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Monday, November 29, 2021

Non Album Collections 340

Grosz (2017) 

This is a series of short nearly wordless comics, arranged chronologically, that form a biography of the caricaturist best known for his visualization of the Weimar Republic. George Grosz (1893–1959) was a German fine artist, cartoonist, and teacher who drew from pop culture, was active in the Dada and New Objectivist movements, and was an influence for artists like Ben Shahn. (His antiwar painting, Eclipse from the Sun, would inspire Vietnam protesters.) In this graphic biography, written and drawn by Fiske, angular art lays Kandinsky-like lines over scenes set in anything-goes, post–World War I Berlin: connecting, emphasizing, tracing movement. Curves evoke the fleshy sex of Grosz’s work. (Fiske channels the exuberance and fascination with line that typified Grosz’s work, and more generally early to mid-century art movements.) Symbolically, Fiske uses two colors―red for Berlin, a slash of Grosz’s lipstick, a flash of tie―and green for the jazz and trains of New York, where Grosz would flee from Nazi Germany.

Shangri-La (F) (2016)

Several hundred years into the future, mankind lives on a space station ruled over by a multinational with a true cult following. At first glance, everyone seems satisfied with this "perfect society". In this setting, some men struggle to push past their limits and become gods. To do this, they put into place a program designed to create life from nothing in Shangri-La, one of the most hospitable regions of Titan, where they intend to enact their version of the book of Genesis.

The Hollow Grounds HC (2004)

The first chapter, CARAPACES features six short stories, each centered on the devastating effects of man's desire. ZARA tells the tale of a hollow planet inhabited only by women and the tumultuous appearance of the first men. NOGEGON follows the main characters of ZARA in a murder mystery on a world where gravity is weak, but love is strong.


Saturday, November 27, 2021

Non Album Collections 339

The History of Science Fiction - A Graphic Novel Adventure (2021)

Journey through time and space with this graphic novel history of the science fiction genre, from Jules Verne, Jonathan Swift, and Mary Shelley to William Gibson and Philip K. Dick to Ken Liu and Ted Chiang, and beyond. Trace the progress of SF through modern times and learn why key figures and inventors like Thomas Edison and Elon Musk have looked to science fiction to predict the future. by Xavier Dollo  (Author), Djibril Morissette-Phan (Illustrator)

The City of Belgium (2021)

As night falls in the City of Belgium, three strangers in their late twenties―a most dangerous age―arrive at a popular restaurant. Jona is about to move away; he calls his wife, who’s already settled in Berlin, before trying to make plans with friends for one last night on the town. No one bites―they’re all busy or maybe they just don’t want to party―but he’s determined to make this night something to remember. Victoria is lively and energetic, but surrounded by friends and family who are buzzkills, always worrying about what is best for her. Rodolphe glumly considers his own misery and then suddenly snaps out of it, becoming the life of the party. The three careen through the city’s nightlife spots and underbelly, getting ever deeper in the messiness of human existence as they chase pleasure―or at least a few distractions from their daily lives. Each has a series of misadventures that reveal them to be teetering on the edge of despair, of destruction, of becoming the people they’ll be for the rest of their lives. The City of Belgium occupies a place between lucid dream and tooth-grinding nightmare. by Brecht Evens  (Author)

Kosmos (2021)

July 20th 1969, the whole world is glued to their television screens, stunned by the momentous event: the Americans have landed on the moon! And before the Soviets! Despite a minor technical hitch, everything has gone well. However, just before leaving, Armstrong turns around for one last look at the lunar landscape, and is frozen in surprise. Reflected in the visor of his helmet... a Soviet flag and a Russian lunar lander... by Perna Bedouel.


Thursday, November 25, 2021

Non Album Collections 338

A Man's Skin (2021)

In Renaissance Italy, Bianca, a young lady from a good family, is of marriage age. Her parents find her a fiancé to their liking: Giovanni, a rich merchant, young and pleasant. The wedding looks set to go smoothly even though Bianca can't hide her disappointment at having to marry a man she knows nothing about. But before the marriage, she learns the secret held and bequeathed by the women of her family for generations: a "man's skin"! By donning it, Bianca becomes "Lorenzo" and enjoys all the attributes of a young man of stunning beauty. She can now visit the world of men incognito and get to know her fiancé in his natural environment. In her male skin, Bianca frees herself from the limits imposed on women and discovers love and sexuality. by Hubert (Author), Zanzim (Artist)

Tunnels (2021)

When a great antiquities collector is forced to donate his entire collection to the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, Nili Broshi sees her last chance to finish an archaeological expedition begun decades earlier―a dig that could possibly yield the most important religious artifact in the Middle East. Motivated by the desire to reinstate her father’s legacy as a great archaeologist after he was marginalized by his rival, Nili enlists a ragtag crew―a religious nationalist and his band of hilltop youths, her traitorous brother, and her childhood Palestinian friend, now an archaeological smuggler. As Nili’s father slips deeper into dementia, warring factions close in on and fight over the Ark of the Covenant! by Rutu Modan  (Author)

Ballad for Sophie (2021)

A young journalist prompts a reclusive piano superstar to open up, resulting in this stunning graphic sonata exploring a lifetime of rivalry, regret, and redemption. 1933. In the small French village of Cressy-la-Valoise, a local piano contest brings together two brilliant young players: Julien Dubois, the privileged heir of a wealthy family, and François Samson, the janitor's son. One wins, one loses, and both are changed forever. by Filipe Melo  (Author), Juan Cavia (Illustrator).


Tuesday, November 23, 2021

Non Album Collections 337

The Whale Library (Europe Comics 2021)

Script by Zidrou - Art by Judith Vanistendael. A poetic fable for grown-ups full of wisdom and beauty, by two Belgian masters of graphic storytelling. Out on the high seas lives a whale unlike any other, who spends her days reading stories to all who will listen, taken from the vast library hidden in her belly. When the whale bumps into a sea postman’s boat one fateful night, it’s the beginning of an extraordinary friendship. But not every story can have a happy ending…

Vesper 01 - The Amazon (Europe Comics 2021)

Vesper, the Amazon of the Knights of Nyx, is a formidable warrior versed in the practice of Etheric magic. She uses her talents in the service of Prince Crimson Nyx, with whom she shares the dream of a kingdom where people of all races can live together. But in the midst of celebrating an important victory for their kingdom, the two heroes are ambushed by the Ekklesia, a religious order that sees in them the manifestation of dark forces that must be stamped out... A fast-paced first entry of a thrilling fantasy series not to be missed. Written by Jérémy. Art by Jérémy.

Golgotha v01 - The Arena of the Damned (2021)

A fallen gladiator on a quest for vengeance... A mysterious prisoner, the keeper of an incredible secret... A child, innocent and mistreated... Three fates linked to a mythical fortress which will make Rome tremble.. Golgotha


Sunday, November 21, 2021

Non Album Collections 336

Someone to Talk To (Europe Comics 2021)

Script by Grégory Panaccione - Art by Grégory Panaccione. Samuel is feeling blue, and for good reason! He’s single, lives in a tiny Paris apartment, and is languishing in a job he hates. Alone on his birthday, he decides to amuse himself by calling the only phone number he knows by heart: the one for his childhood home. To his surprise, someone picks up… His past self! All 10-year-old Sam wants to do is play soccer, travel the world, and write books to impress girls. How will Samuel ever be able to tell him the truth without crushing his dreams? It’s time he got his life back on track.

Little Sister (Europe Comics 2021)

Susie has two older sisters: the vivacious Effie, and the elegant Sandra. Life is hard when you're the baby of the family! No one ever lets you do anything. No one ever pays any attention to you. Everyone makes fun of you. Bestselling children's author Susie Morgenstern takes readers back to 1950s Newark and all the everyday charms and heartbreaks of the year she turned ten: spelling bees, synagogue, Christmas lights, Halloween candy, nights out at the movies, sneaking fast food. In his joyous art, Johann G. Louis lovingly evokes the era and a young girl awakening to life.

The Secret Garden Part 1 (Europe Comics 2021)

When Mary's parents die, she moves to England, where she is sent to a strange mansion in the middle of the Yorkshire moors, belonging to her uncle. It is here that she discovers the comfort of friendship... and a wonderful secret that she soon shares with her new companions: a garden forgotten by everyone, whose key, as if by magic, also opens the doors to broken hearts. This is a two-part graphic adaptation of Frances Hodgson Burnett's 1912 classic of children's literature. by Maud Begon  (Author, Illustrator).


Friday, November 19, 2021

Non Album Collections 335

Mox Nox (2015)

Spanish cartoonist Joan Cornella’s viciously funny Mox Nox single-page strips are wordless, full-color, hand-painted marvels of the form. That his visually inviting artwork is in the service of Cornella’s graphic sense of humor/horror only heightens the appeal. Mox Nox is populated almost exclusively by smiling psychopaths who invariably turn even the most mundane situation into a side-splitting and cringe-inducing farce. Full-color illustrations throughout (Fantagraphics: 56 pages).

Zonzo (2017)

Joan Cornellà’s Zonzo is the most magical comic of the year — and the latest entry in a proud, under-appreciated tradition of sequential art designed to provoke both denouncements and surreptitious giggles. It is, in a word, appalling. It’s a slim compilation of dozens of the Spanish artist’s wordless webcomics, most of them six panels long and all of them offensive in one way or another.

Ayak & Por 01 (Europe Comics 2021)

Wild adventures are on the horizon for little girl Ayak and her one-eyed dog Por. In the first story of this two-part tale, Ayak, Por, and the wacky professor seek shelter in an abandoned house, after their biosphere in Kamchatka explodes. But the discovery of an old teapot will soon whisk them away to a far-off land. In the second story, Ayak meets a lonely crown prince who is kept away from his people. Everyone thinks he is foolish, but what if he is just misunderstood? Wilbert van der Steen.


Wednesday, November 17, 2021

TKO Shorts

When a space pioneer attempts to create a self-sustaining colony on Jupiter, her visit takes an unsuspecting and deadly turn. From Liana Kangas & Joe Corallo (She Said Destroy) and Paul Azaceta (Outcast).


Monday, November 15, 2021

Non Album Collections 334

The Last Detective Redemption (2021)

After 20 years, detective Joe Santos is forced to return to investigate a series of crimes in «New Amazonia». A strange drug offers one week of physical beauty and pleasure… and a painful death, and it seems that no other than Santos can solve the mystery. Will Joe solve this time the case that ended his career, crushed his body and caused the death of his partner?  Geraldo Borges & Claudio Alvarez.

Occult Presence (2018)

Paqaru creates fantastic realms that extend endlessly, populated here and there with silent dangers of monstrous appearance. Occult Presence is his debut monograph, a beautifully realized oracle of dying earths and diverse biomes. Step through this arcane door and enter a dream from another dimension. Luis Fernández del Piñar Rueda (aka Paqaru) is a freelance illustrator born in Málaga, Spain in 1993. He is usually more present in his imaginary worlds than in reality itself (Floating World Comics: 48 pages).

Renoir - Father and Son (2021)

Art is a family matter for the Renoirs. The path is carved by Pierre-Auguste, the painter who along with Monet, Cézanne, Degas was at the origin of the impressionist movement and continues with Jean, the poetic avant-garde filmmaker. Indisputably one of the masters of French painting of the 19th century, Pierre-Auguste fathered one of the greatest cineastes of the twentieth century in Jean Renoir. From the father’s paintings to the son’s films, the artist affiliation reveals a similar pursuit, and a single source of inspiration: an ode to freedom finding its origins in a profound humanity and love of reality. by Eddy Simon (Author), Jak Lemonnier (Illustrator), Jacques Renoir (Preface).


Saturday, November 13, 2021

Non Album Collections 333

Ion Mud (2021)

Lupo, a lone human, wanders the bowels of a gigantic ship, trying to survive and find the aliens who kidnapped him nearly 50 years ago. He's faced with a contamination from a hostile organism transforming all forms of life into mutant creatures and causing major malfunctions to the ship. Is this what has forced the aliens to take refuge behind monumental doors, impassable to all others? Left to himself in a world far beyond him, this man will have to use all his wits and stubbornness to unravel the mysteries of his very existence! Amaury Kundgen.

He Who Fights With Monsters 001 (2021)

It's World War 2 and the struggle between good and evil is in full force. In Prague, the great Bohemian city is being oppressed by the Nazi occupation and the population lives in terror, while the resistance forces try to organize themselves in the shadows.  It is an almost impossible task. With the ruthless SS tightening their grip on every street and neighborhood with overwhelming might, only one hope feeds the struggle. A crazy hope, which rests on the fragile foundations of an ancient, monstrous legend... (W) Francesco Artibani (A) Werther Dell'Edera (CA) Moy R.

Lugosi - The Rise and Fall of Hollywood's Dracula (2021)

A biography chronicling the tumultuous personal and professional life of horror icon Bela Lugosi. Lugosi, the tragic life story of one of horror's most iconic film stars, tells of a young Hungarian activist forced to flee his homeland after the failed Communist revolution in 1919. Reinventing himself in the U.S., first on stage and then in movies, he landed the unforgettable role of Count Dracula in what would become a series of classic feature films. From that point forward, Lugosi's stardom would be assured...but with international fame came setbacks and addictions that gradually whittled his reputation from icon to has-been. Lugosi details the actor's fall from grace and an enduring legacy that continues to this day (Humanoids: 163). Koren Shadmi.


Thursday, November 11, 2021

Gunblast Girls

After a job that went wrong, Zdenka and the other “Galactic Sistas” decided to go their separate ways. But now Zdenka has found something that seems to offer big rewards for zero risk, which is why she’ll need to convince her “sistas” to get the old gang back together. The job? Taking the director of the Economic Consortium’s daughter safely across Alliance lines. Fearing that too large a protection detail could attract unwanted attention, the director has requested something more discreet. But his headstrong teenage daughter isn’t going to make things easy. And as if that wasn’t enough, certain people seem to have a score to settle with Zdenka… Action, comedy, girls, and big guns are all on the menu in this first-rate space opera. Script by CRISSE - Art by CRISSE



Tuesday, November 9, 2021

Non Album Collections 332

Dracula - Vlad the Impaler (2021)

A prince of Wallachia and son of Vlad Dracul (The Dragon), Vlad Dracul the Younger (Vlad Dracula) is taken hostage as a young man by Sultan Mehmed I to ensure his father's loyalty. When his father is killed at the hands of traitorous nobles in his own land, he assumes the crown and wages a cruel war to regain his lands and avenge his father. Throughout his life, he continued the fight to retain his kingdom, committing acts that would later lead to the formation of the famous character created by Bram Stoker.

Streamliner 01 (2020)

An abandoned stretch of road in the middle of the desert, a rusty old gas station, and a plume of dust rising in the distance… When Billy Joe steps onto old Evel O’Neil’s property, trouble follows close behind: misfits, criminals, cops, and media, all of them in search of freedom, justice, and glory… But only the fastest one among them will get it. Story and art by Fane.

Palimpsest - Documents from a Korean Adoption (2021)

Thousands of South Korean children were adopted around the world in the 1970s and 1980s. More than nine thousand found their new home in Sweden, including the cartoonist Lisa Wool-Rim Sjöblom, who was adopted when she was two years old. Throughout her childhood she struggled to fit into the homogenous Swedish culture and was continually told to suppress the innate desire to know her origins. “Be thankful,” she was told; surely her life in Sweden was better than it would have been in Korea. Like many adoptees, Sjöblom learned to bury the feeling of abandonment. by Lisa Wool-Rim Sjöblom (Author).


Sunday, November 7, 2021

Creatures

In a post-apocalyptic New York City obliterated by a Big Night that wiped out most of civilization, bands of children struggle to stay alive in the wreckage, hunting for food under billowing clouds of toxic fog and running from hungry zombies. One child is endowed with the power to keep them at bay, but will it be enough to protect the survivors from the terrifying creature that has just risen out of the Hudson River? Meanwhile, a raving old man with a house full of books says the worst is yet to come...


Friday, November 5, 2021

Non Album Collections 331

Lucy (Heavy Metal compilation)

The oldest story in the world, magnified by Liberatore At the end of the 1970s, a discovery changed the face of the world: the almost complete skeleton of a specimen of Australopithecus, the oldest common ancestor of mankind, was unearthed in the Afar triangle in Ethiopia. But who was this woman named "Lucy" after the Beatles song? In this comic book with a romantic breath, remarkable for its scientific veracity, we follow the timid footsteps of our ancestor in his awakening to consciousness. A journey made of dangers and discoveries, rocked by the starry night where all the mystery of the world is hidden. Told with poetry by Patrick Norbert, carried by the breathtaking ultra-realism of Liberatore and produced under the supervision of Yves Coppens (author of a very nice afterword) Lucy is an album for dreaming and reflecting on ourselves. A wonderful album to go back to the sources of our history.

World War X v1 - Helius (2015)

2017. Mysterious boxes covered with curious signs are unearthed in various parts of the world - warnings from a long forgotten civilization. These strange and ancient cubes awaken monstrous creatures in prepared to annihilate all life that stands in their way. It is clear that humanity is not ready for this new type of world war. This alien-apocalypse horror is by Jerry Frissen, writer of Lucha Libre, with stunning art by Peter Snejbjerg (Starman, The Light Brigade, The Books of Magic).

Elias The Cursed T01 (03) - The Game of Celestial Beings

A Sword and Sorcery story about the redemptive journey of a once cruel king to reclaim his identity. Writer : Sylviane Corgiat. Art : Corrado Mastantuono. Fallen king Elias is on a quest to reclaim the face that was stolen from him by the mighty sorcerer Melchior. With the help of an unlikely gang, of all fantastical shapes and sizes, and amidst magic both good and evil, Elias The Cursed will attempt to save his face, and perhaps his soul.



Wednesday, November 3, 2021

Aloma

Aloma lives and works in Barcelona with her uncle Cyrus, an antiquarian and restorer of works of art of all kinds. In his huge shop, he keeps the last remnants of an old galleon, the Thrill Seeker, in which a few gangsters suspect part of the treasure it once transported. This will put the lives of the protagonists in danger again and again throughout the story. Cyrus and Aloma hire Gerald Quer, a private investigator, to find the treasure, if it really exists. Some traces lead Gerald to Panama, where Aloma wants to sell a Vermeer painting to a millionaire. Gerald decides to accompany her and the suspicion grows in him that Aloma is hiding a very dark secret. But on the island of San Jose, where the Thrill Seeker landed four hundred years earlier, a deadly threat awaits... by Alfonso Font (Author, Illustrator).


Monday, November 1, 2021

Non Album Collections 330

Anais Nin - On the Sea of Lies (2020)

It is the beginning of the 1930s. Anaïs Nin lives in the Parisian suburbs and struggles with the anguish of her life as a banker's wife. Uprooted several times uprooted as a child, she grew up between 2 continents, 3 languages, and struggles to find her place in a society which relegates women to supporting roles. She wants to be a writer, and since childhood has kept a diary. It is her drug, her companion, her double, the thing that allows her to explore the complexity of her feelings and to come to grips with the sensuality that smolders within her. Then she meets Henry Miller, a revelation that proves to be the first step towards great upheavals. Leonie Bischoff.

The Ring of the Seven Worlds

Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Action/Adventure and Manga all blend into this Steampunk saga about interconnected worlds at the mercy of an invasion. Seven planets linked to one another by the multidimensional gates of a giant ring. Only the passage to Nemo, one of the Seven Worlds, has remained sealed for three centuries, in order to confine its people after they savagely attacked the rest of the Empire. When the infamous gate reopens and unleashes the ancient enemy, Timo and Luce, two teenagers from the planet Mose, are caught up in a war they were not prepared to fight.

Philosophy - A Discovery in Comics

This illustrated primer on philosophy is a great way to be introduced to a complex topic. In her easily accessible style, Margreet de Heer visualizes the history of Western philosophy and makes it approachable for those with little knowledge of the subject. The book explains the thoughts of philosophers such as Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Descartes, Spinoza, and Nietzsche, and ponders questions such as What is thinking? What is reality? Is there free will? and Why are these ideas still important? A perfect introduction to exploring philosophical concepts, this humorous yet substantive graphic account strips the subject of unnecessary complexity.