Le Mystère des profondeurs

Adèle Blanc-Sec #8

by Jacques Tardi

Mars 1922. Paris sous la pluie. Adèle a mal aux dents. Ca tombe bien, puisque le "dentiste" vient de sortir de prison après 10 ans d'enfermement. Et déjà un de ses complices est trouvé assassiné. Il est redoutable, ce dentiste, surnommé ainsi à cause de ses dents tellement pourries qu'il ne peut pas parler sans zézayer. Adèle va avoir du pain sur la planche, d'autant que Chalazion a besoin de son aide mais qu'elle ne sait pas où le trouver. Quant au commissaire Laumanne, il n'a pas fini de souffrir. Et le monstre des profondeurs, ne s'agiraitil pas du limule, cet étrange animal des fonds sous-marins qu'on arrive à trouver dans les canalisations...et même dans les bénitiers parfois ?

Genres: Comics, Bande Dessinée, Graphic Novels, Fantasy, Fiction, Historical Fiction, French Literature

46 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 1998

About the author

Jacques Tardi is a French comics artist, born 30 August 1946 in Valence, Drôme. He is often credited solely as Tardi.

After graduating from the École nationale des Beaux-Arts de Lyon and the École nationale supérieure des arts décoratifs in Paris, he started writing comics in 1969, at the age of 23, in the comics magazine Pilote, initially illustrating short stories written by Jean Giraud and Serge de Beketch, before creating the political fiction story Rumeur sur le Rouergue from a scenario by Pierre Christin in 1972.

A highly versatile artist, Tardi successfully adapted novels by controversial writer Louis-Ferdinand Céline or crime novelist Léo Malet. In Malet's case, Tardi adapted his detective hero Nestor Burma into a series of critically acclaimed graphic novels, though he also wrote and drew original stories of his own.

Tardi also created one of French comics' most famous heroines, Adèle Blanc-Sec. This series recreates the Paris of early 20th century where the moody heroine encounters supernatural events, state plots, occult societies and experiments in cryogenics.

Another graphic novel was Ici Même which was written by Jean-Claude Forest, best known as the creator of Barbarella. A satire, it describes the adventures of Arthur Même who lives on the walls of his family's former property.

Tardi has produced many antiwar graphic novels and comics, mainly focusing on the collective European trauma of the First World War, and the pitfalls of patriotism spawned several albums (Adieu Brindavoine, C'était la guerre des tranchées, Le trou d'obus, Putain de Guerre...). His grandfather's involvement in the day-to-day horrors of trench warfare, seems to have had a deep influence to his artistic expression. He also completed a four-volume series on the Paris Commune, Le cri du peuple.

Fantagraphics Books translate and publish in English a wide range of Tardi's books, done by editor and translator Kim Thompson.[3] The books released so far are West Coast Blues (Le Petit bleu de la côte ouest), You Are There (Ici Même), and It Was the War of the Trenches (C'était la guerre des tranchées); a single album collecting the first two Adele Blanc-Sec volumes has also been published.

->http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacques_...

Reviews

[Antonio Fanelli · Rating 1 out of 5]

mi fermo qui.
Il film è molto meglio.

[Nestor B. · Rating 4 out of 5]

It has been 4 years since the previous chapter, the year is 1922, Adèle has to deal with both old and new acquaintances. The story has threads back to the robbery of the banker in chapter 1. Adèle is still dragen into the story somewhat against her will, this time she accidentally has a metal alloy placed in a tooth. She also meets her sister, completely out of the blue. The style and structure is quite similar to the previous two stories, it is complex, chatty and enjoyable. The most important thing is not what happens, but how it plays out. The criticism of the war that was so prominent in albums 6 and 7 is hardly present anymore. But all officials are mostly idiots.

[Rodrigo Alfonso · Rating 5 out of 5]

ES: Excelentes historias. Se nota el afán folletinesco, en el mejor de los sentidos. No me extraña que hayan hecho una película. Estoy seguro que una serie de tv funcionaría bien.
EN: Excellent tales! I'm not surprised that they have made a film based on this character. A tv series would be suitable. Its amusement spirit is fond to it.

[David Ferreira Alves · Rating 2 out of 5]

Desenhos bem conseguidos numa história estranha e non-sense.
Supreso pelos seguidores e entusiastas desta série que não revela uma narrativa consistente.

[Sergio Parra · Rating 1 out of 5]

Creo que Tardi es un artista extraordinaire, pero como guionista suele ser mediocre porque se empeña en montar vodeviles absurdos llenos de monstruos y señores calcados con bigote y sombrero donde todo acaba volando por los aires. A veces le sale algo interesante; en este caso, no.

[Tristan · Rating 3 out of 5]

See volume one for comments on the series. This episode is a bit of a self mockery again, riffing on characters introduced in previous episodes. Yes, there’s a roaming monster, part of a plague of horseshoe crabs, but that’s just background noise. This episode is all about repeated jokes: Adele’s toothache, her under appreciated hat, and the police chief’s painful obsession with toy guillotines make up much of the episode, alongside the obsessive jealousies of every other woman Adele encounters, who accuse her of stealing their husbands, for whom she feels only dismissive annoyance. The plot - and there is one, despite appearances - is complete nonsense: a crime chief’s petty but psychological vengeance against the police chief and another against his treacherous sidekick, all wrapped up in April fools … and somehow it holds together. Utterly bizarre and yet self consistent. And the art, particularly the backgrounds, is truly impressive. But would I read it again? My enthusiasm with the previous episode has waned.

[Brent Legault · Rating 5 out of 5]

C'est fou, sa.