Unexplored in French comics - entitled The Quest for the Bird of Time. Writer Serge Letendre and artist Regis LoiselĬombined forces in the early 1980s to produce a four-volume heroic fantasy saga - a genre heretofore virtually SERGE LETENDRE & REGIS LOISEL - LA QUETE DE L'OISEAU DU TEMPS - VOL.ģ: LE RIGE (1985).
Showing new ways to design pages, with full bleed, breaking traditional panel borders, etc. Translating the literary influences of authors such as Lovecraft, Moorcock, etc. More of an illustrator than a traditional comic book artist, Philippe Druillet nevertheless revolutionized comics by not only Valerian is never splashy, the art never drawing attention to itself yet, it is always beautiful,Įffective and truly a window on an undreamed of universe. Writer PierreĬhristin 's intricate and literate stories,Īnd his endearing characters, are matched by artist Jean-Claude Mezieres ' coolly elegant, imaginative and always detailed visuals.
Valerian is the science fiction comics series per excellence. 9: METRO CHATELETĭIRECTION CASSIOPEE (1980). PIERRE CHRISTIN & JEAN-CLAUDE MEZIERES - VALERIAN - VOL. Introduced a never-seen-before gamut of cinematic tricks such as silent panels, dynamic compositions, incredible Yet Tillieux revolutionized Belgian comics by doing serious, often very caustic adult stories, and visually Prolific writer-artist Maurice Tillieux drew the adventures of his unflappable detective Gil Jourdan in a classic, seemingly harmless cartoony style. His almost sadistic satire of the 1950s comics truly shines in his Bob Fish His Freddy Lombard series is a trifle more conventional, but It in a series of perfectly-designed, joyously nostalgic homages to the classic comics of the 1950s. Style of Herge, Jacobs and Jije, and using (A few stories translated in "Heavy Metal".)īurst onto the French comics scene by appropriating and adapting the "clear line" (as it became known)
To buy them in French, order from the French To buy these books in English (when such editions exist), try Bud Plant Comic Art or Mars Import. There are other Asterix, Tintin or Blueberry books equally worthy of consideration.įinally, we have provided a series of links to help those seeking additional informationĪbout these series and/or authors. Also, the selection of an individualīook in an otherwise brilliant series is, to some extent, abitrary. However, whether a graphic novel ranks #8 or #4 is a matter of individual taste. Artistic criteria were, of course, paramount in the selection butĪlso importance, influence and recognition played a role.Ĭlearly, the individual rankings varied from person to person. Were included in the majority of the lists. Not everyone listed exactly the same books, but generally the books that made it here (No Hugo Pratt, no Joost Swarte ) with a fairly undisputed list of modern "classics". It is meant to provide the English-speaking reader unfamiliar with French-language comics This list was put together with the help of an informal group of fifteen artists,