JohnnyEnzyme

I found La vengeance du Comte Skarbek to be a nifty story by Belgian Yves Sente, with painterly art by Polishman Grzegorz Rosinski. They're both major players in BD of course, with Sente working on titles like Blake & Mortimer, XIII, and Thorgal, and Rosinski working on Buddy Longway, Ballad of the Lost Moors, Chninkel, and... Thorgal.

EDIT: Aha, thanks, IMGUR, you worthless bag of meaningless, temporary hosting abilities....

A Parisian street scene.

The story itself is a clever riff on The Count of Monte Cristo, set in 1843. Here, a young Polish artist named "Skarbek" is forced to flee to Paris, where he takes on the name "Paulus," and meets a beautiful young model who becomes his muse. His paintings become known to a prominent art dealer who contracts him, and all seems well until he realises he's been entrapped by the duo. Things take a turn when the model falls in love with him, followed by Paulus becoming outraged when he discovers that the art dealer's been sexually and mentally abusing her. They fight, a bystander gets accidentally killed, and unfortunately Paulus looks for all the world like the guilty party.

As is often the case, I'm a sucker for tall ship shots.

And so he flees by ship! Which, wouldn't you know it, gets attacked by "Alexander," the pirate master. Alexander's lieutenant "Violette" notices that he's an artist, and persuades the pirate-master to spare him. From there, he's installed as a prisoner and resident painter at Alexander's island retreat.

And there was a trial.

Paulus eventually returns to Paris, looking for his revenge, and persuades two prominent, aggrieved patrons of the art dealer to sue him. What follows is a sprawling, highly entertaining courtroom trial, which features much of the island and pirate backstory, helping to explain why these panels cut back and forth.

Those red sails against the harbor colors really send me(!)

Note: Rosinski is one of those who seems to tailor his style to each particular work. In this two-tome series, I guess he's using gouache (opaque watercolor) to simulate oil painting (which he does in some other series), in this case using a loose, but effective style as I found it.

More island shots.

I've given you the broad strokes of the storyline, but what really makes this story work is a triple plot-twist that works beautifully with the trial setting and dramatic story ending. Besides the clear Dumas reference, this story has also been cited as being distinctly Hugo-esque. Other than the seeming absurdity of a prominent pirate operating in the Mediterranean in the mid-1800's, I found this quite satisfying historical fiction.

More:
https://www.bedetheque.com/serie-8289-BD-Vengeance-du-Comte-Skarbek.html

Now, the above might seem kind of fawning and patriarchal on the face of things, but I found it pretty-much the opposite. (work with me here?)

In short-- these three gals come from a range of backgrounds & scholarly ability, and are all vying to self-torture themselves through graduate school, essentially. For example, the advisor to Helen (the redhead below) is especially an enormous asshole, toying with her dissertation and future job-prospects unnecessarily, altho I suppose that's also par for the course when it comes to the academic grant-process, no? *sigh*

Oh, right-- what's happening here is that the school year is finally over, and they're spending a few days in the country at Helen's family's place. Fresh air, mountains, hiking, et cet.

Now, all three of them had pretty-consistently been dealing with shit from their BF's or love interests (and vice-versa) for the whole semester, so it was just nice for them to chill out, just girls, and symbolically as kids once again, with Helen's family.

Those are the lines that really killed me-- the idea that gifted academics can suffer such thoughts. Uh... "Imposter Syndrome," or something like that? So, meanwhile alongside their own accomplishments, they can be almost in a state of awe upon expert craftsman and people who make things happen with their hands, see?

If the pics don't show up correctly, try the page:
https://imgur.com/gallery/little-sequence-from-fascinating-slice-of-life-work-glory-days-i-e-le-bel-ge-by-merwan-2012-AVlBEKe

Merwan is just wonderful to me:
https://www.bedetheque.com/auteur-9301-BD-Merwan.html

So... I was just re-reading Woodring's One Beautiful Spring Day, which was a grand attempt to tie together his major classics Congress of the Animals & Fran, and then another one, Poochytown.

Now, if you haven't read the first two? Then I strongly advise you to start screaming at the top of your lungs, running around like a headless chicken, and making your way over to the nearest comics shop tout de suite, even were that to involve a grueling dogsled race across the vast, desert wastes of Siberia. That's how amazing those two titles are, in mine humble bumble.

Okay, let's get to it-- (lol)
So, what I really liked about the panel above was the fact that there's an optical illusion there of sorts, suggesting areas of "grey," even though the image is totally in B&W. You can see this around the pillars, and a bit around the roof of Frank's home. (might possibly help to unfocus your eyes a bit, squint, or just move closer or farther to the pic)

See what I mean..? Or no?

Another thing I love is the 'etched' quality of the sky. Just like the other areas of the image, using the thickening / thinning of the horizontal lines to suggest, well... everything!

Okay, now here-- Frank and his GF Fran have had a HUGE row (fight), and he's starting to realise that he went overboard, and that sadly, she might not be coming back. That delicate little flower of his GF, that is.

(and men can cry; it's okay)

See, and here's the concern!

WARNING, MATURE MATERIAL AHEAD!
PROCEED UPON THINE OWN RISK!
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Oh my.
So... no problem, I guess!? oO

In any case, I find American Jim Woodring a national treasure, and you can't have him, you delightful Euros, you! (lol)

Seriously though, I find Jim's line-work entrancing, precise and even delirious to the point of being an honorary LC-artist at the very least.

This comes from the S01E10 episode of the 2021 CG series, which as of this date has run three seasons and 112 eps. The English version of this ep is called UnSmurfable Smile, I believe.

There's a five-minute clip of this wild ride, below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wGbQZLCGj4I
(French CC's are available for students like me)

Personally I think they did a nice job on this series, altho one thing I do prefer about the 1981 English version was that the voicework tended to sound appropriate to a race of creatures "three apples high."

Sort of like the voices on Alvin's Xmas song:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=np2ZapISRzM

TAGS: Peyo

Mourrain doesn't show up in LBK or BDT yet, but it's clear that he does lots of illustrations for childrens' books. The style we see above seems to be his most common, but he also works in a more monotone, shade-heavy approach. More of his work can be seen here.

I don't know if this little collection appears in any particular book (I couldn't find it), but in any case it appears to involve three children visiting these famous places:

Pyramid entrance to Le Louvre.

Opéra Garnier’s grand staircase, with the Phantom of the Opera just visible under the stairs. EDIT: thanks to "troglodyte_mignon" in comments for the info!

That's The Brooklyn Bridge, of course.

And finally, Le Jardin des plantes, which I understand to be headquarters of the National Museum of Natural History, which also includes a zoo! :D

Btw, I found that statue pretty cool, both in spectacle, and due to the fact that Lamarck was an early proponent of evolution. (I'd never heard of the guy)

Layout of Le Jardin, showing its four main galleries, greenhouses (it was originally a royal garden for medicinal plants), and all the smaller buildings.

I've only been to Paris once as an adult, and certainly regret not spending time here(!)

BONUS: Maybe a theme song-- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tN64qgptQQA

So for me, as I stumble and bumble my way through learning French (mostly through DuoLingo, hey), I'm often thinking about this issue.

Now-- on the surface of things, Modern English is almost exclusively comprised of German & French, and almost every word in these sentences are specific examples of such in terms of direct etymology. Which is a big part of why I've typically regarded French & German as my sibling languages. It's a nice, bright thought, anyway!

Let's take the modern English word "fight"-- WP claims:

From Middle English fighten, from Old English feohtan (“to fight, combat, strive”), from Proto-West Germanic *fehtan, from Proto-Germanic *fehtaną (“to comb, tease, shear, struggle with”), from Proto-Indo-European *peḱ- (“to comb, shear”).

My point is that there's so many ways to run with that over time... in any language whatsoever! Indeed, IIRC there was a "fisten" variation which meant an entirely different thing in earlier German.

But, "shear?" Yes, yes back in my schoolyard days, I wanted to shear my opponent like a little lost lamb, but... I don't think that's right.

So here's my point, assuming you've lasted this far. Modern German in fact split from modern English maybe around ~~800AD? And Modern French, around... perhaps slightly earlier than the Norman Conquest (1066), meaning that even though Modern English is absolutely PACKED full of French & German pronyms, we can't just assume they mean the same thing, anymore, as with the examples above.

It sort of breaks my heart, but it's just reality, non?

The above is Procession, I think?

Me, I just love it.
Now IIRC, Maggie did that one because of a dream about spoons her kiddo had. (must be nice to have such a parent, haha)

Oh, a flier!

Maggie Vandewalle was born and raised just outside of Iowa City, Iowa, in a rural setting. As a child she divided her time between roaming fields and woods, scouring the public library for good books, and forever doodling. Out of high school she received an art scholarship to the University of Iowa, where she worked towards a BFA in printmaking. After several years she took a break from college to explore life without the constraints of school. As time went on, she determined that while school might not continue to play a part in her life, art most definitely would in the form of drawing and painting. Ever since, she has used watercolor or graphite to convey her love of the organic world and that of a really good story:

“While growing up, if I wasn’t outside I spent most of my time with my nose in books. When I look back, the pictures are as clear to me as the stories, they are intertwined in a way that creates magic for me. Because I’m not a writer but love the story, I try to create visual narratives through the use of paint.”

Midnight Revelry, i.e. “Moondance”

Now, me? I don't know if we need to battle over what's more American vs. what's more Euro? (sod that, laddies) To me this is some great stuff that rather exemplifies the heights of both, altho I do find Maggie's last name interesting in that regard, in that it's evidently a classic Dutch / Flemish name.

Straight on Till Morning

In any case, I find her stuff rather wonderful, seemingly referencing England's Richard Adams' Watership Down, the great Polish-American Maurice Sendak, and whatever else, creating her own utterly unique, delightful style in the end.

http://www.maggievandewalle.com/

This Moebius tarot deck is by "QuirkyMagic," a pen-name for Englishman Clive Austin. The deck was evidently a handmade, one-off creation for a friend. The rest of the deck can be seen here.

Speaking of which, he also 'Kickstarted' a hand-crafted collection of cards called The Unremarkable Oracle. The idea I believe is similar to the way Runestones, The I Ching, and The Tarot work, i.e. they're all tools with a randomising quality to help one regain momentum in one's life, and perhaps some personal insights.

I find the cards and the concept intriguing, altho unfortunately his "QuirkyMagic.com" site now seems to be down, which is where the deck and a guidebook could once be had for £25. Bugger. Still, for anyone curious, it seems the cards (front and back) and booklet have been somewhat preserved across the Instagram link above, as well as at his general Pinterest site.

(wow, I sure do love to embed dem links, huh?)

Jansson of course was the Swedish-Finnish genius who created the Moomin series for kids, as well as for all-ages audiences. I want to say it drew upon American Charles Schulz' work on Peanuts, in which novel character-types were introduced in a fairly LC-style, exploring just what it is to be a thinking, emotional being, bumping up against others of different variety.

https://i.imgur.com/2ZkJXgV.jpeg

What I really liked about these in particular is that AFAIK, Jansson worked almost exclusively in B&W (not unlike Schulz, classically). So these full-color watercolors just kinda blew me away as a chronic Moomin fan!

https://i.imgur.com/eVbwz3k.jpeg

The story itself involves a girl searching for her lost cat, a fairly standard story-device, I suppose. But along the way she meets some wild & wonderful folks. Again a pretty classic story-device, but what makes this one stand out is the silly poetry, which I'm not sure Jansson had exactly attempted, before.

https://i.imgur.com/NycL9SR.jpeg

TBC-- all of these splash pages feature some amusing Seussian, playful poems underneath them. Here's the one for the balloon trip above:

At this point I'll quote the fadeout of this excellent little book, here:

Tove Jansson (1914-2001) is Scandinavia's best known and best loved children's author. She began publishing sketches and cartoons at the age of fifteen and in 1945 wrote the first in a series of internationally renowned Moomintroll books. The Dangerous Journey (published originally in 1977) was the final Moomin book that she wrote and illustrated, and offers a memorable last glimpse of Moomin Valley. Jansson lived in Helsinki but spent a large part of her life on an island in the Gulf of Finland.

https://www.lambiek.net/artists/j/jansson_t.htm

NO, I'm not trying to go back to posting once per day again, but I just had to share this one. Okay, then? Are we clear on that? *phew*

So, this is evidently un affiche for the 2nd International Salon of the Comic Strip, organized in Kortrijk/Courtrai, Belge, from the 13th-15th, May of 1989, during the annual Sinksenfeesten Festival.

See how many characters can you recognise, and then I'll share the answers below.

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We recognize from the left corner, top-to-bottom:

E.P. Jacobs’ Blake & Mortimer, Dupa's Cubitus, Jacques Tardi's Adèle Blanc-Sec, André Franquin's Fantasio et Spirou (whose legs stick out behind Adèle's head), Jean Giraud’s Jimmy McClure (from 'Blueberry’), Jean Roba’s Bill, Peyo’s Smurf, Willy Vandersteen’s Lambik, Gotlib’s Professeur Burp (from 'Rubrique-à-Brac’), Hergé's Tintin, Albert Uderzo’s Obelix, Morris’ Jolly Jumper, Victor Hubinon’s Barbe-Rouge, Hugo Pratt’s Corto Maltese, Willy Linthout’s Urbanus, JC Mézières' Shingouz (from 'Valérian et Laureline') and Albert Uderzo’s Tanguy (from 'Tanguy & Laverdure').

In the right corner we notice Franquin’s Marsupilami, with Spip the squirrel (from 'Spirou') hanging on the tip of his tail in the left upper corner. Beneath the Marsupilami's legs JC Mézières’ Laureline et un grognon from "Bluxte" (both from 'Valérian et Laureline’) can be spotted. High in the air we see the pterodactyl from Jean Giraud’s Arzach. --LBK & Johnny

Yesterday I ran in to matttt's excellent video exploring this question, i.e. "was Ballad of the Salt Sea (1967) the first GN?," altho to be clear-- it's mostly about the total comics career of legendary Italian artist / writer Hugo Pratt.

TBH, I wasn't really expecting to sit through a 17min video, but "matttt" is just such a great talent, that it wasn't hard. I only wish he covered more Euro comics specifically, but in any case, he's a terrrrific, home-grown comics historian who speaks with passion and precision. (did you like that?)

NOTES: 1) there's a built-in sponsor-ad starting just after 5min that lasts a full minute, 2) If you want to skip specifically to the Corto Maltese stuff, you can start about halfway through, in which matttt gets in to what makes the series so special:

-----> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jlIKSeNJrC8 <-----

As for what really was the first GN? Good question. There's an old idea that a bunch of short comics collected in to hardcover format fit this definition, but I'm not sure I buy that. Personally, I tend to think of a 'proper GN' as a long-form narrative that's not just gag-related. So the Tintin albums would fit the bill for me, but in fact there are examples going back to the 1920's, possibly even earlier.

I guess matttt's proposal of Ballad of the Salt Sea as the first GN (in which Corto was only one of several prominent characters) is based on the idea that it was the first (modern-era at least) example of comics in fusion with literature, for what that's worth.

Now, I don't think we need to make war over this stuff; moreso, I find it a fun debate-topic in which to better understand comics as a whole.

Fair?

Hello out there in Inter-land! This is a little side-project for the community. These are some favorite web-games, meant to kill a little time & have a little fun. Emphasis is generally on simplicity over fancy graphics & complicated rules.

(NOTE: most of these will jump to full-screen mode if you click a button in the bottom right corner)

--GAME--	(clickable thumbnail)	--DESCRIPTION--
8VENTURE		An ingenious riff on the classic Atari 2600 game. Unlike the other 'sequels' I've seen, this one reworks most of the elements and gameplay.
Prince of Persia		The mega-classic, pioneering platform game with smooth animation. Note that you can jump levels and boost health by fiddling with the URL.
Super Star Trek 1978 x 25th Anniversary edition		The original Star Trek computer game from 1978, overlaid with lovely pixelated graphics and sounds from the 16-bit anniversary adventure game.
type	has	to
be	in	tables
column 6	6	6