By Jean Van Hamme & Ted Benoit Publisher: Cinebook ISBN: 978-1-905460-63-2 I've already mentioned the (obvious) similarities between Edgar P. Jacobs Blake & Mortimer and Tintin, and nothing wrong with that, in a previous review. At first glance The Francis Blake Affair seems to promise more of the same period adventure until, that is, you […]
Archive | Reviews
Yakari: The Island Prisoners
By Derib & Job Publisher: Cinebook ISBN: 978-1-84918-010-0 Like the previous review about Melusine: Love Potions, this books offers a way into comics and cartooning for younger readers that is sadly lacking today. Yakari is a little Native American boy, and along with his mustang, Little Thunder, explores the world around him in the North […]
Melusine: Love Potions
By Clarke & Gilson Publisher: Cinebook ISBN: 978-1-84918-005-0 The Melusine books are collections of, usually, lengthy gag strips that fill the whole page. Melusine is a young witch who inhabits a world of fairytale and folklore, and they're both charmingly written and beautifully drawn. The theme of this one is love, and often how it […]
Grandville
By Bryan Talbot Publisher: Jonathon Cape ISBN: 978-0-224-08488-8 I wasn't quite sure what I was expecting from Grandville. Bryan Talbot is a flexible and innovative creative individual (Alice in Sunderland probably shows this off best) so would I be getting social commentary, science fiction, a gritty action piece or a throwback to the more creative […]
Spirou & Fantasio: Adventure Down Under
By Tome & Janry Publisher: Cinebook ISBN: 978-1-84918-011-5 Back at the beginning of the year I was asked to teach a course in Winchester to get adults into cartooning. One of the students was from Portugal, and he spent quite some time enthusing about his personal favourite, Spirou and Fantasio. Unable to lay his hands […]
World War II In Cartoons
By Mark Bryant Publisher: Grub Street ISBN: 978-1-904943-06-8 Newly reprinted, this is an amazingly detailed and fantastically researched book that deserves a space on any cartoonist's or history buff's shelf. Divided into yearly sections that map the progress of the war, it offers a wonderfully rich selection of cartoons that reflect the events of the […]