The Pizzlys, Hoka Hey!, Corto Maltese... The comic books to offer for Christmas

Les Pizzlys

, by Jérémie Moreau

Dense, the work of Jérémie Moreau explores many genres to offer a fascinating journey rich in twists and turns in the remote lands of the Far North.

Delcourt/Mirages

Nathan, an orphan, must support his sister and brother.

At the wheel of his car paid for on credit, he connects Uber races, blindly relying on his GPS to guide him.

When her cell phone breaks down, her life is shattered.

Disoriented, he causes an accident.

His car, his only means of survival, is unusable.

But luck smiles on him in the person of his last client, Anne, who has to go back to live in Alaska.

Faced with the young man's distress, she decides to take the three orphans with her.

The three city dwellers will find themselves in the heart of a wild nature, which will not be without difficulty.

Threatened ecosystem, reunion with nature, emotion, adventure, spirituality... Dense, the

Jérémie Moreau's book explores many genres to offer a fascinating journey rich in twists and turns in the remote lands of the Far North.

The reader will discover, without being bored for a second, the repercussions of climate change and will meet species in particular.

The reader will notably meet the Pizzly, an animal that is half polar bear, half grizzly... A fascinating story tinged with seductive fluorescent colours.

Delcourt/Mirages, 200 pages, 29.95 euros.

Majnoun and Leïli - Songs from Beyond the Grave,

by Yann Damezin

Inspired by Persian miniatures, Yann Damezin revisits the most famous folktale from the East with remarkable skill, all in alexandrines!

The bubble box

Leïli and Qaïs love each other.

But Leïli's father refuses to give the girl's hand to a poet.

Driven into exile, the one now called Majnoun (“the madman in love”) finds refuge with the animals of the desert while his sweetheart is forced to hide her despair… Inspired by Persian miniatures, Yann Damezin revisits the most famous folk tale from the Orient with remarkable skill, all in alexandrines!

Rocked by the melody of the language and hypnotized by the supernatural beauty of the boards, the reader turns the pages without stopping, captivated.

The inventiveness of the layout and the symbolic richness of the narration - which intertwines characters, stars, fauna and flora in a whirlwind of colors - make the trip totally captivating.

A wonder !

The bubble box, 176 pages, 28 euros.

Eight hours in Berlin

, by José-Louis Bocquet, Jean-Luc Fromental and Antoine Aubin

Led by the hand of a master, this exciting double-helix suspense spares its share of surprises and winks.

Blake and Mortimer

A first attempt, a masterstroke for the 29th volume of

, signed by a new tandem of screenwriters José-Louis Bocquet, and Jean-Luc Fromental.

Since 2014, our two comic strip veterans have been working on a plot that plunges our dear "so British" adventurers into the heart of a terrifying conspiracy, in Cold War Berlin, in June 1963, just when President Kennedy crosses the “Wall” to deliver his speech: “

” (“

“), on the occasion of the fifteen years of the blockade of Berlin.

Led by the hand of a master, this exciting double-helix suspense spares its share of surprises and winks.

Alfred Hitchcock makes one of his customary appearances there at a funeral.

We also note the furtive presence of a few images taken from the shower scene in

, not to mention a nice reference to A

by Stanley Kubrick.

As for the general atmosphere of this adventure, the virtuoso draftsman Antoine Aubin judiciously borrows it from films such as

,

,

or more recently from Spielberg's film

.

Blake and Mortimer editions, 64 pages, 16.50 euros.

In the eyes of Billie Scott,

by Zoe Thorogood

For her first graphic novel, the British Zoe Thorogood shows great maturity, both in form and content.

bubble editions

After years of hard work to the detriment of any social life, Billie Scott has finally landed an exhibition.

The twenty-year-old artist simply has to paint ten canvases within two weeks.

Fastoche?

No, because she has just learned that she will soon become blind, the result of an attack.

Billie decides to take advantage of the little time she has left to travel and understand her own "vision of the world", the imposed theme of the exhibition... For her first graphic novel, the British Zoe Thorogood demonstrates a beautiful maturity, both in form (singular faces, narrative fluidity, parsimonious use of color, etc.) and in substance.

The sword of Damocles of blindness pushes the heroine to face reality in contact with others, but also to

to question the role of art and the way to flourish as an artist.

There is no doubt that this dynamic and luminous story will echo the concerns of young people.

Bubble editions, 168 pages, 20 euros.

A tree frog in autumn

(and more...),

by Linnea Sterte

In this very beautiful Italian-style work, the Swedish Linnea Sterte meticulously reproduces many plants and animals.

The Cherry Editions

In a bucolic Japan populated by talkative spirits and animals, a young frog accompanies two toads to the south and its promises of tropical sweetness.

A never boring contemplative road-trip whose few moderately dangerous adventures fail to break a feeling of fullness.

In this very beautiful Italian-style work (format 24 x 14 cm), the Swedish Linnea Sterte reproduces with meticulousness many plants and animals, which does not prevent certain creatures from adopting an anthropomorphic behavior of the most delicious.

So when do we go for a walk?

Cherry Editions, 336 pages, 24 euros.

Too Human Human,

by Catherine Meurisse

The concepts of the greatest philosophers seen through the funny and witty gaze of Catherine Meurisse are a delight.

Dargaud

Since 2017, the review

has published a two-page section written and drawn by Catherine Meurisse every month.

Dargaud editions had the great idea of ​​bringing them together in an album.

Descartes, Voltaire, Machiavelli, Kant, Simone de Beauvoir, Spinoza... The concepts of the greatest philosophers seen through the funny and witty gaze of Catherine Meurisse are enchanting.

To sharpen our minds with humour, the author depicts illustrious thinkers in comical everyday situations, composing relevant, hilarious stories with a tasty intelligence.

The reader finds himself laughing at Emil Cioran's pessimistic and skeptical interpretation of existence, which makes Sartre, Schopenhauer, Proust, and so many others amusing and accessible.

Dargaud, 96 pages, 22 euros.

Bloodstar,

by Richard Corben, adapted from Robert E. Howard

Prefiguring the modern graphic novel, this adaptation of Robert E. Howard

published in the United States in 1976 then in France in 1981 had never been republished.

An affront washed by Delirium editions.

Delirium

The apocalypse has taken place and humanity, almost decimated, has returned to an archaic way of life.

A ruthless universe in which the courageous Bloodstar will have to face multiple perils… Prefiguring the modern graphic novel, this adaptation of Robert E. Howard

published in the United States in 1976 then in France in 1981 had never been republished.

An insult washed away by Delirium editions which, after almost a decade of research and negotiations with the rights holders, now offer a restored edition of

in the original black and white, in order to highlight the inimitable style of Richard Corben, Grand Prix of the Angoulême City Festival in 2018. Fans of salient muscles and mutant monsters will be delighted.

Delirium, 112 pages, 25 euros.

Hoka Hey!,

by Neyef

Hoka Hey!

is a magnificent story about filiation, the need for roots and the legitimate anger of oppressed peoples.

Rue de Sèvres (Label 619)

The great American plains, a troop of outlaws in search of revenge, a bounty hunter in pursuit... No doubt, we are in a western.

But this apparent classicism should not overshadow the immense qualities of

, carried by characters that are believable because they are ambiguous, a very successful graphic design and a die-hard scenario with a heartbreaking conclusion.

A magnificent story about filiation, the need for roots and the legitimate anger of oppressed peoples.

As devastating as a blow from Winchester to the chest.

Rue de Sèvres (Label 619), 224 pages, 22.90 euros.

The Serpent and the Coyote

, by Xavier and Matz

In

, the screenwriter Matz has the genius to craft direct dialogues and the powerful beauty of Philippe Xavier's drawings strikes the eye on every page.

The Lombard

This tense and virtuoso road movie set in 1970s America about a gangster forced to testify against the mafia is establishing itself as one of the mainstream albums of 2022.

depicts an enigmatic hero, Joe who travels the country incognito, from Arizona to New Mexico via Utah.

An unfriendly marshal watches him from afar.

Two killers in the pay of Cosa Nostra hunt him down to kill him.

The FBI has coerced him into testifying a second time in a trial that is expected to seriously upset the underworld.

The road-movie will however be strewn with corpses.

But it will also be an opportunity for this old misanthropic reptile with tanned skin to tell his story, talking to a little coyote found in the desert.

Confession is not made on the couch of a shrink, but at the wheel of a van

Matz (the author of the excellent series

with Jacamon) has a genius for tricking out direct dialogues.

But his forte remains the chiseled monologues of hoodlum philosophers who have seen others.

As for Philippe Xavier's design, its powerful beauty strikes the eye on every page.

The Lombard, 144 pages, 23.50 euros.

Corto Maltese, Nocturnes Berlinois,

by Juan Diaz Canales-Ruben Pellejero

Nocturnes berlinois

plays perfectly with the codes of the noir novel, and allows the designer Ruben Pellejero to sign a great album, of which Hugo Pratt could have been proud.

Casterman

Decidedly, in 2022 the city of Berlin has greatly inspired comics.

While in their new adventure Blake and Mortimer confront Olrik there in the middle of the Cold War, Corto Maltese stays there in 1924. For the romantic sailor created by Hugo Pratt, the city looks like a broth of culture.

He learns that his old friend Jeremiah Steiner was murdered there.

Furious, shaken, sad, Corto begins to look for who could have committed such an act.

But Berlin at night is not his cup of tea.

Corto is like a fish out of water.

By the will of the Spanish tandem Juan Diaz Canales-Ruben Pellejero, this vengeful Corto finds himself embroiled in a dark investigation where esotericism and the cabal catch up with the son of the “Nina of Gibraltar”.

For the first time, we discover him fragile, slumped on an armchair, his face closed,

a bottle of alcohol in his hand.

It's rare to see Corto with a weakness...

plays perfectly with the codes of the noir novel, and allows the designer Ruben Pellejero to sign a great album, of which Hugo Pratt could have been proud.

Bet won!

Casterman editions, 72 pages, 17 euros.

Mattéo

,

Sixth era (September 2, 1939 - June 3, 1940) volume 6

, by Jean-Pierre Gibrat

With the sixth and last volume of

, Jean-Pierre Gibrat completes a romantic saga of great magnitude.

Futuropolis

At 68, he is one of the most talented comic book writers of his generation.

With the sixth and final volume of

, Jean-Pierre Gibrat completes a romantic saga of great magnitude.

From the sweetness of Collioure, where the hero's mother lives, to the fiery Spain of Franco, passing through the Russia of the 1917 revolution, the Popular Front of 1936, without forgetting two terrifying world wars , the pacifist hero Mattéo Cortès, crosses a Western world full of violence and bloody battles.

This last volume ends in apotheosis.

In the tumultuous din of the war years, between September 1939 and June 1940, our hero comes up against a theme linked to filiation and transmission.

Against the backdrop of a debacle, a father reunites with his son.

But he doesn't have the right to reveal the truth to her… Reading this ultimate album, what is striking, besides the beauty of the watercolor drawings, is the quality of Gibrat's texts.

Futuropolis, 72 pages, 17 euros.

Aya de Yopougon volume 7,

by Marguerite Abouet and Clément Oubrerie

The authors return with communicative pleasure to Yopougon, a popular district of Abidjan, in the heart of the 1980s, to once again follow the fate of Aya, who became a law student at the University of Cocody.

Gallimard comic book

It's as if we had left them the day before.

What a pleasure to find the protagonists of the tasty series

, for a volume 7 which restarts on the hats of wheels after twelve years of reflection.

Screenwriter Marguerite Abouet and cartoonist Clément Oubrerie return with communicative pleasure to Yopougon, a popular district of Abidjan, in the heart of the 1980s, to once again follow the destiny of Aya, who has become a law student at the University of Cocody, the pretty Bintou, transformed into a TV star for the soap opera

, or Innocent, the Michael Jackson look-alike who spins the perfect love who spins the perfect love in Paris with Sébastien, but who will have to be regularized to be able to stay in France.

The different plots of this Ivorian soap opera, bright and sparkling with humor, intertwine with joy.

There is Cédric Klapisch at Abouet and Oubrerie…

Gallimard comic strip, 128 pages, 18 euros.

Deep Me

, by Marc-Antoine Mathieu

behind the austere appearance of this comic strip, which is similar to the black monolith of

, hides an absolutely jubilant album, full of surprises and twists as graphic as they are scripted.

Delcourt

At first glance, Marc-Antoine Mathieu's new album,

, looks like an abstract work of art, Anish Kapoor or Pierre Soulages style.

However, make no mistake about it, behind the austere aspect of this comic strip which resembles the black monolith of

, hides an absolutely jubilant album, full of surprises and twists as graphic as scriptwriting.

The author of the

gives birth to a fascinating experimental album which explores the awakening to consciousness of a character called Adam.

is a book object that functions as a black box.

Inevitably, we want to open it.

We come out disheveled by the intelligence and humor displayed by this book in the form of a psychological thriller.

But behind this thriller plot, there is the author's desire to tickle reality, to better use it as a stepping stone to elsewhere... Dizzying.

Editions Delcourt, 120 pages – 19.99 euros.

The Passengers of the Wind, Volume 9 The Blood of Cherries, Book 2,

by François Bourgeon

saga

ends in Brittany, and proves once again that Bourgeon is a great storyteller.

Delcourt

After forty-three years of traveling peregrinations, the creator of Les

François Bourgeon brings his great maritime serial to a moving end.

Ever

(released in 1979), Bourgeon has enjoyed portraying beautiful, courageous and freedom-loving heroines.

Isa will have been this first passenger of the wind which will drift on the ocean roads, to meet the harshest prisons, before being confronted with the horror of the slave trade.

In 2009, Bourgeon embarked on a new diptych set in Louisiana, featuring Zabo,

.

Nine years later, he embarks on a new plot:

where he recounts, in the heart of the Montmartre district at the end of the 19th century, the adventures of Klervi and Zabo, two uprooted protagonists a few years after the Paris Commune in 1871. Friendship - and a mystery that will finally be cleared up - binds these two pretty women with a strong and tempered character.

The saga ends in Brittany, and proves once again that Bourgeon is a great storyteller.

Delcourt, 136 pages, 23.95 euros.

Anxious Diary of Istanbul, Volume 1,

by Ersin Karabulut

Ersin Karabulut takes the stage to evoke his tumultuous career as a press cartoonist in Erdogan's Turkey.

Dargaud

In

Ersin Karabulut takes the stage to evoke his tumultuous career as a press cartoonist in Erdogan's Turkey.

It all starts in a disadvantaged district of Istanbul.

The very young Ersin escapes from his dreary daily life thanks to the comic strips gleaned from the garbage cans.

Tintin, Popeye, Superman, Asterix and so many others make his life more magical.

The child dreams of becoming a designer too.

But his father, himself an artist who gave up his art torn by fear of the regime, firmly opposed it.

Paternal authority, threats, fear, doubts, temptation of self-censorship...without complacency, wielding humor and self-mockery at will, Ersin Karabulut recounts everything he braved to be able to realize his dream: to draw.

With in the background an uncompromising portrait of his country.

Dargaud, 152 pages, 23 euros.