Sortilèges

Sortilèges #1

by Jean Dufaux, José Luis Munuera (Illustrator)

Ze heet Blanche. Ze is de nieuwe koningin van het Schemerrijk, een rijk van oorlog, intriges en verraad.

Al snel zal ze moeten kiezen tussen liefde en macht.
Tussen het Rijk van het Licht en het Rijk van de Duisternis.

Betoveringen is een wreed, fascinerend, schitterend vormgegeven sprookje dat het midden houdt tussen Tim Burton en Walt Disney.

Heksen, demonen en bultenaars bevolken de fantastische wereld van Betoveringen. Door José Luis Munuera,tekenaar van Het teken van de maan en Fraternity, en Jean Dufaux, de scenarist van Murena, Klaagzang van de Verloren Gewesten, Barracuda ...

Genres: Fantasy, Comics, Graphic Novels, Bande Dessinée, Romance, Fiction, Magic

64 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2012

About the author

Jean Dufaux is a Belgian comic book writer. Beginning his professional career as a journalist for "Ciné-presse", Dufaux started writing comic books in the 1980s. Perhaps his most well-known, and certainly his most long-running, series is Jessica Blandy.

Reviews

[Chad · Rating 3 out of 5]

An overly complicated fantasy story, some of which is frustratingly not explained (like why the Queen hates her daughter). There's probably too many elements packed into a 50 page story. Still it has potential and I really liked the art.

[Lashaan Balasingam · Rating 2 out of 5]

A multi-plot medieval fantasy story exploring an empire's new queen and a young lover's wish to wreak havoc upon her through witchcraft and sorcery. While the artwork is clean and immersive, the story is choppy and awkwardly connects multiple stories together. I believe it was simply too short for its own good.

Yours truly,

Lashaan | Blogger and Book Reviewer
Official blog: https://bookidote.com/

[Christine · Rating 4 out of 5]

There is an English version of this, Spellbound, which I read.

This is a quite interesting take on fairy tale themes. Quite interesting. Love the character of Blanche, and the women have agency.

[Koen Claeys · Rating 3 out of 5]

'Betoveringen' is een leuke hutsepot van sprookjes en modernere fantasy.
Beeldschone Disney-prentjes van Munuera.

[Robert · Rating 2 out of 5]

Princesses, devils, and ethically questionable sensuality...yep, this is a Europa comic all right.

YAWN.


Nice art, though I hope people don't detect a sulphorous smell after I leave the room...

[kaitlphere · Rating 4 out of 5]

An engaging story that seems like a loose re-imagining of Snow White. The lettering was quite then and often difficult to read.

[Ed Erwin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Close, but not quite right for me. I won't continue this series but may look for some of Dufaux's more serious books for adults.

[Eva · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Dufaux of a good vintage! Sortilèges is not your regular Dufaux series. True, it is a fantasy story with princesses, demons, magic, monsters and evil mums - but it is also humourous. This is a rare thing from the author of Murena, La Complainte des Landes Perdues and Le Bois des Vierges. Dufaux is no Alain Ayrolles, but in Sortilèges he is in rare form.

When Princess Blanche becomes Queen Blanche, she rejects her low-born lover Gaspard because duty comes before love. Gaspard seeks out the witch Miranda and asks her to curse Blanche. The curse is supposed to deliver Blanche to the devil on the day of her coronation, and indeed it does... But the devil does not quite react the way Miranda had hoped he would.

I don't know what it is about Dufaux, but he rarely creates characters that are truly engaging - or not for me, anyway. But Sortilèges does have a set of engaging characters. Of course they all belong to the realm of "En-Bas", or Hell. Miranda the witch looks like a cousin of Disney's Maleficent. She is deliciously vain, nasty and treacherous. She has a sidekick in the form of Horibili, a round little man who is too small to ride a donkey or a horse and therefor rides a goat. He escaped Hell to become a shopkeeper.

The star of the show is, as per usual when he makes an appearance in fiction, the devil himself. In Sortilèges he is, well, a handsome devil who goes by the name of Maldoror. If I reveal too much about him, I'll spoil your fun. I'll just mention that he has some problems with his little sister Aldora, a small girl who carries a horsewhip and is always surrounded by cats.

Four books of Sortilèges are planned. Based on the first two, I am very curious indeed to see where Dufaux takes this story. My copies are in the original French.

The artist on Sortilèges is Munuera, whose fluent and slightly cartoonish style is a good fit with the light tone of the tale. Maybe I would have liked Blanche a little less caricatural, but I can voice no objections whatsoever to Maldoror's Greek profile or the delicious Miranda.

As far as I am concerned, this new series comes highly recommended. Don't expect anything profound or particularly subtle - but expect to be entertained.

[Maja · Rating 2 out of 5]

Quite disappointing overall, especially since it initially seems to have a lot of potential - the art is good, and there are the makings of interesting character dynamics. But the plot is a confusing mess with no discernible character arcs or plotlines. I don't think I'll be reading more of this series.

[Juliette Locktree · Rating 2 out of 5]

This comic was just not for me. Normally I would not have chosen it, but I got it for free and after a couple of years on my self I decided it was time to read it.

The drawings are nice, they feel a little Disney like, but a lot darker.
The story for me felt rushed and almost as if there are scenes edited after each other without a good connection. I am not sure if I am explaining this right. But it’s just felt as if it was missing something. Maybe it would have been better story wise if the comic was longer then it is.
Because of this I felt disconnected with the characters but also with the world. The pace of the story kind of ruined the whole comic for me. It feels of and because of this the story and characters are not memorable. Unfortunately I won’t continue the series.

[Christine · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5⭐️

[anamjaime · Rating 4 out of 5]

Muy entretenido. Un cómic de fantasía muy curioso donde se mezclan dos mundos. Es un reteling curioso del jorobado de notre dam, pero que en este caso es el malo, junto con su madre claro y la princesa la buena, aunque en este caso son hermanos los dos pero la madre toma partido por uno porque como siempre le puede dominar. En cambio en el mundo paralelo el bueno es el principe y la mala e influenciable la princesa.

[La Espada en la Tinta · Rating 5 out of 5]

Los cuentos de antaño tenían connotaciones oscuras, pero hubo un momento en la historia de la ficción en que dejaron de contarse para asustar a los niños y se utilizaron para complacerlos. Juegos, películas, libros, los cuentos dirigidos a un público infantil plasman una historia con final feliz, donde el príncipe y la princesa se casan juntos, tienen muchos retoños (o si acaso un par) y comer perdices hasta su ancianidad. Es por esa razón que Sortilegios, uno de los últimos trabajos del guionista belga Jean Dufaux (Murena, Djinn) y el español José Luis Munuera (El juego de la luna, Los Campbell) es una serie más que bienvenida en el mundo de ese tipo de cuentos que no por obligación deben tener un desarrollo o un final feliz. El desenlace de Sortilegios todavía no lo conocemos porque se trata de una serie abierta (el segundo álbum está desde hoy mismo en la calle), pero su desarrollo tiene muchos elementos agridulces y deja plantada la semilla de un futuro no demasiado halagador para los actores del cuento. Sortilegios, hablando claro, tiene todos los toques posibles de un cuento tradicional, y gracias a las pinturas de Munuera parece que estamos ante una superproducción animada, de las que veríamos en el cine o la televisión.

http://www.laespadaenlatinta.com/2014/07/resena-sortilegios1-dufaux-munuera.html

[Charlotte L. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Je ne sais pas si j'ai juste pas l'habitude des BD, mais ça ne m'a pas particulièrement transcendée. C'est sympa, les dessins sont plutôt jolis et les références à Blanche-Neige et La petite sirène font forcément sourire mais sinon, c'est très rapide ... forcément, en 64 pages ! L'histoire de fond peut être intéressante c'est sûr mais ça ne va pas du tout assez loin pour être captivant.

[TerryJane · Rating 2 out of 5]

I needed a comic to complete a reading challenge, and totally chose this book by its cover. I know, I know. I really do adore the artwork, especially on the gorgeous cover. Unfortunately, I was disappointed in the confusing storylines and some sloppy editing, i.e. flee-ridden wretches. Really?

[Julia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Una historia diferente, en la que nada es lo que parece y donde el odio, la ambición, la traición y la bajeza humana se entremezclan con el amor, la justicia y otros ideales de forma inesperada. Giros de humor casi infantiles, que son todo un homenaje a Goscinny, aportan un contrapunto de liviandad a una historia bastante oscura y sombría. Hay partes de la trama en las que la historia avanza de forma un poco brusca y a trompicones, como si estuviera capada. Más de una vez intenté comprobar que no me estuviera saltando páginas pegadas, pero en general estos cuatro volúmenes me parecen muy disfrutables y con un dibujo y un color magníficos.

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

Meh, 3 -. This bounces between Disney Princess and Faust and tends to be too stingy with background and the basic set-up is a little too contrived. The princess, who likes to meet her lover ata cabin in the woods, suddenly has to become queen. But wait, her evil mother (actual, not step) and her hunchbacked brother develop elaborate and dangerous plots to kill her so he can be king. Also, the devil may be in love with her. Not terrible, but the story doesn't fit together well and I am not inclined to read another volume to figure it out.

[Ethan Aegon · Rating 2 out of 5]

L'histoire n'est pas passionnante et incomplète (pourquoi Blanche est-elle si violente avec son premier amour sans aucune raison valable ? pourquoi la mère hait sa fille ? pourquoi repeindre le chateau en rose ne surprend pas plus que ça ? pourquoi le diable se déguise-t-il puis se met à nu ? pourquoi l'entrée du monde souterrain se fait par une cuisine non protégée ? Bref on comprend pas grand chose mais surtout le dessin est naïf, trop proche d'un dessin animé Disney. Deux premiers tomes décevants

[Mark · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story was good enough and I am interested in seeing where it goes but the lettering is horrible as it is in grey. The only full dark black lettering is when it is bolded too. But that is double emphasis ad asinine. Make the darn text, or the 95+% of normal text. legible for Pete's sake!

DPL hoopla Nov. bonus borrow

[Stephanie Racette · Rating 3 out of 5]

Octobre 2024. 3,5/5 Un scénario à multiples intrigues assez classiques. C’est néanmoins assez accrocheur. Pas transcendant, mais bien. J’espère réussir à mettre la main sur les autres tomes. Le travail artistique m’a plu bien que les visages me semblaient presque caricaturaux.

[Anna · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesante pero una historia un poco caótica y con unos personajes que me han llegado poco.

[Rébecca Mathieu · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lu de 1 à 4. Fin très intéressante

[Caprice · Rating 3 out of 5]

En voilà une famille dysfonctionnelle ! Univers chouette, mais peut-être trop d'intrigues simultanées pour qu'on puisse s'y retrouver.

[Nicolas Hall · Rating 5 out of 5]

The art is amazing! One of my favorite comics from this publisher.

[Meghan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun, traditional sort of medieval fantasy with all the tropes you would expect. Overall I liked it, didn’t love it, but intend to carry on with the series if more volumes become available on hoopla.

[Melina · Rating 4 out of 5]

This ain't pithy, the characters are either a hit or miss (main lady is a bit TOO cartoony) but it's still entertaining! Exactly what I needed. Oh and very colorful and eye catching art overall.

[Connor · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun little fantasy story. (Another Hoopla bonus borrow)

[M. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gorgeous

[Ashleigh (ash_and_books)]

TW: death, murder, war, death of parent, poisoning, drugging, attempted murder, war, blood, gore, corpse depictions, spiders

[Amina (ⴰⵎⵉⵏⴰ) · Rating 3 out of 5]

L'histoire est assez intéressante et mérite bien d'être suivie.
Pour les personnages, je ne sais pas trop, mais on verra au prochains tomes.