The Forbidden Planet International Blog Log

Last week the Angouleme Festival announced the “Sélections” for its 2010 edition.  These are sixty-odd books that were published over the past year, and that are deemed to be indispensible in any Bande Dessinée library.

As is the tradition, it’s a real smorgasbord of styles, subjects and formats.  The usual suspects are present, of course, with people like Joann Sfar, Manu Larcenet, Emmanuel Guibert or Pascal Rabatté – “auteurs” who steadily create an oeuvre of remarkable quality.  There are also a few creators that will probably be more well-known for English readers, such as Seth (George Sprott), Crumb (Genesis, of course, probably one of the most eagerly awaited graphic novels of the past few years), Clowes and Michel Rabagliati (with the sixth episode of his pseudo-autobiographical series, Paul).  But the Essentiels try to represent the best across the board, and also include books which would probably not be classified as “literary comics” on the Fantagraphics blog, such as Alex Alice’s Siegfried (a gorgeous but rather tedious retelling of the Wagner opera), Déni de Fuite by Alain Dodier (the 21st book in his wonderful Jerome K. Jerome Bloche series, which makes it the longest running series in the selection), or the seventh episode in Patrice Pellerin’s historical epoch, L’Epervier.

Allow me, though, to also mention two of my countrymen in the selection : Nix presents the complete collection of his anarchical and very irreverent Kinky And Cosy strip (see some examples in English, as well as a selection of the cartoons that were created with the characters here), and Judith Vanistendael has published the conclusion to her much-lauded debut book, La Jeune Fille et le Nègre.  Two totally different styles and subject matters, and only a glimpse of the vast variety and quality that can be found in Flemish comics.

(Kinky and Cosy by Belgian creator Nix, some of which can now also be enjoyed in English)

In addition to the general “Essentiels”, two more lists are presented.  The first contains the best comics for children of the past year, ranging from the excellent fourth episode in Bruno Gazzotti and Fabien Vehlmann’s Seuls series, to Boulet’s full-out crazy sword and sorcery fantasy Raghnarok to the seventh collection of Franquin’s classic Spirou Et Fantasio series (featuring the wonderful villain Zorglub, who was brought back to the stage for this year’s 50th album, which met with mixed reviews).

This last book would probably have featured equally well in the last “Essentiels” list, the Sélection Patrimoine, which aims at honouring creators and books that are emblematic for comic culture around the world.  This year’s list features the first volume of the collected Gil Jourdan stories by Maurice Tillieux (which is a really indispensable book if you are even only slightly interested in classic Franco-Belgian comics), the American Splendor collection that Ca Et La published last year, and Tezuka’s classic Sarutobi.

Incidentally, and quite interestingly in the light of the recent brouhaha about the festival’s finances, the Charente Libre website recently ran a report on the financial impact (in benefits, not costs) the festival has on the city.  The article is based on quite old figures, admittedly, but it’s quite interesting nonetheless.