Archive | Reviews

Marsupilami 7: The Gold Of Boavista

By Batem & Yann Publisher: Cinebook ISBN: 9781800440692 Although these books aren’t illustrated or written by the Marsupilami creator, Franquin, I do find that Batem’s artwork utterly captures Franquin’s frantic, frenetic energy. And, let’s face it, that’s what we want. Strong visual humour, great characters, and panel by panel storytelling that drives the narrative forward […]

Continue Reading

Posy Simmonds: star of the show

I WAS in the presence of cartooning royalty yesterday at the Cartoon Museum conference with the brilliant but modest Posy Simmonds as the celebrity speaker. She is a relaxed speaker, talking unscripted against a backdrop of illustrations which showed her career, her technique and processes, backed up by a couple of her development notebooks which […]

Continue Reading

Spirou & Fantasio 19: The Visitor From The Mesozoic

By Franquin Publisher: Cinebook ISBN: 9781800440661 As the little disclaimer states at the beginning of this book, this story was written 60 years ago. Consequently, what we now know about dinosaurs and the era they lived in is very different to the narrative liberties taken here. In some respects, they’re no worse than Spielberg upscaling […]

Continue Reading

The Legend Of Luther Arkwright

By Bryan Talbot Publisher: Jonathan Cape ISBN: 9781787332324 We’re lucky to have Bryan Talbot, and luckier still that he’s produced another Luther Arkwright tale. Unashamedly British in its presentation, Luther Arkwright was exploring the multiverse decades before the current vogue. And it’s the multiverse that is an intrinsic part of this new tale too. Luther […]

Continue Reading

The Fortune Of The Winczlavs 2. Tom and Liza, 1910

By Van Hamme & Berthet Publisher: Cinebook ISBN: 9781800440722 Skipping a generation, volume two focuses on siblings Tom and Liza. Inheriting a vast fortune based on whiskey their lives are significantly changed. Tom is a layabout, happy to coast through life doing the minimum, so his windfall is there to be frittered away or used […]

Continue Reading

Je Ne Sais Quoi

By Lucie Arnoux Publisher: Jonathan Cape ISBN: 9781787333598 At first glance, there’s something immediately captivating about Je Ne Sais Quoi. Lucie Arnoux’s beautifully coloured, heavily detailed cover gets your attention from the get-go. What’s more, despite being in English, it’s presented in the European album format, hinting at the theme of duality that so infuses […]

Continue Reading