In Search of Peter Pan

A la recherche de Peter Pan #1-2 omnibus

by Cosey

In the late 1920s, Melvin Z. Woodworth is an author with writer’s block and a mystery to solve. He takes a vacation to the Swiss Alps to try and kill two birds with one stone—and do some excellent hiking and skiing while he’s at it. But the little village, so long slumbering on the wrong side of the Industrial Revolution, is threatened by a force of nature—and, of course, contains secrets of its own. Cosey’s masterful graphic novel is presented here in full-color English translation for the first time: an ode to nature, culture, mythology, and a simpler—yet riskier—time.

Genres: Comics, Bande Dessinée, Graphic Novels

Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1984

About the author

Cosey is born as Bernard Cosandey. He is an award-winning Swiss creator of comics. He entered the comics field in 1971 and has produced some 25 albums over three decades (Jonathan, In Search of Peter Pan, etc.).

Reviews

[Shai · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love how this graphic novel was brilliantly illustrated and that the story is worth reading. However, I don't know if it's just me but I didn't understand how the title could mirror the storyline, or on how it was related to it. Perhaps, I missed an important detail while reading this, but I reckon that there is a much-suitable title that could reflect or summarize the story.

[João Carlos · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Em Busca de Peter Pan” do argumentista e ilustrador suíço Cosey (n. 1950) é mais uma excelente edição da colecção de Banda Desenhada “Novela Gráfica” do jornal Público em parceria com a editora Levoir publicada a 12 de Abril.
Cosey inicia esta magnífica novela gráfica na área dos Alpes do Valais, na Suiça nos anos de 1930.
O escritor inglês Melvin Z. Woodwoorth, pseudónimo de Vlatko Z. Znadjevic, pressionado pelo seu editor, num impasse criativo e sem inspiração para escrever o seu terceiro romance, decide estabelecer-se durante dois meses na pequena vila de Ardolaz, dominada por condições meteorológicas adversas, o branco da neve, o som do vento, os “rugidos” da montanha/glaciar, o azul do céu,… num cenário deslumbrante de imensidão e quietude.


Nesta viagem de “procura” Woodwoorth quer “reencontrar” as memórias perdidas do seu meio-irmão Dragan Z. Zmadjevic, um pianista precocemente desaparecido, quando vivia na vila de Ardolaz e tem na sua bagagem o livro “Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens - Peter Pan and Wendy” de J. M. Barrie, um presente de Dragan, que vai lendo e citando, num encontro de personagens misteriosas e enigmáticas, fantasmas do passado que surgem no presente.
E eis que surge o amor…



“Em Busca de Peter Pan” é uma novela gráfica com um enredo repleto de surpresas e revelações, com excelentes diálogos e silêncios sublimes, com cores e tonalidades intensas, numa aventura emocionante e poética.
Adorei fazer esta “viagem” com o Cosey: da pequena vila de Ardolaz, nos Alpes do Valais, na Suiça, passando pela região da Toscânia, por Pisa, Roma, Veneza, em Itália e terminando na costa do Sussex, Inglaterra, nos “fairways” e “greens” do clube de golfe “The Eighteenth´s Hole Club”, Brigthon.

[Wayne McCoy · Rating 4 out of 5]

'In Search of Peter Pan' with story and art by Cosey has an interesting story to tell, and it's here in English for the first time.

It's the 1920s and Melvin Woodworth is a successful first time writer who is expected to be just as successful the second time around. The problem is that he's got writer's block. To try and free up his word stoppage, he travels from England to a little village in the Alps. His deceased brother had a connection here, and he decides to look for it. What he finds is a village with some secrets of it's own. When an avalanche threatens the town, everyone leaves, but Melvin stays behind to solve some of the mysteries.

The title makes it's way into quotes in the chapter headings, and into the story eventually. I really liked the art in this one and the story isn't bad either.

I received a review copy of this graphic novel from Europe Comics and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this graphic novel.

[Nostalgia Reader · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars.

This was a quick read, that starts out a bit slow--"where is this even going?" were my thoughts for the first couple chapters--but it soon falls together and provides some mystery and action in the second half.

I was drawn to this because the synopsis encompassed lots of tropes I love--the MC is a writer, looking to overcome writer's block by visiting a small mountain town, and in his search for inspiration, gets roped into a mystery involving counterfeit coins. While there are many plot tropes throughout, including a very predictable romance (I did appreciate how the ending semi-mocked itself for being trite though), the art was interesting enough and the plot just different enough to make this an enjoyable morning read.

I was disappointed that we never really got to read any of Woodworth's novel, but the counterfeit heist and romance did end up taking presence at the end, not leaving much room to elaborate on the novel itself. It made this seem like a useless plot point almost--Woodworth could have been simply visiting the town for a general vacation, and still have followed the same storyline.

While this was not really my style as a whole, I'd definitely recommend it for fans of independent comics.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with a free copy to review!

(Cross posted on my blog.)

[Katie.dorny · Rating 3 out of 5]

*received by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*

The book was okay. With Peter Pan in the title I was excepting something completely different. The illustrations were beautiful. The story was definitely original and I did enjoy it after I clicked it has very little to do with J.M.Barrie and I read it very quickly. The story itself was fast paced and i enjoyed it overall.

[Koen Claeys · Rating 5 out of 5]

De aan writer's block lijdende Britse schrijver Melvin Woodworth, een valsmunter op de vlucht, een dreigende gletsjer,.... elementen die de zwitserse Cosey kneedde tot een stripklassieker van jewelste. Het is 30 jaar geleden dat ik het las in het stripweekblad 'Kuifje' en het enige dat nu wat verouderd lijkt is de vale inkleuring door Cosey. Dit is één van de beeldromans die getuigt van de volwassenwording van de Franco-Belgische strip in de jaren '80, een parel.

[LeBossu · Rating 5 out of 5]

De toute beauté

[Onur Yz · Rating 4 out of 5]

orijinali. bulunmuş. bize teşekkür etmek düşer. dolaylı da olsa.

[Dina · Rating 2 out of 5]

Mmmmmm.....No me han gustado los dibujos ni tampoco la historia. No cuenta nada demasiado interesante ni ocurrente. La historia de un escritor en un pueblito perdido en la nieve que busca saber qué fue de su hermano.

[Sourimak · Rating 4 out of 5]

Une aventure montagnarde bien rythmée avec ce qu'il faut de mystère, de flash backs, de paysages et de rencontres.
J'ai beaucoup aimé aussi la petite introduction avec photos d'époque pour contextualiser le récit.

[Liesl · Rating 2 out of 5]

Minimalist dialogue and wide-sweeping panels just as stark as the mountain landscapes this story is set in. Peter Pan is used as a framing device, every chapter starting with a quotation from the novel., as the main character goes in search of former friends of his dead brother, who worked at a hotel up in the mountains. Peter Pan and the main character's brother who died young in an accident merge together in the narrator's head, though the comparison feels a little forced to my way of thinking. A slow-paced read and I struggled to get into the story, but the artwork is beautiful.

Thank you Netgalley for giving me an ARC copy in exchange for an honest review.

[Cassandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

When seeing this book on NetGalley, I initially thought the book would actually be about Peter Pan. But after getting in the story, I found myself enjoying the mystery of the man in the mountains, and the mysterious pianist. I read it in one sitting, and thoroughly enjoyed it cover to cover. I will be reccomending that my public library get a copy for their shelves, as I can imagine a lot of others will enjoy the beautiful illustrations of the nature, and landscape in this gem of a book.

I received this from #NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

[Illumi · Rating 4 out of 5]

A titillating story of love, search and adventure in the back drop of the alps.
One of the memorable reads that breezes over you.

[read it twice · Rating 2 out of 5]

A murder mystery not fully explored turns into a love story, The art was superb. The mountains gave an opportunity to capture majestic which was accomplished. Nothing much other than that.

[Damien Travel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dare I confess to you one of my adolescent dreams? Her name is Evolena and, in Cosey's comic strip "Lost in the Alps (A la recherche de Peter Pan)”, she's the young mountain girl whom the hero, Sir Woodworth, catches bathing in a hot-water lake during a ski tour in the Valais Alps.
I'm a big fan of Cosey's comics, his innovative layout and his pencil stroke, especially the Jonathan series, which is mostly set in the Himalayan mountains. But it's the diptych "Lost in the Alps", a rare return to his native Switzerland by the author who is fond of exotic destinations, that I like best. Perhaps it's because of Evolena, whom I've just learned was inspired by the actress Maria Schneider, Marlon Brando's partner in "The Last Tango in Paris". While the actress probably gave her shape to the Valaisan beauty, her name comes from the superb village of Evolène, one of the most beautiful in Switzerland, located almost at the end of the Val d'Hérens.
I visited Evolène this summer. The village has kept its wooden chalets and granaries lined up along the main road or in the lanes leading from the church. Here and there are also a few stone houses, undoubtedly richer, whose walls are decorated with pretty paintings.
I also took advantage of these few summer days to discover the mountains of the region, walking along the bisses - the small canals dug into the side of the valley to carry water – in the Mayens de Sion, taking the gondola up to the summit of Montfort to admire the peaks and glaciers, or taking a walk on the Grande-Dixence, the highest gravity dam in the world. I'm looking forward to returning there in a few weeks to experience the joys of winter sports.

https://www.travelreadings.org/2023/1...

[Theediscerning · Rating 5 out of 5]

In case you were worried, this book has little to do with the 'Peter Pan' you know of - I don't really take very well to it, or books that spin off on it. But here the connection is tenuous - it's like, say, a glacier waiting to calve and crash down an Alpine valley as an avalanche; it's like a roof-load of snow waiting to slump down on to the path below the eaves; it's like a small, slight drip-drip from a melting icicle. All feature in this book, but I'm damned if I'm going to say what is really here - it's just a marvellous treat to be discovered, and I'm so, so glad that it's come my way. Not in two parts, or three volumes, but as one single, sterling narrative. If the bibliographical data are correct in suggesting this is the book's debut appearance in English, then shame on everyone for keeping it away from my sphere for so long. But a big thank you for showing me such a wonderful, entertaining and dramatic story.

Oh, and if you were worried, it has even less to do with Kate Bush...

[Marko · Rating 4 out of 5]

Volim da čitam Coseya.

Volim njegove lagane teme koje su veoma životne ali opet imaju tu neku notu bajkovitosti. Tj Cosey voli u svojim pričama da malo romantizuje događaje ne bi li oni dobili tu neku bajkovitu patinu.

Naš glavni lik ide u potragu za preminulim bratom u selu gde je brat živeo a paralelno pokušava da napiše roman. Tražeći brata naći će sebe, što je i za očekivati ali lepo to Cosey sve spakuje i bude prijatno i toplo za čitanje.

Posebnu toplinu donosi i njegov crtež i od svega što sam do sada pročitao mislim da je ovde po pitanju crteža najbolji. Mada možda ne toliko zbog crteža koliko zbog boja koje prave fenomenalnu atmosferu.

Ono što uvek zamerim Cosey je kraj koji je i ovde malo zbrzan ali sad posle 4 pročitana romana vidim da je to njegov princip i da uglavnom teži suptilnim krajevima koji poput vode samo izcure do kraja i to uglavnom u neki hepi end. Ali sad već sa sigurnošću mogu da kažem - to je Cosey.

[Sylvester (Taking a break in 2023) · Rating 3 out of 5]

(The title is misleading - although he includes quotes from Peter Pan, and the main character attributes his inspiration to become a writer to the book, there is no real crossover between the stories.)

But aside from that - wonderful art, especially of the beautiful Alps and snow. The story is an adventure, somehow connected to the movie "A Rendezvous in Madrid", but I'm not sure how, knowing nothing about that movie.

[Stephan Brusche · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a very pleasant read. The art is excellent with lots of atmosphere and details. It’s easy to just get lost in the beautiful scenery and let your mind drift away. That the story starts slow helps with this overal relaxing vibe with a hint of mystery. Actions and answers follow later and keep things interesting till the end.

[Chad · Rating 3 out of 5]

A writer hides out in a small village in the Alps with writer's block. The village has the threat of an avalanche any day hanging over it. Over the years counterfeit coins have continued to pop up here.
This is very much a slow burn story.

[Reyel2107 · Rating 5 out of 5]

um belo conto rural !!!

[cass · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,5. RTC

[Alain · Rating 3 out of 5]

bd

[Ricardo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Em Busca de Peter Pan segue uma narrativa clássica, típica da BD franco-belga, onde um escritor, Melvin Woodworth, inglês de ascendência sérvia, procura inspiração e memórias do seu falecido irmão, o músico e compositor Dragan.
Não é a primeira nem a última vez que a neve dos Alpes oferece um cenário de meditação na literatura. Uns em busca de curas para as doenças físicas, outros para as doenças espirituais, todos encontram uma comunidade fechada sobre si mesma, onde as personagens oferecem pontos de vista indissociáveis do local (a comunidade em questão, apesar da migração, por vezes forçada, de montanha para montanha, ao sabor dos deslizamentos dos glaciares, possui tudo o que é necessário para a sua sobrevivência, incluindo dinheiro falso). O progresso, sob a forma de polícia, tenta acabar com os costumes "ilegais", através duma caça ao falsário Baptistin, que é obviamente um protegido da comunidade.
Woodworth torna-se personagem de uma "novel" inspirada nas aventuras de Peter Pan, onde não falta uma Wendy latina, Evolena. Começa a parecer uma narrativa estereotipada, mas o traço de Cosey não permite que a qualidade estética da obra seja posta em causa. À medida que descobre mais sobre o seu irmão, Melvin descobre-se a si mesmo. Isto leva-me a crer que exista alguma particularidade sobrenatural na neve dos Alpes pois, quando o protagonista entra em contacto com esta, seja sob a forma de nevão ou de queda num banco de neve macia, tende a ocorrer alguma espécie de epifania que o leva a tirar uma conclusão decisiva sobre o sentido da (sua) vida. Tudo começa com um "Como vou conseguir sair daqui?" e termina num "É exactamente isto que queria escrever no meu livro!". E viveram felizes e tiveram muitos filhos.

[Dewaram · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cosey (Bernard Cosendai) creator from Switz earlier in his carrier worked with Derib (Yakari coloring)

Jonathan is his hero and he was doing a long running series all of a sudden in the early 80's he did 2 color books A la recherche de Peter Pan this is converted to a one shot B/W and named as Lost in the Alps by NBM

An English Author comes to small town in the Alps in search of his brother a half brother actually and this one runs along with quotes from the peter pan book and apart from a main stream adventurous series this one is pretty different the first of the kind for me and i really loved this and can't keep the book after I once finished it I read again and felt the weight and depth of the story.

It contains a bit of mystery an avalanche threating the small tourist town, old gendarmes searching for counterfeit coin maker and of course there is a women for the hero.

Perfect clear line art and the quality is very very good in all sides.

[Dario Malic · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mladi engleski pisac dolazi u malo selo u švicarskim Alpama pisati svoj novi roman. Tako počinje ovaj Coseyev, neizbježno melankoličan, strip. Kasnije se radnja razvija u raznim, nekad više, nekad manje predvidljivim smjerovima, vodeći naposljetku do iznenađujućeg, ali ne i previše smislenog kraja. Iako možda ne bih trebao ni tražiti nekakvu logiku i striktnu realnost u stripu koji se referira na Petra Pana. Coseyeva priča je zanimljiva, ima tu živopisnih likova, nostalgičnih prisjećanja, pa čak i pokoja misterija, no glavni adut ovog stripa je crtež. Cosey više nego uspješno prikazuje svu ljepotu planinskog krajolika i stvara gotovo opipljivu atmosferu, pretvarajući na taj način lokaciju u gotovo pa glavnog lika. Predivan snježni alpski ambijent ipak nije dovoljan da u potpunosti iskupi pomalo naivan razvoj priče te, kao i u Petru Panu, svaka čarolija nestaje kad zaklopimo strip i izađemo iz Coseyevog svijeta, ne ostavivši na nama nikakve trajnije tragove.

[Artur Coelho · Rating 3 out of 5]

Esta história romântica e algo ingénua sobre um escritor que encontra o amor nos braços da filha de um falsário enquanto busca inspiração para um novo romance de sucesso e descortinar um mistério filial é pouco convicente. Especialmente se olharmos para o perigo do glaciar que cede e soterra uma vila de montanha e os denodados polícias que estão na pista do falsário. Mas suspeito que este é um daqueles livros onde a narrativa serve de moldura ao fascínio do autor por uma determiniada região num tempo específico - no caso, o Valois do princípio do século XX.

É a sensação opressiva e magnífica das montanhas geladas que repassa ao longo do livro. Estão lá, sempre, quer como pano de fundo quer no centro da imagem. Isso e o modo de vida simples dos montanheses, romantizado pelo olhar de Cosey. É no transmitir a majestosa dimensão da natureza que este livro mais se revela ao leitor.

[Zenit Saphyr · Rating 4 out of 5]

E carregam sempre a Asta Solijla rumo às planícies de Verão...Bjartur como o bandido obcecado nas suas moedinhas e num tesouro para salvar a sua filha...talvez lhe encontre uma pepita de ouro no gelo e ela não passe da cúpula dourada de uma igreja engolida por uma derrocada de neve iminente...A aldeia esquecida de antigamente...

Escritor
A pensar para escrever
Vê o editor num porco
Escreve um grande romance
Conquista a dama
Tem uma grande consagração
E termina como todas as outras histórias
E eu estava na Islândia a descer um glaciar qualquer

[Russell · Rating 3 out of 5]

This felt quite different from the comics and graphic novels I'd read before. The person who recommended it to me did provide the disclaimer that it comes out of a European tradition which is quite different than the American, and to a much lesser extent Japanese, traditions with which I am more familiar.

Nonetheless it is certainly a fun book to look at. I liked the art and while the story might feel plodding at times compared to some crazy action-packed comic, I think this is an unfair comparison and shouldn't be taken as criticism.

[Henrique Vogado · Rating 3 out of 5]

Esperava mais história deste livro. Gosto muito do desenho das paisagens geladas dos Alpes, o melhor do livro. O ambiente da montanha, as personagens são interessantes e o suspense constante do avançar do glaciar.
Acho que fica mesmo aquém é no desenvolvimento da história principal e um final muito previsível.