(click links for samples, zoom in on image below for example page)
Grandville (Bryan Talbot, 2009-2017) - When a book featuring 'anthro' animals doesn't get on my nerves, it's usually something quite good. What we have here is a steampunk detective story set in an alternate history; one in which Napoleon managed to conquer Western Europe. This is also something of a 'Noir' story writ large, in which instead of the usual private detective working a case, we have an actual police detective, taking on something... very big. Grandville is frankly quite violent, resorting to the facile, old storytelling technique of using murder to tie up loose ends everywhere. While I'm not really a fan of such, I have to admit it works nicely here, and the story zips along to a satisfying conclusion in which our hero (a badger) takes on a right-wing conspiracy out to stir up war, in order to plunder newly-discovered oil fields. A familiar, topical story one might say, although that just covers the first volume. There are five 100-page books in the series, and the quality only builds from here. As a special bonus, one of the huge pleasures of this series is spotting the endless BD & literary cameos, such as (from Tintin) Snowy's sad yet hilarious appearance here. If you loved the art and style of Blacksad, but found the stories a bit cliché at times, I can recommend Grandville for having sharper, more original plotting and dialogue. Frankly there's much more to say about the series, which I'll try to get to in future.
Human (Agrimbau & Varela, 2019) - Another cracking good read from Lucas Varela, author of the modern classic Longest Day of the Future. In this futuristic, robot-centric story, a married pair of scientists go in to cryogenic stasis, planning to revive together when a post-apocalyptic Earth is safe to inhabit again. The button-down, rigorously professional husband arrives and sets up camp, aided by his talented team of robot assistants. All the while he relentlessly tries to discover the whereabouts of his wife, who seemingly arrived a few years earlier. Finally he locates her, and is broken by what he discovers. Human is a nice sci-fi story that examines the psyche, and specifically, what holds our internal realities together. It also has a lot of fun with Asimov's Three Laws of Robotics, particularly when it comes to interacting with a once-sane person losing their mind in a world filled with strange, hominid descendants.
Back (K.C. Green & Anthony Clark, 2014 - 2021) - I'm going to cheat this time and include my favorite (non-Euro) webcomic of all time, now that it's completed its big finale. Some will be familiar with Green as the creator of Gunshow, featuring the "Question Hound," who famously says "this is fine" whilst sitting in a burning house, a pretty savage metaphor for modern civilisation. (have you seen the full sequence? if not, then here it is, plus it's lesser-known sequel)
So-- Back is a bit like Princess Mononoke in that it features a heroine whose mission is to shut down industries of exploitation, thus helping to save the world. What's oh-so-great about this online GN (graphic novel) is that it's nothing at all like one would expect from that mission statement. It's delightfully quirky, rude, farcical, inventive and unpredictable, whilst still retaining plenty of logic and internal structure. In the story, Abigail (the heroine) and her friend Daniel proceed through a long journey and series of events to reach the capitol and confront the king, i.e. Earth's primary exploiter. In fact Abigail, having woken up with no memory and little sense of purpose, isn't very sure about her supposed mission, and is even told by various helping hands along the way that her purpose is actually to END the world. This is a superb GN which concludes with a string of shocks, surprises and fireworks in hugely-satisfying fashion. I recommend taking a look while it's still free to read online, as it may go exclusively to book format in future.
Diabolical Summer (Smolderen & Clerisse, 2019) Another intriguing work from the team that produced Atomic Empire (reviewed previously). This one shares the playful, stylised art and 50's-60's time period, but is a lot more focused and relevant. In most ways it's about a young man on the slippery path to adulthood, struggling with new friendships, new challenges, the opposite sex, and especially, trying to make sense of who is father really is. Somehow it's also a tale of dark pasts, murder, and espionage, yet I can't help but feel that the central theme is still that of struggling to understood ourselves, the people around us, and the inner lives of our parents. As with other 'S & C' works, style-wise there's an intriguing 'elusiveness' which is at turns pleasant or sinister, which I found unique and even riveting at times.
The Coldest City (Johnston & Hart, 2012) - A slow-brewing espionage tale filled with deceptions, double-agents, and heaps of shadowy unknowns. In other words, more realities of the actual spy profession, and much less of the entertaining nonsense found in James Bond and similar series. The album features rudimentary, sketch-like art, but the story was excellent and most certainly carried the day. It reminded me a lot of the intricate Tinker, Tailor, Soldier Spy series, and was in fact made in to a critically well-received movie, Atomic Blonde (2017).
