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Funky Town
On avait découvert Mathilde Van Gheluwe en 2016 grâce à Pendant que le loup n’y est pas, en collaboration avec Valentine Gallardo. Elle revient seule aujourd’hui, sans quitter complètement le monde de l’enfance, avec Funky Town, et confirme ainsi tout l’étendue de son talent. Funky Town se lit comme un conte moderne – et comme tous les contes, se prêtent à plusieurs niveaux de lecture – où l’on suit la jeune Lele, enfant solitaire et écrivain en herbe, qui chaque jour s’enfonce dans la forêt pour rendre visite à Baba Yaga la mystérieuse, et ramener alors une potion vitale à sa chère et imposante mère. Se faisant, elle traverse les rues de Funky Town, étonnante ville dont les habitants semblent voués à un hédonisme chaotique. Petit à petit, il apparaît que Lele pourrait vivre dans le plus complet des mensonges. Évoquant le folklore et les contes russes comme source d’inspiration, mais également Walthéry, Moebius, le Roi et l’Oiseau ou encore Ghost in the Shell, Mathilde Van Gheluwe fait feu de tout bois pour créer une œuvre aux mille facettes, tour à tour drôle et cruelle, inquiétante et tendre, mais surtout belle, par ses ambitions comme sa réalisation.
136 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2019
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Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews
June 27, 2019
Relaxed-precision penciling and magic world-building. Not in a typical fantasy mode, though, more like being a bored smart tween in a myth. I liked Van Gheluwe's Kus Mini a while back (Vlad the cat gets a nod), and this proves she's great in longer form too, slow-layering intrigue and menace and toying with its symbology in fun ways. Nice!
June 17, 2020
The art is great and the panels feel very dynamic. The story feels so urgent, that any time I put the book down, I immediately had to pick it back up to continue the story. I ended up reading it in 1 sitting even though it has 3 "chapters" of sort. I just had to know how it ended.
I also audibly chuckled a few times because of Lele's facial expressions or how Mathilde Van Gheluwe draws an action that feels so perfectly observed from life (e.g. Lele scribbling away in her book, the utter abandon with which Lele does things), or because of Lele's poetry and Baba Yaga's complete disinterest in it.
The one thing I didn't love, is that it felt a little fatphobic. The "cursed form" of Lele's mother was fat and was also the only fat character in this book.
By the way, when I say the "cursed form", one of the characters literally refers to the mother when she's fat as her "cursed form".
There is so much in this book, in this story, I'll be thinking about it a lot.
Read for the Magical Readathon: Astronomy (read the majority of this book at night).
I also audibly chuckled a few times because of Lele's facial expressions or how Mathilde Van Gheluwe draws an action that feels so perfectly observed from life (e.g. Lele scribbling away in her book, the utter abandon with which Lele does things), or because of Lele's poetry and Baba Yaga's complete disinterest in it.
The one thing I didn't love, is that it felt a little fatphobic. The "cursed form" of Lele's mother was fat and was also the only fat character in this book.
By the way, when I say the "cursed form", one of the characters literally refers to the mother when she's fat as her "cursed form".
There is so much in this book, in this story, I'll be thinking about it a lot.
Read for the Magical Readathon: Astronomy (read the majority of this book at night).
April 8, 2020
I love the art in Funky Town. The drawings are expressive and fun to look at. You can tell Van Gheluwe has put a lot of thought into designing the panels. The story itself doesn't make a lot of sense. There are so much going on but nothing gets explained. By the time I finished the book, I have more questions than answers.
August 14, 2022
Mathilde ik smeek je, breng zo snel mogelijk de rest van deze trilogie uit! Grts nathan
August 20, 2020
Voici une petite merveille qui allie recherche graphique étonnante et histoire sur le mode du conte tout aussi fascinante. C'est étrange, parfois sombre, parfois touchant, on en sort avec plein de questions et l'envie de décortiquer et d'analyser cette œuvre. Une belle réussite.
September 2, 2024
Svag 4a? Varken jag eller Tilde fattade,, men vi gillade!!
Cool huvudkaraktär, spännande värld, fina illustrationer, ofta väldigt roliga ansiktsuttryck, och stundtals kul dikter haha. Men tråkigt att inte riktigt fatta vad som händer.
Cool huvudkaraktär, spännande värld, fina illustrationer, ofta väldigt roliga ansiktsuttryck, och stundtals kul dikter haha. Men tråkigt att inte riktigt fatta vad som händer.
September 18, 2021
I loved everything about this, the art, poetry, magic, witchcraft. It was excellent. Lele is such a sweet character, excited about growing up.
December 26, 2023
A dark tale that was beautifully drawn, great layout design but the end broke my heart and made me so confused for a while…
November 11, 2019
Cool world. NO answers
June 8, 2022
TW: animal death
Also a potential warning for fat-phobic content as the main character's mother is depicted as a fat woman who cannot move and is possibly agoraphobic, and later you find out
Gorgeous art style, the kind that I really like, relaxed lines but so detailed and exact. I feel like the art style really lends itself to the story, creating an effervescent and dreamy atmosphere. This is the kind of graphic novel that allowed the art to carry the story rather than dialogue and I really appreciate that kind of story telling. The art style is dynamic and interesting, and extremely expressive. I really loved the characters, and while their motivations are often unclear, their convictions and personalities are strong and well fleshed out. This is a story that does not hand you the answers, and leaves the reader to come to their own conclusions, but that's just the way I like it. I hope to see this artist / author come out with other things in the future, as I really enjoyed this!
Also a potential warning for fat-phobic content as the main character's mother is depicted as a fat woman who cannot move and is possibly agoraphobic, and later you find out
Gorgeous art style, the kind that I really like, relaxed lines but so detailed and exact. I feel like the art style really lends itself to the story, creating an effervescent and dreamy atmosphere. This is the kind of graphic novel that allowed the art to carry the story rather than dialogue and I really appreciate that kind of story telling. The art style is dynamic and interesting, and extremely expressive. I really loved the characters, and while their motivations are often unclear, their convictions and personalities are strong and well fleshed out. This is a story that does not hand you the answers, and leaves the reader to come to their own conclusions, but that's just the way I like it. I hope to see this artist / author come out with other things in the future, as I really enjoyed this!
January 17, 2022
this graphic novel was crazy good and contains all of my favourite things in graphic novels/books : witches, humour, poetry and beautiful illustrations
i actually think it deserves 4.75 stars (i would’ve given it 5 stars if it was not for the poems quoted by baba yaga that i disliked very much lol)
the main character was incredible, i loved her so much
without spoiling anything, the end broke me
i actually think it deserves 4.75 stars (i would’ve given it 5 stars if it was not for the poems quoted by baba yaga that i disliked very much lol)
the main character was incredible, i loved her so much
without spoiling anything, the end broke me
April 28, 2024
Sitting somewhere between a classic folk tale and an Alice in Wonderland inspired fever dream, the story follows young Lele, who's about to turn 12 and lives in a city where cats talk and magic is widespread. I don't want to say too much about the story or characters at the risk of spoiling the immaculate world building of the story. I'll just say I can't wait for her follow up to come out and flesh out the world ! It's fun and weird and gorgeously illustrated
August 10, 2019
Sooooo weird! Mysterious characters with their own mysterious motives in this bizarre fantasy world. I loved the protagonist: a young, curious aspiring poet. Everything is drawn so beautifully, with satisfying pencil textures and wild faces full of expression. I loved it so much, how do you think of this stuff Mathilde???
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September 16, 2023Fa-sci-nant !
Ça faisait longtemps que le dessin ne m’avait pas autant incitée à observer longuement une planche de bd. J’avais le temps, alors je l’ai pris. Une très jolie histoire aussi qui allie magie, Baba Yaga, un chat, la poésie… (j’ai découverts de très beaux vers d’autrices).
Apparemment, ce tome 1 en appelle deux suivants, j’ai hâte !
Ça faisait longtemps que le dessin ne m’avait pas autant incitée à observer longuement une planche de bd. J’avais le temps, alors je l’ai pris. Une très jolie histoire aussi qui allie magie, Baba Yaga, un chat, la poésie… (j’ai découverts de très beaux vers d’autrices).
Apparemment, ce tome 1 en appelle deux suivants, j’ai hâte !
May 16, 2019
Beautifully illustrated. Each page is full of detail and worth getting lost in.
November 23, 2019
Väldigt cool och bra!
February 2, 2020
beautifully drawn and made me want to go to the woods and become a witch too.
March 17, 2020
Beautiful ❤️❤️❤️
July 2, 2020
Absolutely loved it ❤️ the art is amazing ❤️❤️❤️
September 8, 2020
Pépite de graphisme en crayonné, j'ai hâte de lire la suite des aventures de Lele.
September 24, 2020
Un petit chef d'œuvre
June 10, 2021
Un conte revisité, complétement perché et décomplexé au niveau des corps.
Une fresque qui dépeint l'aventure de Lele et de ses rencontres avec baba yaga.
Une fresque qui dépeint l'aventure de Lele et de ses rencontres avec baba yaga.
January 28, 2022
Delightfully bizarre. Spirited Away vibes.
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March 7, 2022What an intoxicating dark tale of innocence lost. Love the images and liveliness of line
June 3, 2022
zo goed!!! zo mooi!!! zo inspirerend!!!
December 16, 2023
breathtaking art, foggy storytelling
expressive characters, relationships and motivations not explained
expressive characters, relationships and motivations not explained
Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews