JohnnyEnzyme

As an art-fancier and someone who dabbles myself, I've always gotten a kick out of the creation process, from "thumbnail" to penciled page, to an inked page, and finally a fully-colorized one.

I spotted these two pages on Tumblr yesterday, I believe from the English-language volume Good Golly, Mr. Goof!

...and combined them in to the lead image at top. Color makes a world of difference, non??

Now I forget who posted them exactly (whups), but you can skim Tumblr's BD stream if you like. It's quite nice, featuring lots of stuff I haven't gotten to yet, plus a good amount of stuff I've never heard of.

Ah, and some previous examples of the page creation process below...

EDIT: Imgur currently screwing up the content of the next two, whilst preserving the third. 🙄

Béatrice Tillier:
https://lemm.ee/post/36811732

Tintin, the lost "Picaros" page:
https://lemm.ee/post/17935055

Kriss of Valnor: (haven't shared it here yet formally)
https://imgur.com/a/creation-process-of-la-montagne-de-temps-mountain-of-time-v7-of-kriss-of-valnor-from-world-of-thorgal-series-6BYBHWP

NOTE: Hey y'all-- I don't know how it is for you, but for me, any page that leads with an Imgur pic needs to be manually clicked to view, such as in the first two links just above. In other words, for me it won't show up as a thumbnail that can be 'popped open.'

My working theory is that the problem was introduced in Lemmy v. 0.19.7, which is what this instance is running. (you can check it at bottom of page)

Now maybe-possibly this is fixed in 0.19.8, but I'm not sure. If you can see the thumbnails yourself, could you reply with which Lemmy version your instance is running? Thanks! 😃

Carrying on from this earlier post, here's Ms. Bengalore the cat (and animal representative) doing the utterly unthinkable by confronting the castle's tyrant-ruler Silvio the bull in his headquarters, surrounded as he is by canines who'd love nothing better than to rip her throat out.

Note: I have one more 8-page sequence I've picked out to share, but it's unrelated, and I need to format it, too. So, enjoy this page for now:

Par for the course, the elites of this so-called 'socialist' community force the underlings to gather wood and work to expand the castle during winter, then use their wages (buttons) to pay for enough wood in order to avoid freezing during the night.

But, hark! The lower beasts, after much hardship and debate, have decided to try a different course. It took a lot for them to get there of course, but now they're ready to risk their lives and put their paws down for this step in revolution.

Welp, this has been a tremendous series so far, with the French-language issues still being published. If all goes well, they'll later get collected and translated in to the final book (four) in the series. Oh, and one thing I forgot to mention last time-- each ~22pp issue features a cover (or is it a back?) of a fictional gazette published by the ruling class. I find them super-clever. For example:

More covers and sample pages can be seen at BDT: (scroll down)
https://www.bedetheque.com/serie-60691-BD-Chateau-des-Animaux.html

I don't remember where I first discovered her art, but it was just about love at first sight. I posted the owl pic before at the loverly c/SuperbOwl, but I wanted to share a bit more of the goodness. So, let's go:

Among the Camellias

Barred Owl

Vasilisa Romanenko is a Connecticut-based illustrator, designer, and fine artist. She creates paintings and drawings inspired by botany, natural history, and textile design. Her artwork depicts the mystery, beauty, and fragility of nature through the use of botanical elements, intricate patterns, and vivid colors.

Elderberries

Aquatic Nocturne

Vasilisa sees her paintings as windows into a magical world, much like the one she enjoyed getting lost in as a child while reading fairy tales. She creates artwork using both traditional and digital mediums. Vasilisa graduated with a degree in Illustration from the Fashion Institute of Technology.

Harvest Mice

Primavera

Much more goodness at her site:
https://www.vasilisaart.com/

EDIT: Problem with her website at the moment, so...

Etsy:
https://www.etsy.com/shop/vasilisaart/?etsrc=sdt

Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/vasilisa.romanenko/?hl=en

More:
https://www.google.com/search?q=%22Vasilisa+Romanenko%22+%22art%22

Oof, somehow I don't believe I've posted any of Jason's work here before, who is in fact 59yo John Arne Sæterøy from Norway, who now lives in France.

So what can I say about "Jason?" Well... I find him a fascinating BD+ creator, one who started as a fairly traditional comics artist, but quickly developed a unique visual style featuring lean, upright pseudo-animal figures, universally drawn with rather hauntingly empty eyes and spare expressionism.

I find there's a strong minimalism to his disciplined art that inclines the reader to focus on the dialogue, plot, and thought experiments going on. For make no mistake-- Jason is all about dry wit, subtle satire, thoughtful pauses, understated surrealism, pure nonsense, and sly commentary on the human condition. Altogether, there's really nothing quite like it from what I've read in comics.

His recent 2022 book contains 12+ stories in which he really lets his experimentation fly, altho of course, always within his disciplined framework of art & narrative. Across his other books, he also tells more conventional stories that span the entire album, sometimes in collaboration.

Now, out of his two-dozen or so works, I've really only read ONE that dragged for me, i.e. the travelogue On the Camino, a non-fiction work about his frankly unremarkable days hiking a famous trail in Spain.

Below are a couple highlights from Upside Dawn stories that should give you a taste of his work:

These are from the chapter Woman, Man, Bird.

SPOILER ALERT: The setting is a blind dinner date, and I think it pretty clear it's about how we can so easily talk past each other, only superficially connecting. Jason sure has a load of fun with the premise, as all this stretches on for something like 14 gonzo pages(!) oO

These are from Perec, P.I.

SPOILER ALERT: The idea here is that the dialogue gets cut off in each panel, leaving the reader to imagine what's next. I thought it a really cool idea, altho it kind of blows up in the end, shifting to a different, less interesting premise.

This all brings to mind the idea that Jason, through these short stories, is often establishing narrative templates that (he or) other creators could possibly use and expand upon in their own works. In fact, I find there's something of a creative lineage here that flows somewhat from Yves Chaland's work on Freddy Lombard, such as Comet of Carthage, which might be said to flow somewhat from Pop Art legend Roy Lichtenstein's work.

Actually, I think there are other counterpart creators in the States who belong in such a discussion, such as Dan Clowes, Charles Burns, and others. They stand out to me because they allow a sort of wild, 'Indie / Alt' energy in their stuff, but tend to express it in a rather formal, flawlessly-clean style.

Anyway, let's wrap things up by taking a look at the full Seal VII story. AFAIK it borrows a premise from the 1957 Swedish movie, The Seventh Seal, which I haven't seen yet. This was really the first story in the UD book that I liked from beginning to end. See what you think:

-----> https://imgur.com/a/VZu1eC4 <-----

Anybody know anything about the 'Largo Winch' character? What media would you recommend? Also, is it pro-rich / pro-cop? My understanding is the guy inherits billions but he’s from the criminal classes and hates the upper-classes… not really sure what class message is being sent

https://lemm.ee/post/51033313

Okay, this isn't quite meant as a full overview of the series, but I will try to answer your Q's. NOTE: one of the pics is kinda spoiler-ish, so be aware:

I find LW to be a tremendously fun, interesting and thrilling series, altho NB-- that's as someone who doesn't have nearly the financial & big business acumen to critically evaluate the way in which the money and corporate matters unfold.

So, Largo is a young billionaire with an atypically strong drive to be directly involved in his businesses, and specifically to operate in a moral, highly principled manner. This seems like somewhat of an absurd, storybook premise, but it works splendidly, as it puts him in the position to be attacked, betrayed and sabotaged by any number of enemies, some of them within his own organisations(!)

Also, is it pro-rich / pro-cop?

Overall I think it tends to be fairly critical of the rich, as the series routinely presents wealthy players as being cutthroat and ruthless, altho generally-speaking, Largo's wealthy associates tend to be portrayed as mostly trustworthy and principled. As for cops, there's not much of any commentary, far as I recall. I'd say they're usually presented briefly as people just doing their jobs.

My understanding is the guy inherits billions but he’s from the criminal classes and hates the upper-classes… not really sure what class message is being sent

Yes, the origin story is rather interesting. A very rich relative who's dying of cancer discovers Largo to be a long-lost relative, and bequeaths him his fortune and businesses. This goes far I think to explain why Largo doesn't remotely have the 'spoiled heir' kind of personality, and is instead so very hands-on. Um, now I don't really remember him being a criminal of any significance, altho in some of his missions and quests, he probably does break some laws along the way... almost always in a good cause. I don't remember him particularly hating the upper classes either, altho it's true that their typical behavior often causes him hardships.

As for an overall message, I find that Largo's a bit like a Robin Hood / Bruce Wayne character, with a dash of the Count of Monte Cristo thrown in. For example, beyond striving to grow his empire, Largo's generally trying to use his wealth and power to make the world a better place, frequently clashing with rich, powerful figures who are plainly out to exploit the world for their own ends. In that sense I find the series again kind of story-bookish, as my suspicion is that virtually any corporation, no matter how benignly run, is probably a net negative in contributing to late-stage capitalism and the erosion of sustainable civilisation.

Still, regardless of how true that is, I find LW to be a gem of a series, and a rare one that takes big business scenarios most people wouldn't normally think would be very interesting, and turns them in to fascinating, edge-of-your seat thrillers. So, big, BIG thumbs up to this series from me. And btw-- I'm only familiar with the graphic novels, not the... TV series or movie which I recall being made at some point.

Btw, it's not really a surprise that the great Belgian writer Jean Van Hamme is behind this super-franchise, as he's also done stellar work on a number of other series, such as Thorgal and Lady S (my favorites), but also XIII, Chninkel, Wayne Shelton, Rani, and many others.

You can read more about the individual BD tomes at BDT:
https://www.bedetheque.com/serie-14-BD-Largo-Winch.html

French title: Les compagnons du crépuscule, which ran from '84-'90.

Right away, this reminded me both of Hermann's Les tours de Bois-Maury series, as well as his personal art style, altho Bourgeon doesn't draw his faces nearly as homely as Hermann does. (oof, I still don't know what's up with that)

(note that these image samples don't necessarily run parallel to the commentary!)

Driven by chance, a facially-scarred Knight takes Mariotte and Anicet on his quest for redemption, the meaning of which he himself can barely make out. In the first volume, the three companions fall asleep in the "Wood of Mist" and enter a dream in which there is talk of strange elves and a beast to fight. This first dreamlike quest is a narrow success. --BDT

In the second opus, the elves of the Wood of Mist call on the companions for help to deliver them from the Dhuards, a goblin-esque, vicious, oppressive race. Once again, most of the story takes place in a dream, but as the companions sense, it is no less important and dangerous.

Finally, in the last episode, the companions arrive at the town of Montroy, where they decide to spend the winter. Dame Neyrelle, lord of the castle, is not indifferent to the arrival of the knight in her city, and schemes to have the companions accommodated in the castle...

TBH, this series (and the thoroughly mediocre translation I read) were somewhat hard to grapple with. On the one hand, I'm rather fascinated by stories about this time-period, but frankly could have gone without the 'legendary monster' aspects, truth being chronically more fascinating to me than fiction, and all that.

But really, what kept me hanging on was Bourgeon's relentless imagination and sincere dedication to the story. To me, there were lots of little 'bumps on the road' (some of them translation-issues), but the overall story kept pulling me in, again and again. Like, face it, dude-- it's got verisimilitude! :D

Anyway, this being my first read-through, I don't want to judge too much in any particular direction, but I'd say that people who like late-medieval stuff should really dig this, for sure. And then a bunch of others, for various interest-levels, for various reasons.

https://www.bedetheque.com/serie-109-BD-Compagnons-du-crepuscule.html

Spotted this on a French BD forums, and it made me laugh. 🙂

For those new to BD, the original is like this:
https://i.imgur.com/TgHVK2t.jpeg

Btw, my French is still pretty basic, but from what I understand, the French word "biscuit" means "cookie" in English. Meaning that Snowy/Tintin didn't just gobble up some crackers, but in fact, gobbled up an entire box of sugary treats. oO

Diabetes Jones, diabetes Johnson, oh dear...

EDIT: Oh whoops, I guess it was actually the professor who stole the cookies(!) I believe he was still in hiding at this point.

Now in terms of the above--
I remember some interesting science articles from a couple years ago, in which it was posited that communal trees of even *wildly* different species had the ability to communicate via roots (and etc), able to execute communal plans based on impending threats and such, for example a fire / blight / infestation / etc.

Meanwhile, from my completely-amateur studies of ants & termites (thanks E.O. Wilson ❤️), I got the sense that creatures with even very limited neurological-matter (such as individual but social, insect brains) could nevertheless function incredibly well by virtue of pheromones and 'the hive-mind.' Such as ants, rather famously.

Anyway, let's GO:

Fun discussion, or not?

Oh, but the main theme of this really nice (but unfortunately short) book is the 'transporter dilemma' from Star Trek, et al. I.e., what part of you gets lost in the official-genetic-replication process, and is it entirely YOU who arrives at the terminus. Like-- does your soul arrive safely, too?

I'll take sci-fi concepts that scare the hell out of me, Alex!

This is evidently a quarterly magazine of unique, Astérix-related goodies and games that's been running since 2016. I've only seen samples so far, not a full issue.

The Balloon-Romans

I think the idea above is that our heroes previously tricked the Romans in to consuming one of Getafix' other potions that they really shouldn't have, setting up this bizarre panel. Was it from one of Uderzo's solo albums? (I forget)

A couple more covers, above. Some pretty good ideas there, I thought, for example the left one collecting many of the junior guest stars.

The idea above (as you can see) is that Obelix is trying to use the hanging mistletoe to his advantage, and it keeps backfiring hilariously.

EDIT: Whoops! I initially thought this was some post-Uderzo work, and was properly amazed, but nope-- it's from the golden age. I wonder when and where it might have originally been published, though.

Anyway, there are many more samples from the issues here:
https://asterix.com/actualites/asterix-max-le-gros-magazine-de-vos-heros-preferes/

Now does the mag make it all the way to French Canada? I wonder...

IIRC, when my grandmom on my Anglo side passed away, she left us one of these, and it instantly became part of the tradition. For those unfamiliar, it's a little ceramic tree with colorful plastic pegs. (Lite-Brite, anyone?) For real, I've always found these and 'bubbler lights' to be my two favorite Xmas symbols or toys, I guess one might say.

Indeed, even as a middle-aged blokie (well, supposedly), when I happen to see a swing-set in a playground, there really is no force on Earth that can prevent me from rushing over, planting my rump on an empty seat, and swinging like mad for the next 10-20min or so. It's a trance-state, I suppose, not unlike when I find myself staring at my beloved 'bubblers,' unaware how much time has actually passed.

Er, uh... yeah, let's get to the point, Johnny. 😳 SO!... for some years now it seemed that these cute little ceramic trees were priced exorbitantly high in my area, until finally, I found a version available at my local CVS (pharmacy / general store) for a mere US$20. Score!

Just that it was powered by batteries and LEDs, which I discovered was a nice way to drive up EverReady stock, or exhaustingly to recharge batteries (piles / cells) on a daily basis. But now, in the pic above, I've clumsily attempted to replace the LED apparatus with a small incandescent bulb. For now, I've just sort of laid the re-wired bulb on a plate so as not damage the amazing, tiny Peruvian, leather-bound stand it all rests on.

One last note upon all that is that of course the photo doesn't nearly capture the magically warm glow of the little tannenbaum. Really, it's more like a hybrid between the lead pic and this below:

That is, one has more color-precision, with the other having more 'glow,' yet still not representing the overall light situation. (anybody good photogs at that stuff?) BONUS PTS: from L-R, that's my bamboo Chinese practice-sword, my table tennis net (really hard to see, I'm afraid), and my Bug-A-Salt (tm) counter-mosquito assault rifle (it fires salt particles to hopefully kill small flying disease vectors).

*foof*
Haha, so how are your holidays going, mateys? Anything crazy / funny to share? 🙂

Ah, but at the same time... in the wholesome spirit of Festivus' airing of grievances, let's get to my own... absurdities:

At this point I want to share that (as Nacky pointed out to me in private a long time ago), I do have a short fuse, and I find it embarrassing in retrospect when I get pissed off over something, or bring down the value of our community, or am just plain rude to any of our readers & members.

"Oh hello, Johnny speaking. Shitheads Are Us!"

Specifically, I recently felt super-offended by the negative reaction to my Tintin fanpost, in which it seemed like people lazily assumed that I just 'pressed a button,' got a result, then shamelessly shared it to this sublemmy. In reality? I came up with the specific idea, battled with GPT over many drafts, and finally put together the final form I was satisfied with. Only to be met with derision, on the whole. And of course, I acted childishly upon that.

In terms of my hurt feelings, let's just cut to the chase, though--

I've not just created this community for the (hopefully) public good, and not just put hundreds of man-hours in to consistently creating content for y'all, but I've been doing so whilst dragging this godamn CFS/ME around, which renders me typically exhausted and achey. Indeed, many times I try to 'hack' reality, by doing up a load of caffeine, *too* much aerobic exercise, or kratom, topped off by some booze, or whatever, and then posting here.

And for sure, sometimes I make embarrassing mistakes, such as this premature Paul post, or just in general getting bent-out-of-shape over my fantasy upon a proper NYC victory parade, in which everyone just *adores* my clever contributions to the world. XD

Eh, this is also leaving out some major bitchings of mine, but that's also part of why I feel solidarity with some here-- i.e. I perceive this as a rather rough time that most of us are dealing with right now, and I hope we can collectively focus more on solidarity and solutions.

Love and Festivus to ye all. <3

(and don't forget to air your grievances, daggit!)

So I was catching up on the Paul stories the other day, which I find to be a truly excellent French-Canadian semi-biographical series of BD novels. From what I've read so far, they span Paul's life & times, from his punky, destructive, 12yo days, all the way to his middle-age. It's really good stuff IMO, with some interesting drama and painful growth sequences, altho sometimes it can be a bit bland, eh. BUT, as I always say-- storytelling is KING, and Michel's got that in spades.

Now, part of what caught my eye in this particular story was:

Because dangit, I'd never previously heard of Robert La Palme in comics, and I love that! Like-- who WAS this guy?

Now, in terms of the "AI" accusations? Well, me, I'm a *huge* fan of color, and I liked spicing up a couple of my favorite panels. I'm not trying to hurt anyone here, and if you're not happy with my efforts upon this sublemmy? Then honestly, this place probably isn't a good fit for you.

Respect for reading and considering, and finally, here's Paul in the Metro:

https://imgur.com/gallery/slice-of-paul-metro-by-michel-rabagliati-which-paul-friend-revisit-whats-left-of-67-expo-montreal-qQMY0WD

https://imgur.com/gallery/slice-of-paul-metro-by-michel-rabagliati-which-paul-friend-revisit-whats-left-of-67-expo-montreal-qQMY0WD

Michel Rabagliati, 7 pages)