Muse

Songes #1-2

by Denis-Pierre Filippi (Writer), Terry Dodson (Illustrator/Colorist), Rebecca Rendon (Colorist)

The sexy, dreamy adventures of Coraline, a beautiful young lady who serves as governess to a wealthy, inventive and very mysterious homeowner.

Charming Coraline is hired as the private tutor to the young son of rich landlords. Her mission is to entertain her too studious pupil, Vernère. He is only a child, but one with a brilliant and indefatigable mind solely focused on books and inventions. To top it off, he is quite unpleasant. Coraline nonetheless tries to understand him while gradually discovering the strange and surprising universe of the mansion, whose nocturnal ambiance seems so amenable for very strange dreams…

Muse is a lyrical and titillating ride through reverie and nostalgia, drawn by comics superstar Terry Dodson (Marvel's "Uncanny X-Men," DC's "Harley Quinn").

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Fantasy, Steampunk, Bande Dessinée, Fiction, Graphic Novels Comics

103 pages, Hardcover

First published June 19, 2013

About the author

Denis-Pierre Filippi est né le 19 juillet 1972 à Bergerac. Il accroche à son palmarès scolaire un Bac scientifique, et une maîtrise de philosophie. Son penchant pour la BD est un héritage paternel qu’il a entretenu dès son plus jeune âge en fréquentant assidûment les pages de Spirou, en découvrant Ptiluc et plus tard Bilal et Loisel. Il voue aussi une affection toute particulière à Schuiten, Gimenes et Tolkien. Toutefois, les premières œuvres de ce jeune scénariste bordelais sont des contes pour enfants destinés aux écoles sous la forme de montage diapos. En fait, si Denis-Pierre Filippi est conteur, il est aussi raconteur et acteur puisqu’il n’hésite pas à «tester» ses écrits sur le jeune public : jouer son texte devant les enfants pour guetter leur réaction. En tout cas, l’intérêt pour lui est de «retourner à l’origine obscure et ancestrale des contes». En 1995, lors du salon du livre de Bordeaux, il fait lire une de ses histoires à Tiburce Oger, l’auteur de la série Gorn. De leur collaboration naît en 1998 Orull, le faiseur de nuages. En 1999, Filippi imagine une nouvelle série : Un drôle d’ange gardien, dessiné par Sandrine Revel. Infatigable, alors que se profile le dernier tome d'Orull, le scénariste a créé un nouveau duo : en compagnie de Tatiana Domas, il peint les aventures de Téo, un enfant traumatisé qui sort peu à peu de son mutisme.

Reviews

[Štěpán · Rating 4 out of 5]

The art is just gorgeous. The story is more or less weird and not engaging but the art is stunning. Different artist and this would be down to two stars but with Terry Dodson's art, I'm not ashamed to put the four stars here.

[Mirka · Rating 4 out of 5]

3,5

[Jayson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Review to come...

(B) 74% | More than Satisfactory
Notes: Review pending re-read. Individual reviews for included issues can be found here:
- Muse #1: Celia
- Muse #2: Coraline

[Jerantino · Rating 3 out of 5]

Terry Dodson's exquisite art tour de force is about the only saving grace of this graphic novel. And a hell of a grace note it is, as the story is a mish-mash of Walter Mitty, Little Ego by Vittorio Giardino, the Legend of Bluebeard, and rather obviously, Little Nemo in Slumberland.
If not for Dodson's mouth-wateringly renderings of the characters, this wouldn't have kept me reading to the end. A fun little diversion, with above average artwork. I was honestly hoping for more.

[Josef Horký · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jasně, že se mi líbila kresba, to není překvapující. Překvapující je, že navzdory nepříliš vysokému očekávání, nastolenému několika prvními desetistranami, mě v závěru bavil i příběh samotný, jakýs Sucker Punch meets Inception.

Ale jo, ta kresba byla lepší.

[Adam Šilhan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Kresba krásná, příběh je čistě doplňkem. Epizodní vyprávění tomu jako pozadí svědčí. Bohužel jakmile se tomu blíží konec a je potřeba to celá nějak zabalit, je nedomyšlenost zřejmá.

Být to kolekcí nesouvisejících stripů, či kreseb, bylo by to lepší.

[Caitlin ~WordsAreMyForte~ · Rating 3 out of 5]

So right off the bat, I have to say the art was breathtaking, and no, I don't mean the excessive fan service parts. The splendor of Boy Lord Vernere's estate was excellently drawn, especially with regard to the detail put into each of his machines, adding to the Victorian steampunk nature of the setting. In Coraline's dream sequences, we really see how skilled this artist is in portraying a diverse array of settings and characters.

On the story side of things...
This had so much potential to be better than it was, unfortunately. The entire story is wrapped up within 100 or so pages, but it could have easily warranted 200+ for its scope. The characters, while pretty to look at, did not hold too much depth to them. The reason why Coraline and the many girls before her is brought to the estate is explicitly stated to replace Vernere's mother figure and heal his emotional trauma, but the logic behind it is never explained. The dream sequences are left in ambiguity, and I suppose this is the side of me that is averse to magical realism showing. Regardless, the ending was rushed and did not allow for a proper denouement to clearly explain what was going on with Coraline and her out of the blue sister or Vernere. It left much of the plot up to interpretation, which is not inherently wrong, but it definitely could have been executed better.

[Florin Pitea · Rating 5 out of 5]

Quite nice story. Fabulous graphics. Recommended.

[Matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Turn of the century, almost-steampunk erotic fairy tale with gorgeous and sexy artwork by Terry Dodson. The story is odd and not very engaging, but it's secondary to Dodson's stunning art. He certainly knows how to draw the female form......

[Ashlee Null · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 rounded down

5 stars for Art, 3 for Story

[Alickaaaaa (×~×) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Noo priznám sa, že som čakala trocha viac tej erotiky. Ale kresby su nádherné a dej bol prekvapivo tiež zaujímavý.

[Gerardo · Rating 4 out of 5]

All'inizio sembra un fumetto nato solo per poter disegnare la protagonista in abiti succinti e in pose sensuali (se non proprio a seno nudo, come in alcune scene). La donna è una bellezza nordica, dalla visto sa chioma bionda e dai furbi occhi azzurri. Il dato importante è che si è scelto, in questo fumetto, di rappresentare la protagonista con un corpo dai tratti giunonici: seno poderoso, ma anche glutei e gambe di tutto rispetto. Questo le conferisce un aspetto sano, una sensualità formosa che si allontana dai modelli contemporanei, legati a una visione del corpo femminile troppo sottile, al limite del vacuo. la scelta di disegnare questi dettagli femminili in maniera così vistosa, ovviamente, è finalizzata ad attrarre il lettore maschio di turno, ciononostante vedere alcune tavole bellissime in cui la protagonista ostenta i suoi generosi fianchi ripristina un certo modello di bellezza che manca alla società contemporanea e di cui avremmo tanto bisogno. Brevemente, questo fumetto è un elogio del curvy, senza essere grasso.

La sensualità espressa dal fumetto, però, non ha niente a che fare con la sessualità: l'erotismo espresso si limita a rappresentare il corpo della prosperosa donna in movimento, essendo principalmente questo un fumetto di avventura.

L'elemento notevole di questo fumetto è il fatto che il lettore, che viene portato a considerarlo solo un pretesto per disegnare donnine nude, in realtà scopre che dietro tutto c'è una trama, con tanto di mistero da svelare. Il bello è che il lettore non solo deve scoprire quel è questo mistero, ma anche il fatto che ci sia un mistero!

La trama è una collezione di miti da romanzo ottocenteschi, in un magnifico collage postmoderno dai tratti nostalgici. L'inizio è un classico del romanzo ottocentesco: un'istitutrice giunge nella villa del ricco e problematico ragazzo geniale. La villa è luogo edenico, immerso nella natura: il tutto puntellato da invenzioni steampunk, di creazione del geniale e giovane proprietario. L'estetica del fumetto, quindi, permette di bearsi non solo di sensuale carne, ma anche di intricate e complesse macchine.

Ogni sera, però, la donna beve un elisir che la porta a fare dei sogni molto strani: vive delle avventure immergendosi in tutte le ambientazioni da classico ottocentesco: pirati, esotismo arabo e giapponese, mitologia medievale. La trama dei sogni è una continua fuga dal pericolo del mistero, fuga che permette di rappresentare in tutto il suo splendore la fisicità in movimento della protagonista.

Il finale, visto che si parla di sogni, è di tipo squisitamente freudiano: nel mentre si risolve il problema, si scopre anche qual era l'enigma alla base di questa storia.

Il fumetto è una storia molto godibile, con colpi di scena che rendono la trama gustosa. Ma è principalmente un fumetto da guardare, anche perché le tavole sono stupende e dai colori chiari e luminosi, che trasmettono l'idea di un mondo da favola dove tutto è piacere.

L'edizione, però seppur conveniente visto il prezzo, ha rimpicciolito di molto le tavole e per questo, in alcune scene piccole, si perdono molti dettagli.

Non so, però, fino a che punto possa interessare un pubblico femminile. Anche gli amanti delle storie erotiche e di sesso, però, resteranno delusi.

[Eva Piarová · Rating 4 out of 5]

Vizuálne nie je o čom, príbeh prekvapil, je to príjemná oddychovka na hodinku čítania, no obrázky si môžete pozerať donekonečna. Podrobnejšia recka tu: https://multiverzum.sk/sneni/

[Václav · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is rather surprising. I expected erotic Art Nouveau fantasy comics book. I got it. But I also expected it to be over-simplistic and the erotic to be too obvious. But it was not. The erotic part is just about beautiful women and their beautiful curves (even if not in a realistic way). It keeps it in proper lightly erotic manner, far from stupid pornographic like Manara's works. The plot is not very inventive - a brave girl trying to figure out a mystery and save everybody along the way. But it is well written with good tempo, a lot of details and together with art the world looks lively and large. Speaking of art, even if the drawing looks sometimes shoddy (especially backgrounds, people in the background, etc.) and overall it is more like rough drawing than precise lines, together with colouring it looks beautiful, light, bright and summer-warm. I really enjoyed this book and it felt, in a good way, more than a hundred pages long.

[Valéria. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh, seeing that art was like eating honey. Story? Well, I must admit I hate reading books in Slovak/Czech language, doesn't matter if it's comics or novel, I always have that feeling it somehow ruins spirit of the story. But it was fine(?) in this one, I think.. I had no other choice for now so I bought it and was kindly surprised.

[Javier Mankind Romero · Rating 3 out of 5]

No me agrada el termino, pero si está bastante "sexualizado", por lo menos a primera vista. Me recordó bastante a la vilipendiada Sucker Punch y en general (dejando a un lado los prejuicios tontos...) es un buen comic, se puede decir que tiene buen arte y la trama es fluida, aunque también se pueden notar algunos huecos argumentales. En general, me atrevo a decir que es bueno.

[Magnus Frederiksen · Rating 4 out of 5]

En annorlunda Peter pan liknande historia om en pojke som behöver räddas av en underskön kvinna. Varför hon måste vara så vacker och med så stora bröst går mig förbi. Missade den detaljen i de vackra serierutorna. För det är helt galet fint tecknat. Ett konstverk att gå tillbaka till för att bara få vistas bland alla vackra färger och människor.

[Kathy]

10/06/22 DNF'd

This Graphic novel was simply awful, and to my mind 'inappropriate' content for the child character. This was confusing and completely incomprehensible to me, whatever the author was trying to convey, simply didn't hit with me.
I didn't bother trying to continue reading, I stopped at page 44, and this was too long a read for me, but I'd tried to persist.

[Tom · Rating 4 out of 5]

Is it weird to say that I sometimes feel like French is the best adjective to describe the content of a book? This feels French in a very Barbarella/Metal Hurlant way. Others have pointed out the comparisons to Little Nemo, which are apt. There's a gothic structure, some steampunk elements, and a fair bit of fairy tale theming.

It's fun, it's flirty, it's français.

[Milan Pohl · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kresba nádherná, atmosféra příjemně steampunková a jiskřivá, ale ten konec... Po jednoduché a poměrně silné první polovině přišlo překombinované a prostě tak nějak divné finále, které ve mně zanechalo nahořklou pachuť, zejména co do motivací a chování malého vynálezce.

[Zany · Rating 4 out of 5]

Steampunk není pro mne to pravé ořechové, nicméně jednoznačnou předností komiksu (kromě předností Coralíny) je parádní kresba. Dost se mi líbily i Coralininy hlášky. Z příběhu samotného jsem ovšem měl v hlavě asi stejný maglajz jako Vernère a pointu jsem už vůbec nepobral.

[Jefferson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Terry Dodson's artwork is gorgeous as always, and the story is quite a bit more fantastical than the cover would suggest. There is a copious amount of nudity but it's all fairly innocent and whimsical.

[Sean Pollock · Rating 3 out of 5]

I bought this for Terry Dodson's art. The story is some very meh fairy tale stuff, not awful but hardly worth mentioning. But Dodson's art is as lush and detailed and beautiful as ever. Why does this guy not do more comics!

[vin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Huh. Great art, interesting premise at first too, but gets confusing really fast. And the ending / motivation made.. no sense? Shame, it had great potential. Still, an enjoyable guilty pleasure read if you’re either an artist, art admirer or a horny 14 year old ;)

[Ανδρέας Μιχαηλίδης · Rating 3 out of 5]

Beautifully drawn, occasionally racy and quite weird overall. It's as if someone was trying to imitate Manara's draftsmanship but with more curvaceous bodies and no actual sex. If nothing else, you can stare at the art and the copious worldbuilding.

[Iben · Rating 3 out of 5]

Flot illustreret men forhastet og rodet historie.

[Vesper · Rating 3 out of 5]

Disegni bellissimi, storia trascurabile.

[Tomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great simple story full of amazing art.

[Fiorinda Autieri · Rating 2 out of 5]

Bellissimi disegni , trama scarsa, dialoghi non pervenuti.

[Lester · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story is weird, but the art's great. A somewhat sexy fairy tale with some thematic depth found if one squints hard enough. Not that much depth to find anyway...