A group for fans of British Comics
La Belle France
Loved my visit to France recently (my first - not before time), despite torrential rain and severe flooding in places! A couple of things impressed me - firstly the ready availability of Bandes Desinées albums in all bookshops and supermarkets - OK, a pretty limited selection in the latter, comprising gag strips/Asterix etc. with some of the more popular fantasy series, but still... I'd love to see a selection of hardback comic strip albums in Asda when I go shopping!
The second thing I was impressed by was the use of B.D.s as an educational resource. We were staying in the Dordogne near Les Eyzies, which is rich in Medieval and Prehistory. All the bookshops and Tourist Info centres carried various albums with stories illustrating Medieval and Prehistoric life. In the chateau at Castelnaud, there was an education room with a huge array of well thumbed albums, in styles ranging from cartoony to very detailed realism, covering all sorts of historical periods. Not a superhero in sight! A brilliant way to get information across. The only ones I recognised there were Hermann's 'The Towers of Bois-Maury', the first two volumes of which have been translated into English, I know, but there were 10 volumes here! Beautiful stuff - well worth getting your hands on.
Another thing worth getting your hands on is 'Final Incal' by Jodorowsky and Ladrönn, the first volume of which has just come out in France. I don't know if it's going to get translated, but if you're brave enough to tackle the French, or just want to look at the pictures (!), track it down on Amazon France. The story's pretty much what you'd expect from the Incal series - very existential and the artwork is astonishing.
The second thing I was impressed by was the use of B.D.s as an educational resource. We were staying in the Dordogne near Les Eyzies, which is rich in Medieval and Prehistory. All the bookshops and Tourist Info centres carried various albums with stories illustrating Medieval and Prehistoric life. In the chateau at Castelnaud, there was an education room with a huge array of well thumbed albums, in styles ranging from cartoony to very detailed realism, covering all sorts of historical periods. Not a superhero in sight! A brilliant way to get information across. The only ones I recognised there were Hermann's 'The Towers of Bois-Maury', the first two volumes of which have been translated into English, I know, but there were 10 volumes here! Beautiful stuff - well worth getting your hands on.
Another thing worth getting your hands on is 'Final Incal' by Jodorowsky and Ladrönn, the first volume of which has just come out in France. I don't know if it's going to get translated, but if you're brave enough to tackle the French, or just want to look at the pictures (!), track it down on Amazon France. The story's pretty much what you'd expect from the Incal series - very existential and the artwork is astonishing.
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Comment by John Freeman on June 5, 2008 at 9:46am -
Ladronn of course is one of the main artists on Richard Starkings Elephantmen saga over at Active Images.
I don't think comics work as an educational tool is that unheard of here though -- Classical Comics obviously springs to mind, but there's also Terry Deary's Horrible Histories (books and part work) and more.
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