about their new partner, but their higher-ups aren’t giving them a choice – and the mission comes first…

Elecboy

In a devastated cityscape, a lone man fights off creatures of fearsome power: white, winged, serenely impassive, and capable of terrifying transformations… Decades later, in a desolate American southwest, a meager colony of human survivors ekes out a precarious existence between dwindling water supplies and magnetic shields that screen them from roving bands of aerial attackers. An ancestral upper class presides, while in the lower city, laborers do the hazardous work of keeping everyone alive. But all that may be about to change when the mysterious Joshua comes of age…

Header image: Yojimbot © Sylvain Repos / Dargaud