Comic Books (2024)
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Comic Books (2024)

  • 2024-10: Donjon Potron-Minet - -99: La chemise de la nuit
    • 1999
    • language: French
    • tags: #reread
    • Scénario: Lewis Trondheim, Joann Sfar
    • Dessin: Christophe Blain
    • NOTES: The first Donjon Potron-Minet. We meet Hyacinthe, son of Arakou, the lord of the castle of Cavallère. They live in a small tower, “visible from 3 hours away”, doctor Hippolyte, father of Alcibiade from Donjon Zénith, the brous, and get to see Antipolis, the huge and improbable city where his uncle, Count Florotte, a count, in a wheelchair, is one of the city’s oligarchs. Jean-Michel, his right-hand man, does all the dirty jobs. Not least, we meet Alexandra, the assassin. Hyacinthe quickly falls in love with her. But he also discovers violence and injustice, and almost by mistake, finds himself in the role of justicier. In particular, he decies to save the Arbolesse, a sentient tree, that the city plans to burn at the end of a festival. He makes friend with the lutins. With their help, and that of Hippolyte, they try to smuggle the Arbolesse out of the city, but they are seen. They escape narrowly, are pursued by Jean-Michel, Count Florotte, and his army. They come face to face with Arakou, and Florotte decides to abandon and go back to Antipolis. “One can’t transgress all laws”, he says. The Arbolesse is saved, as the lutins build a wooden tower for her. This is the beginning of the Donjon. The lutins will dig lots of galleries underground. Hyacinthe goes back to Antipolis to continue his work as vigilante.
    • NOTES: Christophe Blain rules the first Donjon Potron-Minet. The story is pretty good too.
  • 2024-10: Donjon monsters, tome 1: Jean-Jean la Terreur
    • 2001
    • language: French
    • tags: #reread
    • Scénario: Lewis Trondheim, Joann Sfar
    • Dessin: Mazan
    • NOTES: Some good stuff in this first volume. But I find it difficult to like any of the characters. Yvette is particularly repugnant, both in appearance and personality.
  • 2024-10: Donjon Parade - 1. Un donjon de trop
    • 2000
    • language: French
    • tags: #reread
    • Scénario: Lewis Trondheim
    • Dessin: Manu Larcenet
    • NOTES: A big plus: Manu Larcenet, of course. The story is really short at 30 pages. It is all about a competing Donjon being built next door, but it is more of an amusement park. In the end, it burns, while there is a big assault on the real Donjon. But women are unhappy because they don’t like the violence, and the lack of Bingo. They people of the Donjon pretend it was all fake too. A lot of satire in this album.
  • 2024-09: Donjon Crépuscule - 112. Pourfendeurs de démons
    • 2021
    • Language: French
    • tags: #reread
    • Scénario: Joann Sfar, Lewis Trondheim
    • Dessin: Obion
    • NOTES: After the last album, you could think that this would be the end of Crépuscule: the Donjon is gone, Terra Amata is back together. Marvin Rouge and Zakûtu fight an enemy who clearly wants to hurt Marvin Rouge. He is abducted, Zakûtu enlists Orlondow to help. It is a demon (same or different from the Entity?) who pursues Marvin Rouge. But he realizes that it wanted to actually destroy Marvin, the “roi poussière”. The demon pursues Marvin to the City of the Olfs, where he is destroyed by the Invisibles. Marvin Rouge and Zakûtu leave for new adventures. Herbert is not present at all in this story.
  • 2024-09: Donjon Crépuscule - 111. La fin du Donjon
    • 2014
    • Language: French
    • tags: #reread
    • Scénario: Joann Sfar
    • Dessin: Mazan
    • NOTES: And yet a new artist for this album.
    • NOTES: The Black Entity is still around at Vaucanson and is controlling lots of islands. The action still takes place high up where there is no air, so you either need the “calots babares”, or a bubble to breathe. Herbert will go to Vaucanson. He meets Fayez, and finally kills him. The Black Entity still occupies the body of Papsukal. Herbert transports them back to the Black Fortress and the Entity destroys it, through the “absolute evil” character, summoned by the Black Entity. The old Donjon is almost entirely destroyed. From the “trou aux esprits”, Herbert and Gilberto go back to the land of the dead to find a certain Julien de Vaucanson, who in the past won against the Black Entity. The place first looks like the good old Donjon, but Gilberto warns Herbert that it is an illusion. Then they go to Vaucanson of the land of the dead. In the land of the dead, Baal also comes, and is made to suffer 1000 years during one second of real time. It’s a horrifying panel. They know that they need to find Cormor, the automaton. Herbert comes back to the real world, but Gilberto is dead. They are taken prisoners to Vaucanson, ruled by the Black Entity. They are saved by the mite, and then Elyacin, who stored reserves of air in his lungs, and can power 200 dragon warriors. Battle rages agsint the Black Entity. Herbert and Marvin fight, through a trick of the spear of destiny. The “absolute evil” is around but seems scared, and Elyacin manages to fight it off. Suddenly, all is over. The Black Entity comes out of Marvin Rouge. The Entity gets into Elyacin. Everyone now fights it. Marvin learns that Baal is dead. While the Earth reconstitutes, Elyacin/Entity is pursued, and falls through the Earth’s crust into the magma. The album ends on a beautiful series of panels showing the evolution of the small leftover ruins of the Donjon.
    • NOTES: The ending is nice, but a lot of the action is hard to understand in this and the previous album.
  • 2024-09: Donjon Crépuscule - 110. Haut Septentrion
    • 2014
    • tags: #reread
    • Scénario: Joann Sfar
    • Dessin: Alfred
    • NOTES: Again, a new artist for this album, after a 5 years hiatus.
    • NOTES: Marvin, Marvin Rouge, and Pipistrelle are at the rabbits’ island, and suddenly they realize they are running out of air. They escape. On Orlandow’s island, Herbert and Gilberto go to the land of the dead, under drugs. The island is attacked by soldiers of the “Black Entity”. But the dragons have “calots babares”, which allows them to breathe in the thin or missing air. But a huge army of the Black Entity arrives. Marvin postures, then tears out his tongue, and his wings grow back. Follows a cosmic fight. We learn that the Black Entity took over Papsukal’s body. Marvin Rouge and Zakûtu end up at the Babares’ island through the “bague du destin”. But during the transport, their bodies are swapped, and humor ensues (“- Je suis la fille d’Herbert! - Vous êtes surmené, oui…”). On the island of the Babares, we find Cormor, the old automaton from Vaucanson. He wants to destroy the objects of destiny. Marvin Rouge (actually Zakûtu in his body) disagrees and leaves with the ring to find Herbert. We learn that the “Entity” created the objects of destiny. Cormor has rigged the island to accelerate and hit Vaucanson. The Entity manages to protect it with a shield made of another island. Still, Vaucanson is impacted. On Vaucanson, Marvin Rouge-as-Zakûtu and others fight. The Invisibles are there too. The Entity moves to Marvin Rouge’s body. All the owners of the spear of destiny appear. Zakûtu fight the Entity and the owners. Bodies swap again for a second. The Entity is about to use the key of destigny, but Marvin Rouge-as-Zakûtu manages to cut his head off. The battle is over. Marvin Rouge and Zakûtu regain their own bodies. They realize the objects of destiny don’t appear to work anymore. They leave.
  • 2024-09: Donjon Crépuscule - Tome 106: Révolutions
    • 2009
    • tags: #reread
    • Language: French
    • Scénario: Lewis Trondheim, Joann Sfar
    • Dessin: Obion
    • Rating: 5/5
    • NOTES: A new artist for this album.
    • NOTES: This tells the story of Marvin, Marvin Rouge, and Pipistrelle, who end up on a rotating floating island. It’s a simple but powerful idea. Inhabitants of the island have to keep walking or moving to avoid falling down to the earth’s magma. The “Takmool”, a local leader, lives in a villa on a huge carriage pulled by anthropomorphic bears. If you pull 16 hours a day, you can stay 8 hours on the carriage and enjoy a paradisiac life. But if you fail, you are out. At first, Marvin and Marvin Rouge refuse, and try to survive differently, but then they try the pulling. They eventually meet the Takmool, a tiny, middle-aged bear, with a family. He is weak physically, but a great politician. Eventually, everyone refuses to pull the carriage, and it falls to its apparent doom. But it lands on another island, and the Takmool promises the survivors a new life, starting with the building of a new villa.
    • NOTES: Compared with the previous album, this story is super simple and based around a single idea. But it’s exploration is really fun. This story is criticized due to the fact that it doesn’t advance the overall story of the Donjon Crépuscule series. This feeling is more understandable just after the album is released, but looking back, I give this album a great rating. I prefer Kerascoët’s art, but Obion’s is also very good.
  • 2024-09: Donjon Crépuscule - Tome 105: Les nouveaux centurions
    • 2006
    • tags: #reread
    • Language: French
    • Scénario: Lewis Trondheim, Joann Sfar
    • Dessin: Kerascoët
    • Rating: 5/5
    • NOTES: Same artist, Kerascoët, as tome 104.
    • NOTES: On the black fortress, Herbert meets with Fayez, head of the red gards, who asks Herbert to convince his children to provide the nitro technology to them. Herbert agrees, surprisingly. But at Vaucanson, it turns out that none of the dragons can master the nitro armors. Only Marvin Rouge ever managed to. He is at the lagoon, and Baal takes him as his student with the other dragons. He earns the other’s respect by kicking a dragon’s butt, however he can’t succeed in learning levitation. Marvin is hired to the the leader of the “centurions”, a new army of dragons equipped with nitro armor. The counselor at Vaucanson tries to turn Elyacin against others. He and Baal start fighting. Margin Rouge defuses the situation. Papsukal and the counselor conspire. The counselor rapes a servant. Marvin learns to read. Soggoth, Zakûtu’s lover, wants to kill the counselor, the the latter insults him so the dragon cannot fight him. Marvin Rouge takes the matter in his own hands, but Papsukal shows up. suspense. Herbert and Marvin, at Vaucanson, kill all of Fayez’s envoys after telling them he won’t give them armors, after all. But Papsukal and more red gards show up and take over Vaucanson, by threatening all the dragons with cannons. The dragons manage to get the canons to levitate. A battle ensues. We learn that Marvin Rouge was being tortured by the red guards (stunning panel). Marvin Rouge escapes and join the fight. However, the red guards are stronger, so Herbert, Marvin, Marvin Rouge, and Pipistrelle escape after blowing up a part of Vaucanson. While Orlandow wants to “kill all the engineers” of Vaucanson to avoid the nitro technology to be used, Herbert takes the leadership and decides instead to go attack the black fortress while the red guards are away. They take over, but Fayez escapes. They then go attack Vaucanson as they have more troops. But Vaucanson has disappeared, or rather went higher up. Herbert, at the black fortress, gets a new secret counselor, a “mite” that was hiding as a red guard. Baal and Marvin Rouge will lead a new army. But Marvin and Pipistrelle, soon joined with Marvin Rouge, decide to leave.
    • NOTES: Overall, this is a fairly complex album, with great graphics, humor, and a lot of action.
  • 2024-09-19: Donjon Crépuscule - Tome 104: Le Dojo du lagon
    • 2005
    • tags: #reread
    • Language: French
    • Scénario: Lewis Trondheim, Joann Sfar
    • Dessin: Kerascoët
    • NOTES: New artist for this album. On the island of Orlondow, Marvin, Marvin Rouge, and Pipistrelle, get ready to leave. They need a way to tell the time. They reach a paradisiac island, where the dragons live: women with kids on one island, fathers on another one. Marvin’s wife, Pirzuine, kids (well, the son, Baal), and grandkids are there. Debate follows about the dumb draconist religious traditions. Marvin fights the shaman and wins easily. But Baal intervenes: he is a true believer. Marvin was about to be killed by his own son, but escapes by insulting all the male dragons, which prevents them from fighting back (something well-known from previous albums). Marvin Rouge, of course, flirts with Baal’s wife. Eventually, they convince Baal to come home and take care of his own kids. Marvin, Marvin Rouge, Pipistrelle, and a stowaway grandchild, leave and find Zakûtu on a desert island. They go back to Orlondow’s island. More discussions about religion and heresy. Finally, Orlondow and the dragons go to the islands. Marvin finds a way to convince him. There, they reform the draconist religion. Baal gets to his senses. Marvin Rouge gets back with Zakûtu. He wants to train with the dragons, but is not allowed. Gilberto will train him. Zakûtu goes back to Vaucanson. Marvin Rouge will have to fight Baal (probably due to his flirting with Baal’s wife?). With Gilberto’s help, he loses but is not killed. The story ends with Pirzuine giving Marvin new eyes in a glass jar.
  • 2024-09: Donjon Crépuscule - 103. Armaggedon
    • 2002
    • tags: #reread
    • Language: French
    • Scénario: Lewis Trondheim, Joann Sfar
    • Dessin: Joann Sfar
    • NOTES:
      • In the beginning, the story is told in cursive.
      • Marvin, Marvin Rouge and Pipistrelle live at the village of the cats. The army of Papsukal arrives. Marvin invokes an ancient power to raise the skeletons of the dead dragons to fight the army, and defeats it. Elyacin is the new duke of Vaucanson. After the battle, Gilberto shows up. Marvin says that he no longer has any powers: No Tong Deum,no new wings. Gilberto tells him that he is at the end of transformations and will live forever. But Marvin doesn’t want that. He argues that if he finds his arms, this logic will not work out. Using a drug, they locate the arms: they are on a carriage conducted by a dwarf not far from them. At that moment, the planet, Terra Amata, explodes. Herbert must have finally decided to let go. The planet’s surface is spread into a bunch of floating islands in the sky. The world is “broken” but not “destroyed”. They find the dwarf and his carriage. They fight the dwarf and his “brous”, and end up on another island with the Poupoulou (city of the olfs). There, they have to fight the invisibles who are guarding the city, and the dwarf helps by writing a magic incantation. It works, but the others have to take over and, eventually, the dwarf dies. Gilberto and Marvin collect a bunch of herbs and substances from a repository. But the Olfs come and fight the invisibles because they think the latter haven’t held their part of the bargain. The Olfs want to execute Marvin and Gilberto. They setup a long trial. Pipistrelle is sent to retrieve a substance, and we learn that she is still traumatized by the death of her mother. Here she gets the substance, but gives the wrong one to Marvin and Gilberto: this one makes them “understand everything”, which mainly seems to make them remember difficult times of their lives. We learn how Marvin blinded himself to be able to see his children (or to escape the punishment of the dragons for having tried to, following the “draconist” religion). He killed all the dragons around him with a Tong Deum, and in the present time he kills alls the Olfs in the room with a Tong Deum that he thought he couldn’t do anymore. Gilberto, Marvin, and Pipistrelle escape and find the island where Orlandow is. Gilberto joins them, with plenty of drugs.
  • 2024-09: Donjon Crépuscule - 102. Le volcan des Vaucanson
    • 2001
    • tags: #reread
    • Language: French
    • Scénario: Lewis Trondheim, Joann Sfar
    • Dessin: Joann Sfar
    • NOTES: Marvin comes out of the cemetery’s lake. Marvin Rouge, flirting in the forest with Nicole (a black cat), encounters Marvin. He gives him back his tunic (made from his own skin) so he is not naked. Marvin wants to go see the Great Khan. They enter the fortress through the underground, which has changed since the old days. They are caught, although that’s just a way to be guided towards the Khan. A group of monks is sacrificed. Marvin talks with Herbert. We learn that Herbert sacrificed his life, that he gathered all the “objets du destin” so he could welcome into him the “blackness of the world”. If he was to stop, the planet would start turning again, and disintegrate. Marvin disagrees with this assessment. They start fighting. Marvin leaves, towards the volcano of the Vaucanson. There, we learn that they have developed “nitro” technology. The place is headed by the children of Herbert: Papsukal (black duck), Zakûtu (the fat lady cat), and Elyacyn (the troll). They make them believe that they are sent by the Khan to get some nitro armor. Marvin Rouge gets an armor and manages to use it (while everyone before him had failed), while flirting with Zakûtu. Herbert, the Great Khan, arrives. Marvin is forced to fight Hyrka (from “La Princesse des barbares”). Marvin’s two arms are cut off, but Marvin Rouge saves him from death by kiling Hyrka. Marvin, Marvin Rouge, and Pipistrelle leave.
  • 2024-09-19: Donjon Zénith - 8. En sa mémoire
    • 2020
    • Language: French
    • tags: #reread
    • Scénario: Lewis Trondheim
    • Dessin: Boulet
    • NOTES: Quick reread.
  • 2024-09-16: Donjon Crépuscule - 101. Le cimetière des dragons
    • 1999
    • tags: #reread
    • Language: French
    • Scénario: Lewis Trondheim, Joann Sfar
    • Dessin: Joann Sfar
    • Rating: 5/5
    • NOTES: I liked this one more than I remembered. We discover Marvin known as “Roi Poussière” (“King Dust”), green, blind, living as a hermit in a cave. A bat, Pipistrelle, arrives, and will stay with him to serve as his eyes if he feeds her. Cute. He decides to leave for the cemetery of the dragons. At the fortress of the Géhenne (previously the Donjon), a monster, Shiwømihz, follows remotely Marvin. He lets him escape, but sends followers. His aim is to destroy the cemetery to prevent any future return of the dragons. We learn that his master is the Great Khan, but we don’t see him yet. Marvin and Pipistrelle meet Marvin Rouge on the way. The group arrives at Orlondow’s, the shaman, after Shiwømihz’s followers were killed by the Great Khan’s “terrasseurs” and Golgoth, a creature of Shiwømihz. Marvin Rouge learns the idEntity of Marvin Premier. Marvin and Pipistrelle rach the Grand Poupoulou, the city of the Olfs. We knew of the Olfs as one of their old kings could appear from herbert’s spear. Fighting takes place between the terrasseurs and the Olfs and Marvin. They escape, and reach the cemetery. In a forest, a small pond. Marvin will dive to the bottom and lie there. He asks Marvin Rouge and Pipistrelle to take poison to die so they wouldn’t be able to tell anyone about the location. But Golgoth finds them. Golgoth is some kind of living portal. Marvin Rouge, through him, gets to the fortress. He fights Shiwømihz and reaches the Khan, whom we can see is a black duck, on top of a mountain of the bones of those he keeps killing. We guess it is Herbert. The Khan sends Marvin Rouge away without killing him. Marvin Rouge goes back to the cemetery, finds Pipistrelle, and they decide to live, as they won’t tell of the location of the cemetery anyway.
  • 2024-09-16: Donjon Zénith - 7. Hors des remparts
    • 2020
    • tags: #reread
    • Language: French
    • Scénario: Lewis Trondheim
    • Dessin: Boulet
    • NOTES: The first album after a 13-year hiatus. Herbert, Isis, and Marvin are seen leaving Alcibiade’s donjon. The keeper is still trying to recover the Donjon. They are planning to freeze everyone in the Donjon with a magical artifact. They go to Cochonville. Marvin flirts with Pirzuine. They discover that the magical powder will actually destroy the Donjon, which Marvin cannot accept. Insteadc, they will try to destroy the center of the pourvoyeurs, under the sea. Marvin gets engaged with Pirzuine. First, Herbert will join the pourvoyeurs. To do that, he needs to kill all the other applicants. Thanks to his spear, he does. The others will see through Marvin’s eyes what’s happening. A demon manages to escape from the pourvoyeurs’ base, through Marvin, and into Cochonville. A manavore is killed. But they manage to push back the demon. Marvin’s “spirit tong deum” pushes it away. The base is destroyed, and Herbert comes to the surface. The album closes on Herbert and Isis thinking about the name of their baby troll (future Heliacyn), and Marvin and Pirzuine gardening in Cochonville. Marvin despises the keeper and might not go back to him.
  • 2024-09-13: Donjon Zénith - 5. Un mariage à part
    • 2006
    • tags: #reread
    • Language: French
    • Scénario: Lewis Trondheim, Joann Sfar
    • Dessin: Boulet
    • NOTES: Marvin is working on a wedding cake. Marvin and Herbert have been trying to recover the gold stolen by the dragon but failed, with an ultimatum from the dragon. The keeper, Marvin, Herbert, Alcibiade, and Grogro, try to go steal from the donjon of Alcibiade’s brother, with Alcibiade under drugs so he doesn’t realize it. They fail to enter incognito, and instead are invited to dinner. The keeper must find a lot of money to pay Isis’s father for Isis’s dowry. De la Cour comes to the Donjon with a lawyer trying to recover the coat (“manteau du destin”). In the meanwhile, the keeper is obtaining a loan from lord Zérotte. If the loan is not reimbursed in a month, the Donjon will belong to him. But it turns out the latter owes de la Cour. Herbert tries to see Isis, but she is guarded by the Kochaque ladies. Marvin too wants to prevent Herbert from seeing her. Marvin and Herbert fight and Herbert and Isis flee, pursued by the Kochaques and de la Cour. Herbert fights a troll thanks to the épée du destin. The keeper rejoices that Isis is gone, but then Marvin, out of loyalty to the keeper, brings back Isis and Herbert. The wedding will take place, and the words are about to be pronounced. But de la Cour comes back with his guards (“pourvoyeurs exécutaires”) and claims the Donjon. The Kochaques won’t help the keeper, and the wedding falls through. The Kochaques keep the money. The keeper and all monsters that want to follow him leave the Donjon. Even del a Cour’s lawyer go with him, as de la Cour had tried to kill him.
  • 2024-09-12: Donjon Zénith - 4. Sortilège et avatar
    • 2002
    • tags: #reread
    • Language: French
    • Scénario: Lewis Trondheim, Joann Sfar
    • Dessin: Lewis Trondheim
    • NOTES: The dragon that was guarding the Donjon’s is killed by intruders. Herbert, Isis, Marvin, and Alcibiade leave for Cochonville, the village of the magicians, to find a new “eye of the giant”. Isis also wants to find a wedding dress. Marvin and Alicibiade finally find a store that has an eye, manned by a seller who has the appearance of a bearded baby. They see through the eye that Herbert and Isis are kissing. But after the leave, they find out that the eye that was given to them was just a bag full of water. The real eye was not given to them. Alcibiade melts down. The store has disappeared. Herbert and Alcibiade got to the “commissariat des illusions”. They encounter de la Cour, who pretends that Herbert’s spear belonged to him. He is not affected by the magic that causes previous owners of the spear to appear when pulling it out. Herbert and de la Cour are expelled. But a group of magician “moderators” are leaving to pursue the crook. Marvin falls in love. The bearded baby is localized, but invisible. Isis finds him and meets with him. He says he transformed a dragon’s gold into lead by mistake, and will only take back his original appearance once he replaces the gold. Isis flees with the baby. Herbert recovers the eye they had bought, and also a coat (the “Manteau du Destin”) to wrap it. The moderators are in pursuit, but are tricked by the dragon to be destroyed my their “manavore”. The dragon pursues Herbert and Marvin, who have the eye and the coat. The narrowly escape, and with Isis they attract the dragon to the Donjon. They would like it to stay at the Donjon to keep the treasurer, but instead the dragon leaves with the treasure. Herbert recovers his heart. de la Cour tries to recover the coat, but is thrown out. The Donjon has a small baby water dragon that Isis has bought.
  • 2024-09-11: Donjon Zénith - 3. La Princesse des barbares
    • 2000
    • tags: #reread
    • Language: French
    • Scénario: Lewis Trondheim, Joann Sfar
    • Dessin: Lewis Trondheim
    • NOTES: Herbert inadvertently suggests that the Donjon made it known that a princess named Isis was a prisoner at the Donjon, so that more adventurers would come and risk their lives and therefore improve the bottom line of the Donjon. But it turns out that a Kochaque princess named Isis has indeed disappeared, and her brother Hyrka comes to the Donjon to find her. However, it is not to save her, but to kill her, as he wants to usurp the throne. At the same time, Isis comes to the caves under the Donjon to explore, and Hyrka leaves the Donjon with Herbert as prisoner. They attempt to kill him, but due to his missing heart, escapes. It also turns out that the “épée du destin” finally works. He and Marvin renter the Donjon’s underground. They find Isis and a baby troll that the trolls had given her to eat. Hyrka is also there, they fight him, and Isis and Herbert escapes with the baby. Marvin and Hyrka have to find spiders, his Tong Deum saves them. The trolls blind Hyrka, whose cruelty we have witnessed during the story. Marvin escapes as well. Isis’s father is ok with the baby, thinks it’s Isis’s and Herbert’s, but then Herbert says it’s the keeper’s. Being distracted, he doesn’t react, and the plan is for Isis to be wed to the keeper. Herbert shows some disappointment.
  • 2024-09-09: Donjon Zénith - 2. Le roi de la bagarre
    • 1998
    • tags: #reread
    • Language: French
    • Scénario: Joann Sfar
    • Dessin: Lewis Trondheim
    • NOTES: Herbert keeps failing at defending the Donjon, in particular Sonia la Rousse manages to steal a crown. He is sent out for training with Marvin’s master. Here he fights the Five Vampire Dwarves, Siegfried the Barbarian, and Henri la Souris. Thanks to a glitch with his magic spear, he kills the dwarves and Siegfried. Remains Henri. Training continues with both, Henri trying dirty tricks to kill Herbert. Henri reveals himself extremely cruel, and the master kills him, then leaves, to the heavy disappointment of Marvin. Marvin continues Herbert’s training. He takes him to the mountain of the Gobelins, where Herbert must go through 10,020 doors, each kept by a Gobelin. Herbert kills them all with a stick and, eventually, a feather. Marvin himself finds his power of the Tong Deum. Herbert becomes the king of the Gobelins. Marvin finds his master in disguise, and decides that his master was in fact weaker than him. Sonia becomes the new queen of the Gobelins. During the story, we also learn that very young Herbert was taught by extremely cruel, but supposedly wise, masters. Herbert eventually kills one, and his punishment is to fight his father, the Duke. The latter lets Herbert win by letting him cut off his right arm, but Herbert was banned from Vaucanson. There is a lot of cruelty in this opus, but a lot of humor. Herbert comes out as a good guy, and Marvin too, to some extent.
  • 2024-09-05: Donjon Zénith - 1. Cœur de canard
    • 1998
    • tags: #reread
    • Language: French
    • Scénario: Lewis Trondheim, Joann Sfar
    • Dessin: Lewis Trondheim
    • NOTES: The first Donjon, where we discover the Donjon, its keeper Hyacinthe, monsters, Herbert, and Marvin. Herbert’s heart is removed, he becomes a hero despite himself. He starts trying to do his “three high deeds”, so that the magic belt he found will help him, but so far doesn’t manage to. They fight the “capuchons”, ugly soul-eaters, and eventually exterminate all of them. Humor is omnipresent.
  • 2024-09-03: Donjon Zénith - 6. Retour en fanfare
    • 2007
    • tags: #reread
    • Language: French
    • Scénario: Lewis Trondheim, Joann Sfar
    • Dessin: Boulet
    • NOTES:
      • I keep forgetting the stories of Donjon: there are so many! This is the last album, from 2007, before a 13-year hiatus.
      • The Donjon remains in de la Cour’s hands.
      • Herbert and company go to Vaucanson, to find his parents. But political intrigue tries to kill Herbert and his whole family. They manage to escape Vaucanson.
  • 2023-01-29: : Donjon Potron-Minet - -84. Survivre aujourd’hui
    • 2022
    • Language: French
    • tags: #reread
    • Scénario: Joann Sfar, Lewis Trondheim
    • Dessin: Stéphane Oiry
  • 2024-08: Alix - Tome 40. L’Œil du Minotaure
    • 2021
    • Language: French
    • tags: #reread
    • Scénario: Valérie Mangin
    • Dessin: Chrys Millien
    • NOTES: I note again my main issue with this album: the art and colors often looks too computerized for my taste. Another example, in addition to my previous notes, is the roman camp on the island of Crete: all tents look drawn with a ruler. They are too neatly aligned. This gives an artificial and unrealistic look that is immediately noticeable. Part of the issue lies in the coloring, but it’s not the only issue.
  • 2024-08-15: Donjon Zénith - 9. Larmes et brouillard
    • 2022
    • Language: French
    • Scénario: Lewis Trondheim, Joann Sfar
    • Dessin: Boulet
    • NOTES: Herbert and Isis are going to have a child, but on Isis’s family side, the Kochaques, the child will have to face wolves in a pit, based on an ancient ritual. Herbert tries to subtract his son from that tradition, but fails, and the baby has to go through the ritual, with both parents tied so they cannot intervene. The baby is (spoiler) devoured instantly, and that is it. That single, simple panel is quite powerful and the apex of the album.
  • 2024-08-21: Largo Winch - 24. Le Centile d’Or
    • 2023
    • Language: French
    • Scénario: Éric Giacometti
    • Dessin: Philippe Francq
    • NOTES: A good ending to the diptych. You learn who was really behind the sabotages and assassination attempts. There is a nice tribute (spoiler) to Jarod in the end. It is a little surprising that Largo and Jarod wouldn’t know they land inside the Yosemite National Park: it is hard not to recognize it. Of course the action is a little improbable, but that’s what you expect from Largo Winch.
  • 2024-08-20: Largo Winch - 23. La Frontière de la nuit
    • 2021
    • Language: French
    • tags: #reread
    • Scénario: Éric Giacometti
    • Dessin: Philippe Francq
    • NOTES: Re-reading this now that I have the second tome of the diptych. The main thing I don’t like, besides the colors, would be the “Allusion nunuche et invraisemblable au monde humanitaire”, as a commenter says. Otherwise the story moves along. Let’s see the second part!
  • 2024-08-17: Lefranc - Tome 33. Le scandale Arès
    • 2022
    • Language: French
    • tags: #reread
    • Story: Roger Seiter
    • Drawings: Régric
    • NOTES: Rereading this before tackling, I enjoyed it as much if not more than the first time. The art of Régric is really good. I had previously written: “I don’t like Régric’s drawings as much as Alvès’s, but they are not too bad.” I think that Régric might have improved in subsequent albums.
  • 2024-08-15: Donjon Zénith - 8. En sa mémoire
    • 2020
    • Language: French
    • tags: #reread
    • Scénario: Lewis Trondheim
    • Dessin: Boulet
    • NOTES: I had almost entirely forgotten that I had read this 3 years ago. Herbert is on his way to announce to Marvin’s mother that Marvin is getting married with Pirzuine. There, he meets Gilberto in training. They both learn that Marvin’s mother was killed. They are suspected and condemned to death, but find a way to temporarily at least escape the sentence. Gilberto discovers weed. Herbert is chosen to investigate the death. Marvin arrives, his mother’s death is first hidden but Gilberto reveals it. They unmask the shaman Mardukian as the killer. He escapes, they chase him, avoid his tricks, and he is defeated. The other dragons still protect him, but Marvin, off-screen, kills Mardukian. Gilberto continues his training, but this time uses weed.
  • 2024-08-12: [Les mondes de Thorgal - La jeunesse, Tome 9. Les larmes de Hel
    • 2021
    • Language: French
    • Scénario: Yann
    • Dessin: Roman Surzhenko
    • Rating: 3/5
    • NOTES: The story continues. Thorgal, Aaricia, Sveyn, and others flee from Harald. Sveyn learns that his adoptive father is dead. They reach an island, but the water is poisoned. They find underground a group of women who decided to leave outside of society to escape the cruelty of men. Among them is Sveyn’s mother. Harald finds them, horribly tortures Thorbiorg (there is a disturbing panel), but eventually is killed by Sveyn, who becomes the new leader. Although he is not cruel like Harald, he promises his men conquests.
  • 2024-08-10: [Les mondes de Thorgal - La jeunesse, Tome 7. La dent bleue
    • 2019
    • Language: French
    • tags: #reread
    • Scénario: Yann
    • Dessin: Roman Surzhenko
  • 2024-08-08: Kaamelott - Tome 1. L’armée du nécromant
    • 2006
    • Language: French
    • Scénario: Alexandre Astier
    • Dessin: Steven Dupré
    • Rating: 3/5
    • NOTES: You have to know Kaamelott the TV series to appreciate this. I definitely imagine the actors’ voices while reading. I find that the character’s faces look similar, and are recognizable, but a little too different from those of the TV series. At times, the faces are too distorted for my taste. The story itself is ok. I am in general not a fan of stories about zombies. I am not sure that I will continue this series yet, but I was curious enough to get the first album.
  • 2024-08-09: Les mondes de Thorgal - La jeunesse, Tome 8. Les deux bâtards
    • 2020
    • Language: French
    • tags: #reread
    • Scénario: Yann
    • Dessin: Roman Surzhenko
    • NOTES: TODO.
  • 2024-08-06: Ralph Azham - 12. Lâcher prise
    • 2019
    • Language: French
    • Scénario et dessin: Lewis Trondheim
    • NOTES: The end of the saga. Ralph’s new castle is almost done. Clothilde says she plans to leave soon. Ralphs’s team still tries to bring justice to assassins. The king comes back and appears intent on taking power again. Tilda comes back, and is now in a relationship with Ralph. However, the king (who is 1,000-year-old, remember) decides to stage a coup to take power again by killing everyone on his path. A new character comes into play: Xenophon. He is, well, 5,000-year-old. He wants to ally with Ralph to kill the king, and then handle the situation of the “blued”. For that, Ralph and Tilda are aged temporarily so they can escape. The king finds them, and the final battle takes place: several of Ralph’s friends are killed, but eventually the king is defeated through a combination of power that I don’t quite understand. Xenophon tells Ralph that he wants to blow up the moon Moogthar, so that there will no longer be new “blued” with special powers. Ralph gives his power to Tilda, who is “born to rule”, and then uses the “stone of forgetfulness” to leave or disappear. Several reviewers think that the second part of the saga is not as good as the first part, and that too many things are left open, including the fate of several of the characters. The entire idea of the “blued”, and why they exist in this universe, is not explained. Some reviewers, while not ecstatic about the second part of the saga, think that it’s still a pretty good ending, and that it makes sense: the king is gone, but Ralph never liked power and has lost friends, so he prefers to leave and forget. Still, he appears disilliusioned about human nature, witness the failure of installing democracy in that town.
  • 2024-08-05: Ralph Azham - 11. L’engrenage
    • 2018
    • Language: French
    • Scénario et dessin: Lewis Trondheim
    • NOTES: Ralph and friends go meet Tilda Pönns, who eventually becomes an ally. The big threat is the “religion of the 4 gods”, which was made up by the king in the old times, but which is now very powerful on its own and wants to eliminate Ralph and take all the power. In the meanwhile, Ralph go explore a small village where people have lost their memory, and is not welcome by its inhabitants, who, in fact, try to kill him by burying him alive in an old underground city. Piatch (I don’t remember who he is!) goes to check whether democracy took root in the town where Ralph set it up, but finds Zania in prison about to be executed, and that in fact the elected burgmeister got corrupted and things don’t work as planned. She is saved by Piatch but escapes. Tilda and Ralph meet with the high priests and a lot of their top people, and Tilda obliterates them (à la “Game of Thrones”, as a commentator suggested). Ralph’s father is poisoned by a gift that was sent to Ralph, and, about to day, asks Ralph to kill him so he can stay as a ghost to help him. But Ralph is seen by Rose. She leaves, and so does Yassou, the kid-who-aged, and who was into the religion.
  • 2024-08-05: Ralph Azham - 10. Un feu qui meurt
    • 2017
    • Language: French
    • tags: #reread
    • Scénario et dessin: Lewis Trondheim
    • NOTES: See original entry.
  • 2024-08-02: Sillage - 23. Immersion
    • Scénario: Philippe Buchet
    • Dessin et couleur: Philippe Buchet
    • Rating: 4/5
    • NOTES: I liked this story, where [spoiler] the métamorphes finally get their due. Juliette, the computer genius, is abducted to help the enemy. I like the appearance of the “Grand Mégagister” or “Haut-Magister” Hattoyro IV. I could have done with less of Nävis’s fight scenes on the ship.
  • 2024-07-31: Sillage - 22. Transfert
    • Scénario: Philippe Buchet
    • Dessin et couleur: Philippe Buchet
    • Rating: 4/5
    • NOTES: The idea of two sister planets rotating around two suns, with a transfer of populations, animals and plants between the two planets every 5 years, is interesting. Overall I enjoyed this story.
  • 2024-07-30: Sillage - 21. Exfiltration
    • Scénario: Jean David Morvan, Philippe Buchet
    • Dessin et couleur: Philippe Buchet
    • tags: #reread
    • Rating: TODO
    • NOTES: Ratings for this story on Bédéthèque are not great. Reviewers think that the story is too tightly connected to recent (2021?) events, probably migrants in the Mediterranean. The story is too much of a feel-good story. However, I think that there is a lot of good stuff in there, in spite of a few too many “There are women and children here”. My main criticism would be that Nävis’s approach wouldn’t scale. But then, of course she plans to take down those how are organizing the exploitation of those populations in subsequent albums.
  • Olivier Rameau - INT2. Intégrale 2
    • 2024-07: Olivier Rameau 6.L’oiseau de Par-ci, par-là
      • 1975
      • tags: #reread
      • NOTES: Trip from the real world to Rêverose, thanks to a flight that got lost in a storm. The big bad businessman is a less appealing version of some other characters seen in Achille Talon, such as the businessman in “Le grain de la folie” who ends up being a good guy, and probably others. The two bad guys are pretty bad: the one with the weapon shoots with real (in the story) bullets at the bell, which luckily just got tickled. But then he shoots a human, luckily having ran out of ammunition in his magazine. The flight is a little funny, being almost empty, and first class not quite looking like first class. But then, this was the 1970s, and people’s experience with flying was not what it is today. Getting people drunk with Champagne is a little weird.
    • 2024-07: Olivier Rameau 5. Le grand voyage en Absurdie
      • 1974
      • tags: #reread
      • NOTES: Notes in the album say this is the apex of the series, and indicate that after this album things change due to the authors getting busy with other projects. But 6 more albums follow, including one published in 2005, and ratings on Bédéthèque are still high. Trip to the real world, in the middle of military exercises. I recognize Greg’s dislike of anything military.
    • 2024-07: Olivier Rameau 4. La caravelle de n’importe où
      • 1973
      • tags: #reread
      • NOTES: Weird trip to an island full of monsters to reap some special seeds. Colombe is a stowaway. The bad pirate who was bothering her is (spoiler) eaten by a shark. The ship’s captain is quite amoral.
  • 2024-06-15: Topolino e l’Impero Sottozero
    • 2015
    • Language: Italian
    • Scénario: Casty
    • Dessin: Casty
    • tags: #reread
    • NOTES: Great art. A good story with good humor, interesting villains, and a happy ending.
  • 2024-05: Les trésors de Picsou 63 - Spécial Daan Jippes / Tome 3 - 3ème partie: Les années Egmont
    • 2023
    • Dessin: Daan Jippes
    • NOTES: Stories in the Carl Barks style.
  • 2024-06-12: Topolino e l’isola di quandomai
    • 2010
    • Sceneggiatura e disegni: Casty
    • tags: #reread
    • NOTES: See 2022 notes.
  • 2024-06-06: L’homme qui tua Lucky Luke
    • 2016
    • tags: #reread
    • Rating: 5/5
    • Scénario et dessin: Matthieu Bonhomme
    • NOTES: See 2020 notes. A great album.
  • 2024-06-05: Le combat ordinaire - 4. Planter des clous
    • 2008
    • Scénario: Manu Larcenet
    • Dessin: Manu Larcenet
    • tags: #reread
  • 2024-06-03: Le combat ordinaire - 3. Ce qui est précieux
    • 2006
    • Scénario: Manu Larcenet
    • Dessin: Manu Larcenet
    • tags: #reread
  • 2024-06-04: Le combat ordinaire - 2. Les quantités négligeables
    • 2004
    • Scénario: Manu Larcenet
    • Dessin: Manu Larcenet
    • tags: #reread
  • 2024-06-04: Le combat ordinaire - 1. Le combat ordinaire
    • 2003
    • Scénario: Manu Larcenet
    • Dessin: Manu Larcenet
    • tags: #reread
    • NOTES: The beginning of 4 albums-long masterpiece.
  • 2024-05: Les formidables aventures sans Lapinot 4. Top Ouf
    • 2010
    • Language: French
    • Scénario et dessin: Lewis Trondheim
    • tags: #reread
    • Rating: 4/5
    • NOTES: This is a full story. Richard is the main character. I love the scene at the discothèque.
  • 2024-05: Les formidables aventures sans Lapinot 3. Cyberculture mon amour
    • 2001
    • Language: French
    • Scénario et dessin: Lewis Trondheim
    • tags: #reread
    • Rating: 3/5
    • NOTES: This is a full story. It’s not as good as a Lapinot story, however.
  • 2024-05: Les formidables aventures sans Lapinot 2. Ordinateur mon ami
    • 1998
    • Language: French
    • Scénario et dessin: Lewis Trondheim
    • tags: #reread
    • Rating: 3/5
    • NOTES: Early Trondheim. One-page gags again, with a couple of exceptions.
  • 2024-05-1x: Les formidables aventures sans Lapinot 1. Les aventures de l’univers
    • 1997
    • Language: French
    • Scénario et dessin: Lewis Trondheim
    • tags: #reread
    • Rating: 3/5
    • NOTES: Early Trondheim. One-page gags. Some are funny and quite deep.
  • 2024-05-1x: Les formidables aventures de Lapinot 12. La vie comme elle vient
    • 2004
    • Language: French
    • Scénario et dessin: Lewis Trondheim
    • tags: #reread
    • Rating: 5/5
    • NOTES: 12 in the collection, but said to be “Huitième tome des formidables aventures de Lapinot”. A little masterpiece, with a lot of talk of death, and the unexpected, tragic, and touching death of Lapinot in the end.
  • 2024-05-1x: Les formidables aventures de Lapinot 11. L’accélérateur Atomique
    • 2003
    • Language: French
    • Scénario et dessin: Lewis Trondheim
    • tags: #reread
    • Rating: 4/5
    • NOTES: 11 in the collection, but said to be “Neuvième tome des formidables aventures de Lapinot”. A Spirou et Fantasio story.
  • 2024-05-1x: Les formidables aventures de Lapinot 10. La couleur de l’enfer
    • 2000
    • Language: French
    • Scénario et dessin: Lewis Trondheim
    • tags: #reread
    • Rating: 4/5
    • NOTES: 10 in the collection, but said to be “Septième tome des formidables aventures de Lapinot”. Story with the activists and quasi-terrorist. Richard moves to Lapinot’s, who is looking for a new place. Nadia continues doing her interviews for the radio, looking for people who are uncommon and have crazy ideas. Lapinot’s neighbor’s cat, Dark Vador, is taken care of by Richard, who thinks it’s an ET. It turns out to have been a cat fighting a terminal skin disease. Touching.
  • 2024-05-11: Les formidables aventures de Lapinot 9. Pour de vrai
    • 1999
    • Language: French
    • Scénario et dessin: Lewis Trondheim
    • tags: #reread
    • Rating: 4/5
    • NOTES: 9 in the collection, but said to be “Sixième tome des formidables aventures de Lapinot”.
  • 2024-05-10: Les formidables aventures de Lapinot 8. Vacances de printemps
    • 1999
    • Language: French
    • Dessin: Lewis Trondheim
    • Scénario: Frank Le Gall
    • tags: #reread
    • Rating: 5/5
    • NOTES: 8 in the collection, but said to be “Cinquième tome des formidables aventures de Lapinot”. I just realized that the scenario of this album was not by Trondheim.
  • 2024-05-10: Les formidables aventures de Lapinot 7. Amour et interim
    • 1998
    • Language: French
    • Scénario et dessin: Lewis Trondheim
    • tags: #reread
    • Rating: 4/5
    • NOTES: 7 in the collection, but said to be “Quatrième tome des formidables aventures de Lapinot”.
  • 2024-05-08: Les formidables aventures de Lapinot 6. Walter
    • 1996
    • Language: French
    • Scénario et dessin: Lewis Trondheim
    • tags: #reread
    • Rating: 4/5
    • NOTES: 6 in the collection, but said to be “Troisième tome des formidables aventures de Lapinot”.
  • 2024-05-07: Les formidables aventures de Lapinot 5. Pichenettes
    • 1995
    • Language: French
    • Scénario et dessin: Lewis Trondheim
    • tags: #reread
    • Rating: 4/5
    • NOTES: 5 in the collection, but said to be “Deuxième tome des formidables aventures de Lapinot”.
  • 2024-05-07: Les formidables aventures de Lapinot 4. Blacktown
    • 1995
    • Language: French
    • Scénario et dessin: Lewis Trondheim
    • tags: #reread
    • Rating: 5/5
  • 2024-05-06: Les formidables aventures de Lapinot 2. Slaloms
    • 1993
    • Language: French
    • Scénario et dessin: Lewis Trondheim
    • tags: #reread
    • Rating: 5/5
    • NOTES: I read this for the last time in 2017. For some reason, I really like this album, while it doesn’t have the best reviews on Bédéthèque. Or rather, reviews are split. I can certainly relate to the topic of skiing, being a skier myself. Skiing is not obviously misrepresented, as is the case in other bandes dessinées (as much as I like Lefranc’s “Le mystère Borg”, the skiing there is a little awkward).
  • 2024-05-02: Paperinik et la macchina del Fangus
    • 2021
    • Language: Italian
    • Topolino Limited De Luxe Edition
    • Artists: Alessandro Sisti, Antonello Daalena, Paolo De Lorenzi, Francesco D’Ippolito, Giampaolo Soldati, Stefano Zanchi
    • Rating: 3/5
    • NOTES: Stories published in 2014 about Angus Fangus, the antagonistic journalist of the Paperinik series. Includes the following stories:
      • “Scuola di media”: Angus teaches journalism to Paperino and Paperoga.
      • “Tutto a rovescio”: A ray that can reverse everything.
      • “Il boss dei boss”: PK joins the mafia but eventually tricks them.
      • “Problemi d’immagine”: PK trades appearance with Spennacchiotto (a old character who only occasionally reappears).
      • “Concorrenza sleale”: Private police tries to take over entire towns.
  • 2024-04-28: Kill Tête de Chien
    • 2021
    • Language: French
    • Scénario: Brandon Thomas
    • Dessin: Pete Woods
    • Rating: 3/5
    • NOTES: The story is a little hard to follow.
  • 2024-04-19: La flèche ardente
    • 2023
    • Language: French
    • Scénario: Jean Van Hamme
    • Dessin: Christian Cailleaux, Étienne Schréder
    • Rating: 3/5
    • NOTES: It is hard to evaluate this volume. On one hand, it must reproduce the spirit of the original “Rayon U” from the 1940s. That is an album that reflects its time. I like it, but it is not exactly a masterpiece. On the other hand, it needs to provide good art, and a story interesting enough to justify the effort. The art of “La flèche ardente” is not bad, but I noticed some inconsistencies in the faces of the characters, which I found a little unsettling. Now the story itself is fine, without being extraordinary. I was surprised by how Marduk, the scientist, suddenly got world domination ambitions when he realizes the power in his hands. In the end Hollis appears to calm Marduk’s ambitions. For now, I will consider this a middle-of-the road album.
  • 2024-04-17: Les nouvelles aventures de Lapinot - 1. Un monde un peu meilleur
    • 2017
    • Language: French
    • Scénario et dessin: Lewis Trondheim
    • Rating: 4/5
    • NOTES: I liked this first album of the new adventures. Then I realized that there are already 8 volumes out. Trondheim remains quite the prolific author.
  • 2024-04-16: Les passagers du vent - 8. Le sang des ceries
    • 2018
    • Scénario et dessins: François Bourgeon
    • Rating: 4/5
    • NOTES: Continuation of the series after many years. This is a more difficult opus, I think. The art is still beautiful.
  • 2024-03-06: Yoko Tsuno - 30. Les gémeaux de Saturne
    • 2022
    • Roger Leloup
    • 62 pages
    • 3/5
    • NOTES:
      • I bought the “Esquisse d’une oeuvre”, the large format album, with a dossier in the end.
      • I had bought this a while ago, and for some reason deferred its reading.
      • This again could have been Leloup’s last work, but not only it is not, but album 31 is coming out soon.
      • There is no doubt that the art is still suffering from Leloup’s old age, especially the characters’ faces. The decor are still great, although, like in most of Yoko’s space adventures, they tend to be less sophisticated than those of the earth adventure’s.
      • This said, looking at the original drawings, not inked, the art tends to be better than the final result. The inking seems to be a problem for Leloup now. Maybe he could have outsourced this part of the work.
      • Again, reading Roger Leloup’s explanations helps understand this album. It is anchored in the idea of the Vinéens’ early Earth colonization and mistakes they made, in this case genetic modifications. Interestingly enough, there is also an AI aspect, but Leloup had AI way before these days’ LLMs were fashionable.
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