Comic Books (2025)

2025-04-013: Peanuts (The complete) (2004) 4. 1957 - 1958
- 2005
- Author: Charles M. Schulz
- NOTES:
  - Snoopy continues his evolution. He occasionally walks on two legs, continues his imitations, like the vulture, and in the end even sleeps, clumsily, on the top of his doghouse.
  - Charlie Brown, Lucy, Linus, Schroeder, and Pig-Pen are all present. Violet and Shermy make rare appearances.
2025-04-013: Peanuts (The complete) (2004) 3. 1955 - 1956
- 2005
- Author: Charles M. Schulz
- NOTES:
  - Lucy, Linus, Schroeder, Snoopy, Pig-Pen, and of course Charlie Brown are all present. Shermy, Patty, and especially Violet still appear but less.
  - Charlotte Braun rapidly disappears.
  - Snoopy is more and more like the Snoopy we know.
2025-04-03: Peanuts (The complete) (2004) 2. 1953 - 1954
- 2004
- Author: Charles M. Schulz
- NOTES:
  - “Pig-Pen” makes his first appearance in this volume.
  - Charlotte Braun also appears. I believe that she is a temporary character.
2025-03-20: Peanuts (The complete) (2004) 1. 1950 - 1952
- 2004
- Author: Charles M. Schulz
- NOTES:
  - The first 2 years of Peanuts, with the first appearances of Charlie Brown, Snoopy, Lucy, Linus (Lucy’s little brother), Schroeder (already a Beethoven fan), but also Violet, Patty, and Shermy.
  - Snoopy doesn’t speak yet, and looks very different, walking on all fours, and mostly being a dog.
  - Book also has a commentary and a long Schulz interview from 1987.
    - I learned that Schulz was always called Sparky.
    - Schulz never liked, in fact hated, the name “Peanuts” given to the strip by the syndicate.
    - Schulz only wanted kids (and animals) in his strip. It’s very rare that there is an adult.
2025-03-17: Alix - Tome 38. Les Helvètes
- 2019
- Scénario: Mathieu Bréda
- Dessin: Marc Jailloux
- Rating: 5/5
- NOTES:
  - This is one of the best Alix stories post-Martin. The intro says it’s “freely inspired by a synopsis by Jacques Martin”, and that might be part of the reason why it is so good.
  - But the art by Jailloux is really excellent as well.
  - I have a bias since the story largely takes place on modern Switzerland territory, and there is an appeal to see the beautiful Alps, lakes, and a largely untouched nature.
  - The sacrifice of Balios is tough, but we were forewarned early in the story that the great horse would not make it.
2025-03-15: Alix - Tome 33. Britannia
- 2014
- tags: #reread
- Scénario: Marc Jailloux, Mathieu Bréda
- Dessin: Marc Jailloux
- Rating: 4/5
- NOTES:
  - The art of Marc Jailloux is excellent.
  - The story is relatively complex. There is Caesar, going to Britain as he was promised riches by Viridoros, the vilain of the story who ends up being a traitor. There is Mancios, a prince of Britain, who helps Caesar, hoping to retake his position held by an usurper, Cassinos. The druids, including a female druid, are also involved. Caesar and his troupes narrowly escape following the treason of Viridoros. It turns out that there wouldn’t be many riches to obtain anyway and Ceasar leaves Britain, with a promise of never coming back. Alix and Enak play their usual hero roles, siding as well as they can with the good guys, and expressing skepticism towards Caesar’s adventure.
2025-03: Luc Orient - Le mur
- 1994
- tags: #reread
- Scenario: Greg
- Dessin: Eddy Paape
- NOTES:
  - 11 pages, with 6 completed and 5 of Greg’s scenario only. Unfinished.
  - Paape wasn’t enthused with how the scenario was going, and it was not pursued.
  - The incomplete art is great.
  - I wish there had been a few solid “Terango zenith” stories. The characters would have allowed for that. It’s just that Greg had a false start here, and then it was too late. This and the flawed Caragal give us a taste of what it could have been.
2025-03: Luc Orient - 18. Rendez-vous à 20 heures en enfer…
- 1984
- tags: #reread
- Scenario: Greg
- Dessin: Eddy Paape
- rating: 4/5
- NOTES:
  - Published in 1994 but created “10 years earlier”.
  - The lab is now called “Eurocristal IV”. We don’t know what happened to II and III. But Kala, Luc, and Lora all seem to work at IV now.
  - The art is great, and story excellent.
  - There are common time travel ideas present, and the question of free will is raised.
  - I find the panel where Luc comes out of the water on the pod a little weird.
  - The context is that of the end of WWII, when Germany was falling, so it also has very heavy implications.
  - The humorous punch line of the story is nicely found.
2025-03: Luc Orient - 17. Les spores null part
- 1990
- tags: #reread
- NOTES:
  - Contains 4 stories
    - Les spores de nulle part: This is a nice short story.
    - Les rayons de feu du soleil: This story is a little weaker and not my favorite. I do like the part at Eurocristal I, where you see the day to day of Luc, Lora, and Kala, who gets teased a little.
    - La vengeance: This is a good story, again starting at Eurocristal I.
    - Mission en 2012: This is not Luc Orient, but it is a really good short story of time travel.
2025-03: Luc Orient - 16. Caragal
- 1985
- tags: #reread
- rating: 2/5
- NOTES:
  - I confirm that I don’t like this story. There are positive aspects, however:
    - The action takes place on Terango with Teranguian characters. This tells us that more such stories could have been written.
    - I love the colors in this story. They are better than in most albums.
    - The art is excellent and detailed, superior to many of the earlier albums.
  - I wonder how this story was written, or certainly published, after the Dartz cycle.
  - I’d say that the Terango stories would have deserved a better scenario.
2025-03: Luc Orient - 15. Roubak - Ultime espoir
- 1984
- tags: #reread
- Scenario: Greg
- Dessin: Eddy Paape
- NOTES: End of the Dartz cycle. Everything is reset, as in a dream.
2025-03: Luc Orient - 14. Le rivage de la fureur
- 1981
- tags: #reread
- Scenario: Greg
- Dessin: Eddy Paape
- NOTES:
  - The Amazons are certainly a trope, but the authors give women an improved role in this story. Lora rises to the occasion.
  - One wishes to have seen the Teranguians again.
2025-03: Luc Orient - 13. L’enclume de la foudre
- 1978
- tags: #reread
- Scenario: Greg
- Dessin: Eddy Paape
- NOTES:
  - Water that has a “different form” is, of course, not reasonable.
  - Like “La planète de l’angoisse”, this album is pure adventure and doesn’t advance the main plot by much.
2025-03: Luc Orient - 12. La porte de cristal
- 1977
- tags: #reread
- Scenario: Greg
- Dessin: Eddy Paape
- NOTES:
  - We start the Dartz cycle.
  - The SF is ok, but there is a lot of hand-wavy stuff.
  - The way Orient handles the characters from the past is good.
  - The Darz, like the Teranguians, are very human-like, almost to a fault: same height, legs, arms, ears, etc. If is very much in the spirit of Star Trek from that point of view.
  - The time difference aspect is the most fun, and the appearance of a new modern world where that forest was, with an old Kala, is well done. Clearly there was a spirit of “progress” at the time.
  - Thinking about that, the technical decors were not Paape’s forte. Compare this with masters at such decors, like Roger Leloup. Paape, instead, is very minimalistic.
2025-03: Luc Orient - 11. La vallée des eaux troubles
- 1976
- tags: #reread
- Scenario: Greg
- Dessin: Eddy Paape
- NOTES:
  - Overall a pretty good story, although not my favorite topic.
  - Kala and Lora are almost entirely absent.
  - Orient’s last comment has a weird religious implication, unexpected from a scientist: “Yes, I wonder if someone else has not, more than Wolfgang Rafael, forbidden that the mystery of this ‘pirate’ creation should be repeated.” But I suppose that this is present for effect. It reminds me of the “Junior Mint” episode of Seinfeld, where the doctor says “I have no medical evidence to back me up but something happened during the operation that staved off that infection. Something beyond science. Something perhaps… from above.”.
  - I like that the natives of the jungle are well depicted, and always respected by Orient and his teammates.
2025-02: Luc Orient - 10. Le 6ème continent
- 1976
- tags: #reread
- Scenario: Greg
- Dessin: Eddy Paape
- NOTES:
  - I had taken notes earlier about the weird depiction of skiing, and that remains a little funny. This said, Kala and Toba are supposed to be decent skiers, and they are shown with a good, advanced posture, especially for the time (1970s). Orient is supposed to be a poor skier, and mostly sticks to that, but there are a couple of exceptions where he is shown with a posture too good for his level, especially considered that this is off-piste skiing. Still, all skiers go downhill all the time, and that is not how skiing on that kind of terrain works. Toba even says “Only another half hour of effort”, shown in a cross-country skiing posture, which might indicate they are not skiing downhill at that point, but that contradicts the previous frame where Orient is struggling to go downhill. I suspect that Paape was not a skier.
  - I like the depiction of the ski resort, which seems inspired by Zermatt.
  - The “human anthill” idea is not bad, although you would think that getting all that is needed for such a society would make it difficult to keep it secret over 1500 years. I still find the final destruction of the underground city a bit odd.
2025-02: Luc Orient - 9. 24 heures pour la planète terre
- 1975
- tags: #reread
- Scenario: Greg
- Dessin: Eddy Paape
- NOTES:
  - The world is at the mercy of a single extraterrestrial (Okjorr, from Trementhawah, who doesn’t reveal his nature to Earth) able to destroy materials and life on Earth. He first shows off his power of destruction on a bridge, to convince world leaders to convene, which they do, but for what purpose we don’t really know. World leaders decide not to negotiate with the “destroyer”, whatever he wants. Orient is contacted by another ET, Rojkorr, who wants to counter Okjorr. He reveals to Orient the original plan of his species: submit Earth, and convert all forms of life by removing their blood, but in exchange making them “better”. Okjorr seems more aggressive, and on a path to, instead, submit or even eliminate all life on Earth. So Rojkorr decides to betray his species, and help Orient. In a second show of power, Okjorr destroys the Statue of Liberty, but the damage is contained thanks to blood plasma. This is the parade, which stops Okjorr in his plans. Rojkorr sets up an encounter between Orient and Okjorr. The latter says he has decided to burn the Earth’s atmosphere instead, in a last vindictive act. Orient and Rojkorr manage to stop and destroy him. Rojkorr becomes human, although without blood.
  - The story is fine on its face, but the focus on blood seems a bit odd.
  - The motivations of Okjorr are unclear. They are supposed to be a smarter race, but he shows all the worst traits of humans. Also, although they can live 10,000 years, he doesn’t seem bothered by committing suicide in the end.
  - Okjorr regains his original appearance in death. Orient seems disgusted by his monstrous aspect, but he is not that different from humans. However, I like that Paape doesn’t fully show the appearance of the Trementhawans, but instead shows hints of that appearance.
  - Overall, this is not my favorite Luc Orient story.
2025-02: Luc Orient - 8. La légion des anges maudits
- 1975
- tags: #reread
- Scenario: Greg
- Dessin: Eddy Paape
- NOTES: I note the “superhuman” effort of Orient throwing Kala up the elevator shaft. Wouldn’t it have been easier to throw Lora? The “play boy” scientist turns out not to be that bad after all.
2025-02: Luc Orient - 7. Le cratère aux sortilèges
- 1974
- tags: #reread
- Scenario: Greg
- Dessin: Eddy Paape
- NOTES: A good story, as I had noted during previous reads, with its similarity to the Mystère Borg.
2025-02: Luc Orient - 6. Le secret des 7 lumières
- 1974
- tags: #reread
- Scenario: Greg
- Dessin: Eddy Paape
- NOTES: Nice atmosphere in the cabin around the lake, with the mafia bosses.
2025-02: Luc Orient - 5. La forêt d’acier
- 1973
- tags: #reread
- Scenario: Greg
- Dessin: Eddy Paape
- NOTES: The arrival on Terango of Argos, with the Thargs. I few things I notice:
  - Granya goes through the control “arcs” which are supposed to destroy whoever goes through them. But her helpers didn’t ask her whether she was armed or not before going through.
  - Granya is told not to look at the gaze from the landing ship, or she “would be killed instantly”. But the rest of the body is ok?
  - As usual, the SF aspects are a little wonky. We are told that dynamite will behave differently on Terango. We know that the atmosphere of Terango is different, but are the laws of physics? Surely, with Sectan having an invasion fleet, the Terganguians know about explosive.
  - The Thargs are somehow made immune to radioactivity, and then clad in radioactive maeterial, making them human bombs. But of course, it’s not at all how nuclear bombs work. Then somehow it all goes away.
  - In short, the science doesn’t hold well, and you just have to suspend disbelief.
2025-02: Luc Orient - 4. La planète de l’angoisse
- 1972
- tags: #reread
- Scenario: Greg
- Dessin: Eddy Paape
- NOTES: This is a side-story in the Terango cycle: under the pretext of reaching other peoples on Terango, Luc, Lora, and their Teranguian friends deal with dragon-men and bird-men. In the end, not much has progressed in the larger arc. But there is a nice criticism of the oppression of a population by, in this case, two leaders, who even drug their population to keep it under control.
2025-02: Luc Orient - 3. Le maître de Terango
- 1971
- tags: #reread
- Scenario: Greg
- Dessin: Eddy Paape
- NOTES: Maybe the best of the Terango arc, where we get to meet the dictator of Terango.
2025-032 Luc Orient - 2. Les soleils de glace
- 1970
- tags: #reread
- Scenario: Greg
- Dessin: Eddy Paape
2025-02: Luc Orient - 1. Les dragons de feu
- 1969
- tags: #reread
- Scenario: Greg
- Dessin: Eddy Paape
2025-01: Le Journal de Mickey - Hors Série - No. 6 - Les plus belles aventures
- 2023
- language: French
- Scénario: Jean-Paul Jennequin, V. Turier
- Dessin: C. Panaro, D. Vetro, F. Artibani, S. Nigro, A. Perina, C. Limido, B. Sarda, A. Gottardo, Alessandro Sisti, L. Pastrovicchio, R. Cimino, Giorgio Cavazzano, E. Gula, Valerio Held,
- NOTES: All stories except the first one are by V. Turier. On the other hand, cartoonists are varied. Some are well-known, like Alessandro Sisti and Giorgio Cavazzano. All in all, these are fairly run-off-the-mill stories.

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