Les Yeux de Chamza

In the second volume of this series filled with surveillance and manipulation, we find Chamza two weeks after her ‘accident’, hidden away in a hospital in Shanghai. Blindfolded, she is desperately trying to contact someone from the outside. Meanwhile, somewhere in the mountains of Afghanistan, the Emir of Lights meets an old war chief in order to find out the circumstances behind his father’s death. All events take place under close surveillance carried out by captain Kendricks and his men. Using a mix of well-established methods and groundbreaking technology, the American elite team on a mission to find the post 9/11 fortune of Al-Qaeda fully launch their operation. The treasure hunt continues through Kabul, the French Riviera, all the way to Washington and Shanghai.

In the chilly gray port town of Rouen, De Trichère, a man who’s made his fortune in shipping, is dying of cancer. He lost his wife to bombing during the war, and his daughter lost the use of her legs. Now the wheelchair-bound girl is all he has left, and he’s willing to go to any lengths to secure her future. Cozying up to a former first mate with a reputation for sadism? Check. Insurance fraud on a massive scale? Check. Sending over fifty sailors to certain doom, sure, but even… murdering his own secretary when she finds out?

It’s a close shave for Wismerhill and his troops when they venture into the eerie Der Hem Shelbem, land of the living-dead. Luckily, Wismerhill has the powerful Black Moon to help him out of tight spots. Meanwhile, the heroic Prince Parsifal decides that it is time for the Order of Justice to make a stand against the corruption plaguing the Order of Light. But how will he do it without too much bloodshed? All he can do is hope and pray for some kind of divine intervention…

Caroline is a 33-year-old single mom. To help her cope with the difficulties she faces as such in her personal and professional life, she’s a regular at the M.A (mothers anonymous) association, a conversation group for women who are a little overwhelmed by their motherhood. Caroline shares her tragi-comic attempts to find love and companionship, while Philippe, a slightly out-of-place new arrival at M.A., reflects on his status as a ‘dad 2.0’. A funny, intelligent, and moving graphic novel, a touch of chick lit with a feminist twist that comments on one of the big social subjects of our time: the new family model.

Moscow, September 17th, 1904. A crowd, brandishing sticks, stones and rotten vegetables, gathers in the forecourt of the palace of Moscow’s Governor. They’re not happy. The state of their country and their standard of living is rapidly becoming intolerable. Up on the balcony, Governor Sergei Alexandrovitch drops his handkerchief…

Was it intentional? Or a tragic accident? Whatever the case may be, it’s the signal: the soldiers open fire on the crowd. In an explosive political context, where the people are gathering together in the fight against an autocratic regime, this unfortunate event is nothing short of a death sentence for the Governor of Moscow…

Alex Poliac and his son are still on the run, having evaded both the FBI and the Clown — the supposed serial killer who’s actually a KGB hatchet man. Because Alex isn’t exactly who he says he is, part of a network run by a shadowy figure among the US’s most wanted list. He also happens to be the only holder of the explosive Route 66 List, which contains the names of every agent implanted in the States along the celebrated road. Agents whose days are now numbered.

These seven short adventures were published throughout the 1970s in the paperback magazine Super Pocket Pilote alongside such favorites as Asterix, Blueberry, and Lucky Luke. The first of these stories was published even before the albums starting coming out, when Valerian and Laureline are just beginning their brilliant careers as space agents. Christin and Mézières use these tales as a kind of laboratory for their growing universe of flora, fauna, and colorful characters.

Manu and Mariette have immigrated to the countryside. Manu wants a vegetable garden and Mariette wants a baby. But Manu, who’s celebrating with much jubilation the birth of his very first radish, is having a hard time accepting the notion of parenthood. I mean, imagine having to admit to your child that you don’t know how to change the contact breakers on your car… So Manu hides himself away inside the packing boxes that seem to have become a permanent installment of their new house’s decor. And don’t even start on the neighbor’s penchant for pesticides, and then the poster he’s supposed to design for the annual pig festival…

Marie-Pascale and Thérèse are 13 years old when they meet at a boarding school in Honfleur, an establishment for girls run by the Sisters of St Augustine canons. Marie-Pascale comes from a (very) wealthy family from Neuilly, and Thérèse comes from a farming family from the area. Something of a culture shock. The two girls become inseparable as they experience countless adventures together at boarding school. The sixties are in full swing and the two girls, soon to be young women, share the milestones of their lives: adolescence, boys, love, further studies and looking for personal fulfillment in the working world…

London, 1831. The young naturalist Charles Darwin, keen to embark on the journey of a lifetime, is soon to take his place onboard the HMS Beagle. This vessel is destined not only for far‐away lands full of promise, but also for many challenges. During his travels through the steamy tropics, Darwin has many encounters, from Conrad Martens, a painter aboard the ship, to a trio of Indian missionaries. While his discovery of the variety of flora and fauna fill him with awe and perplexity, his brush with slave drivers prompts him to question the moral values of his peers.