And here are my weekend reads. Since I work intensely during the week, I compensate by doing nothing 😉
Spirou – L’espoir malgré tout
Despite my age, I never read Spirou in my youth, and it never attracted me more than that… But I loved « Le journal d’un ingénu » by Émile Bravo, and I continued with these three volumes in a row!
I really like the line of Émile Bravo, his Spirou too, very endearing. He is at the same time benevolent, protective, but also very naive, often overwhelmed by the events, the shenanigans of the adults, and by the feelings of love too, which he manages badly!
I find the character of Fantasio rather unbearable, voluntarily ugly and very stupid, but he too has two facets and gains in consciousness with the passing of time.
The 3 volumes are nice, with however a bit of didactic heaviness : we feel that the author uses Spirou to explain the horror of the war, the political genesis of it, as well as the anti-semitism, to a rather young public I guess. It makes each volume a little heavier, which is already very long, but it’s still pleasant to read on the whole.
Fritz the Cat
I only knew this Robert Crumb character by his mischievous look. And indeed, he’s quite a rascal! Diving into the America of the late 60’s, early 70’s with a cheeky cat, very sexually inclined, a bit of a rogue, a bit of a hustler, and often funny.
I liked it a lot. I also recently read Amerika by the same author, in this very nice edition from Cornelius.
The loneliness of the long distance cartoonist
I don’t remember where I heard Adrian Tomine’s name for the first time, but when I saw this book in an English-speaking bookstore in Paris, I immediately wanted to buy it, because I like American alternative comics.
The book itself is very beautiful, an imitation of a Moleskine type notebook, with its bookmark thread, its squares, the box to write your coordinates and even some pencilled simili-notes from the author at the end.
The overall impression I got from this comic book is one of discomfort: discomfort of the author, a nerdy kid with a passion for Spider-Man and John Romita, mistreated by his classmates, then a young unsuccessful comic book writer who remains in the shadow of Daniel Clowes and Neil Gaiman, mistreated by critics, readers, conference-goers and sometimes even autograph hunters!
Each little story tells a misadventure, a discomfort, so much so that I myself was very uncomfortable once the book was finished, transposing the author’s discomfort onto myself a little. A pleasant read nonetheless.
L’étranger de la plage
I borrowed this manga from my daughter, who loved it. It tells the gay romance between a young writer and a melancholic teenager.
I read one chapter, then it fell out of my hands. It’s very mawkish, really mushy, I don’t like the design nor the story which doesn’t seem credible. I don’t know how it ends.
Donjon Monster – La bière supérieure
Since Sfar and Trondheim relaunched the Donjon series, I frantically buy them as soon as they come out! Once again a pleasant read, which makes me smile, but which does not reach the heights of the first volumes.
Long before Marvin the Red appears, we see that rabbits are not to be taken for choirboys! The heroine of this volume, a nice rabbit who is a bit naive at the beginning, murders without a care in the world anyone who gets in her way, while developing a very lucrative business. Humor and hemoglobin guaranteed.
Lupin III Anthology
I was not familiar with this character or the cartoon that was based on it. It’s a fun curiosity to read.
It’s from the 60s/70s, a drawing style that doesn’t resemble modern manga, very « rough » but that contributes a lot to the comedy. It is funny, but nevertheless sometimes violent and salacious.
Les lectures de Farzad 