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Ab bedex compilato
(French) Pour "ceusses" qui ne sont pas encore au courant, Henriette Valium n'est pas une fille mais La Star de l'underground punk québécois. Son oeuvre ne relève pas vraiment de la dentelle pour grand-mères et voilà une bonne vingtaine d'années qu'il autoédite en quelques centaines d'exemplaires aussitôt rarissimes ses bandes dessinées toxiques, enfin réunies ici dans un livre au format géant. Le Dernier Cri édite parallèlement la partie images/collages de l'oeuvre valiumesque, et on parle même d'un coffret réunissant le tout, avec en plus la musique du Maître. Autant dire que c'est l'Apocalypse.
(English) For those that are not yet aware, Henriette Valium is not a girl, but the Star of the Quebec punk underground. His work is definitely not intended for grandmothers or the easily offended. For over twenty years he self-published a few hundred copies of the now impossible-to-find, almost toxic comics that have finally been gathered here, in a gigantic deluxe-softcover format. 'Le Dernier Cri', produced over the same period of time, represents Valium's photo-collage work, and there is even talk of a compilation of that, as well as the music of the Master... Suffice to say that this is the Apocalypse.
(English) For those that are not yet aware, Henriette Valium is not a girl, but the Star of the Quebec punk underground. His work is definitely not intended for grandmothers or the easily offended. For over twenty years he self-published a few hundred copies of the now impossible-to-find, almost toxic comics that have finally been gathered here, in a gigantic deluxe-softcover format. 'Le Dernier Cri', produced over the same period of time, represents Valium's photo-collage work, and there is even talk of a compilation of that, as well as the music of the Master... Suffice to say that this is the Apocalypse.
224 pages, Paperback
First published May 15, 2007
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
April 7, 2016
Valium: Wholesome, Addictive Fun for the Entire Family (No, Not Really)
This 9" x 13", 224-page omnibus is almost too damn pretty, given the crusty French-Canadian punk rocker behind it all. It's light years from the cheap-ass newsprint of 'Maximum Rock & Roll' and the thousands of lesser zines, all the black and white Xeroxed mini-comics and posters and record covers of the 90's...when Henriette Valium started doing his thing. 'Primitive Cretin' and the rest of his comics progeny displayed a keen design sense and meticulous execution unusual for the time and place.
A page from the Valium story reprinted in 'Best American Comics':
Old school Valium:
Published by 'L'Association', the thick, glossy, arctic white stock and oversized dimensions make this a super high-quality brick of a softcover. Henriette Valium is an underground cartoonist from Quebec who is better known in France than English North America, and it's too bad an English edition of this work hasn't been released. His work was just featured in the latest instalment of Best American Comics (see above), the highest profile exposure he's received in the English-speaking comic-world. Even if you can't read French, fans of comic art will be blown away by Valium's intricate style, which is a unique combination of carefully and minutely textured design and underground aesthetics.
His newest work:
The best comparisons and/or wacky suggestions I could make... would be to hack up whatever extant living or undead remnants you can find from Pascal Doury, Joe Coleman, S. Clay Wilson, Killoffer, Blanquet, Kaz, and Julie Doucet, toss the whole mess in the L'Association-brand 'art-grinder', collect the teeth and bile, then use it to decorate the man-shaped sludge you've molded into a cheerful Golem... et voila! Henriette Valium!
From 'Palace of Champions':
In terms of subject matter, this is straight up punk rock, a sardonic 'fuck you' to mainstream comics and society in general. Shit, violence, shit, sex, vomit, and shit. Collecting over 20 years of work, reading through 'Ab Bedex Compilato' is a fucked-up time-machine, each stop a snapshot of sub-cultural history, beginning with his newer work and getting consistently rougher around the edges. Great stuff for fans of comic art -- Savage Pencil, Gary Panter and Pascal Doury in particular. He also had a strong influence on Julie Doucet and many lesser known French-Canadian cartoonists.
More Art-book Reviews
More Comic-book Reviews
More Novel Reviews
A Mysterious Review Related to the Book in Question, But Written By A Friend Instead
This 9" x 13", 224-page omnibus is almost too damn pretty, given the crusty French-Canadian punk rocker behind it all. It's light years from the cheap-ass newsprint of 'Maximum Rock & Roll' and the thousands of lesser zines, all the black and white Xeroxed mini-comics and posters and record covers of the 90's...when Henriette Valium started doing his thing. 'Primitive Cretin' and the rest of his comics progeny displayed a keen design sense and meticulous execution unusual for the time and place.
A page from the Valium story reprinted in 'Best American Comics':
Old school Valium:
Published by 'L'Association', the thick, glossy, arctic white stock and oversized dimensions make this a super high-quality brick of a softcover. Henriette Valium is an underground cartoonist from Quebec who is better known in France than English North America, and it's too bad an English edition of this work hasn't been released. His work was just featured in the latest instalment of Best American Comics (see above), the highest profile exposure he's received in the English-speaking comic-world. Even if you can't read French, fans of comic art will be blown away by Valium's intricate style, which is a unique combination of carefully and minutely textured design and underground aesthetics.
His newest work:
The best comparisons and/or wacky suggestions I could make... would be to hack up whatever extant living or undead remnants you can find from Pascal Doury, Joe Coleman, S. Clay Wilson, Killoffer, Blanquet, Kaz, and Julie Doucet, toss the whole mess in the L'Association-brand 'art-grinder', collect the teeth and bile, then use it to decorate the man-shaped sludge you've molded into a cheerful Golem... et voila! Henriette Valium!
From 'Palace of Champions':
In terms of subject matter, this is straight up punk rock, a sardonic 'fuck you' to mainstream comics and society in general. Shit, violence, shit, sex, vomit, and shit. Collecting over 20 years of work, reading through 'Ab Bedex Compilato' is a fucked-up time-machine, each stop a snapshot of sub-cultural history, beginning with his newer work and getting consistently rougher around the edges. Great stuff for fans of comic art -- Savage Pencil, Gary Panter and Pascal Doury in particular. He also had a strong influence on Julie Doucet and many lesser known French-Canadian cartoonists.
More Art-book Reviews
More Comic-book Reviews
More Novel Reviews
A Mysterious Review Related to the Book in Question, But Written By A Friend Instead
Displaying 1 of 1 review