Les 30 clochettes

Djinn #2

by Jean Dufaux, Ana Mirallès

Um in den Harem zu gelangen, in sein dunkles Zentrum, müssen Frauen einen Gürtel mit dreißig Glocken tragen. Nach jeder bestandenen Prüfung – einer Liebesnacht mit einem Fremden, eine Mischung aus Lust und Unterwerfung – wird eine Glocke entfernt. Versagen zieht den Tod nach sich.

Auf der politischen Bühne wollen die Haschemiten das osmanische Reich stürzen, das seit Jahrhunderten die moslemische Welt beherrscht. England unterstützt das Vorhaben. Das Erscheinen des Lawrence von Arabien zeichnet sich ab...

Genres: Bande Dessinée, Comics, Graphic Novels, Fantasy, Erotica, Comic Book, Historical Fiction

48 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2002

About the author

Jean Dufaux is a Belgian comic book writer. Beginning his professional career as a journalist for "Ciné-presse", Dufaux started writing comic books in the 1980s. Perhaps his most well-known, and certainly his most long-running, series is Jessica Blandy.

Reviews

[Corrie · Rating 4 out of 5]

We continue with book 2 The 30 Bells.

Two women, in two different times, and for two very different reasons, choose to be initiated into the harem. One is the harem of the Black Sultan in 20th century Istanbul, dominated by the captivating Jade. The other is the only remaining one of its kind, an echo of a bygone era, hidden away in the middle of the Turkish desert, far from prying eyes. Both women must carry out certain rites of passage before they can truly attain the heart of the harem. Both women are doing it for Jade. Plots and manipulation abound within those dark and sensual spaces behind the walls of the harem…

Ana Mirallès' watercolor art is simply stunning. Such a feast for the eye and what attracted me to read these graphic novels in the first place.

Kim Nelson, determined to unravel the mysteries of her grandmother's sulphurous life, continues her investigations in Istanbul. But she has become the coveted key to a treasure and her willingness to know is leading her into increasingly dangerous situations.

I like the similarities in the story between Kim and Miranda (Lady Nelson), though they both handle it very differently. The story feels a bit chaotic with the jumps between time-lines.

f/f, m/f

Themes: Turkey, the Great War, Ebu Sarki, 30 bells, this is a rapey episode, the women have to dig really deep to keep motivated, I hope it's all worth it in the end, Jade is a ruthless (and heartless) one.

4 stars

[Naomi Ruth · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love the aesthetic look and feel of the story and I really enjoy how the two stories and timelines interweave. I'm uncomfortable with some of the sexual themes, like how often she's almost raped and how it doesn't seem to phase her? I do like that she's shown as a strong capable woman who can defend herself, even though she often has to be rescued by the dude. I also a bit annoyed with the "I love you but I'm going to go have (probably unsafe) sex with 29 other dudes" ummmmmm.... Question Mark? But I'm so intrigued by the other storyline and what's happening politically that I'm going to keep reading. Also because I really do like the artwork.

[Mark · Rating 3 out of 5]

DPL hoopla

[Jess Swann · Rating 3 out of 5]

Passé le premier moment de confusion où je tente de me souvenir de ce qui a été dit dans le premier tome je suis à nouveau emportée par l'histoire et le temps On retrouve donc Lady Nelson,esclave de Jade alors qu'à travers le temps, Kim doit s'offrir et supporter.....Même si j'ai parfois eu du mal à faire le lien entre les deux histoires, j'ai bien aimé ce tome :Là où Lady Nelson (Miranda) finit par accepter son sort, Kim se rebelle. L'effet miroir entre les deux est bien rendu et j'ai apprécié la réserve de Miranda face à la décision de Kim. Il faut également avoir le cœur bien accroché pour supporter les humiliations de nos deux héroines


Ce que j'aime : le tout reste érotique en dépit de passages peu "glamour", l'idée des clochettes, les dessins et les couleurs utilisées


Ce que j'aime moins : l'histoire semble parfois un peu brouillon surtout pour la partie contemporaine ,les sauts dans le temps ne sont pas assez identifiés


En bref : Un tome très sexuel qui permet de "torturer" nos héroïnes et, accessoirement, d'avancer un peu dans l'histoire


Ma note


7/10

[Kevin · Rating 2 out of 5]

The writing is still pretty bad in this second volume, but the art work is decent. I'm invested enough in the story to read another volume or two to see where it goes.

[Elinor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Intéressant, surtout avec ce lien passé/présent encore plus fort. Je suis intriguée de voir la suite !

[Vesper · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tre stelle e ½

[Liz · Rating 3 out of 5]

What should have been an exciting follow-up to the previous story is really just more filler in the story. It largely takes place in the "present" with the living descendent who is unlikeable and not particularly interesting. The harem training with the bells is interesting and, at least in the past, not tied to heterosexual relations. Outside of that, this book feels like it drags along --and it's short.

There still has been nothing more than hinting about how the title Djinn connects to Jade --and those hints are on cover flaps, not within the text. The plot somewhat thickens in the past, but the reader spends so little time there that it barely moves the plot along. The ending is supposed to feel like a cliff hanger, but it feels a lot more like something one expected with the first chapter of volume 3 writing itself.

Like I said for volume 1, I hope this series has a bigger/better pay off later in the series because so far it is slow and a little boring.

[Reminder: this is series claims to be an Ottoman Empire harem story with a massive treasure that is supposed to be a mystery with possibly some magic and political intrigue.]

[Sanjeev Kumar · Rating 4 out of 5]

The inherent issue at the heart of this story is the objectification and continuous rape of the leading ladies. This is not sensuous or erotic. It’s rape. They are not in control. They make no decision. It’s an easy story from a patriarchal vantage but doesn’t fit well in 2003 when the chapter was written or today. The beautiful artwork and intriguing plot can’t hide this terrible truth.

I like the story but loathe this situation.

[EyrisReadsTheWorld · Rating 4 out of 5]

J’étais plus à l’aise avec ce volume maintenant que j’ai compris à peu près comment aller se dérouler ce premier cycle. On en découvre un peu plus sur Jade et sur son rôle auprès du Sultan. La fin de ce volume me fait me demander comment va agir Kim. Elle a l’air de suivre un peu les traces de Jade, mais peut être avec plus de sentiments, a voir.

[Murat · Rating 2 out of 5]

Orientalizm bir dağ olsa, bu serinin deniz seviyesinden yüksekliği 8.848 metre olurdu.

Buna ek olarak, saçma sapan davranan karakterler, ve ne idüğü belirsiz, tarihsel temellere yaslanmaya çalışan bir hikaye var.

Ha bir de mükemmel çizimler.

[Alina Brzozowska · Rating 1 out of 5]

The comic objectifies women, and it's also ageist. I'm not particularly keen on reading/watching scenes depicting old men(geezers) having sex with young women, but never the other way around. Jean Dufaux has completely lost it. This comic is ageist trash and objectifies women.

[(a)lyss(a) · Rating 3 out of 5]

This series is bananas. Still a little unsure what's happening that connects the past and present, but still reading.

[Krishnakumar Mohanasundaram · Rating 3 out of 5]

Explicit...
Doesn't makes sense , the things the woman of the story puts herself into..
I hope whatever she's looking for justifies it in the later issues...

[Rafaela Oliveira · Rating 4 out of 5]

J'aime bien les passages subtiles entre le présent et le passé. Je n'aime pas le personnage de Jade, au moins jusqu'à présent elle a été impulsive et cruelle.

[Pascal · Rating 2 out of 5]

Mouai, j'ai voulu voir si le tome 2 était aussi pauvre que le tome 1...vérifié...peut être pas mon genre de lecture non plus...

[Alethia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm a little conflicted, this being very sexualizing of women and the old Middle Eastern culture, but it's so beautiful and alluring that it's hard to be against it.

[s.j.hannaway · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absorbing …

A very interesting, absorbing tale, slowly drawing you in more & more as the mystery deepens, will definitely get the next episode …

[Nadine · Rating 1 out of 5]

Nope, the male circle jerk continues, I'm done.

[Kimi · Rating 1 out of 5]

I wrote the review on the first volume and decided to try again maybe it might be better. Yea...no, I can't believe the main character and her decisions. It seems non-sense and just ridiculous. I'm stopping here and won't be continuing on even though it is a short series.

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

This volume keeps jumping back and forth between Jade and Lord Nelson's wife in Sultan Murati's harem in 1912, and Kim being forced into a harem in the Turkish desert in the present to get the answers she needs about her grandmother Jade. There is a lot of implied/direct reference to rape to get rid of the "30 Bells" that each woman has to get rid of in order to be experienced (and I'm guessing for Kim to get answers to her questions from the mysterious procurer she was looking for). I hope the story gets better and we finally get some answers. The art is still gorgeous. 3 stars.