Question d’équilibre

Pico Bogue and his little sister Anna revel in the delights of winter, from Halloween to snowball fights, and, of course, that special Christmas magic.

1917, East Africa.

A German pastor—also a doctor, and married to a Frenchwoman—teaches his son Josef to fly the Albatros biplane he uses to visit his rural patients. But the war raging in Europe has spread to Africa, where the Allies are fighting the Germans in their various colonies. Against this backdrop—and strictly against his father’s wishes—Josef dreams of flying the nest, and makes a decision that will have terrible consequences…

When Julien arrives in Michigan to meet his wife’s American family, he gets to know the American Midwest, as well as some unusual cousins. But above all, he meets Odette, his French great aunt with what one might call a resilient personality. Originally from Paris, she married an American soldier at the end of the Second World War. Like her, 200,000 other European “war brides” left behind their families and their countries to be with the G.I.s they loved.

Asami is a sociology student studying otaku for her thesis. Her relationship with Kotaro is on the rocks: she’s busy with her research, and he’s an aspiring filmmaker working on a J-horror flick. The real horror is out there on the streets: a serial killer who amputates body parts from his prostitute victims. What’s his sick game? As Inspector Arakawa and his young protégé Ryohei wade deeper into depravity, Asami, with the help of cosplayer Maiko, sets out in search of an otaku so elusive he’s almost an urban legend in the youth culture capital of Akihabara: the mysterious Buntaro.

While Agnes is in Europe to visit family, Trent is given a somewhat unusual mission: to escort a woman to her father’s home. Mrs. Taylor has left her husband – a man that alcohol turns horribly violent – and is now taking their son to safety at his grandfather’s – a former senator. Tasked with protecting them, Trent takes a liking to young Jeremy, and begins to dream of his own Little Trent with Agnes – until Jeremy’s father tracks them down…

Back to the interrogation room nestled at the heart of that gray, clouded metropolis, and Polza’s story continues. We soon find ourselves extracted from that police station, the metaphor for everything that this extraordinary protagonist seeks to escape (law, bureaucracy, morality, social codes, restriction), and returned to the beautiful but savage rural backdrop of Polza Mancini’s quest for transcendance. His wanderings eventually bring him to the underground hideout of the so-called “Saint Jacky”, a prolific drug dealer who uses his profits to feed his obsession: books. But this avid reader also has his dark side, as Mancini soon discovers.

In book 2 of the series, Leila, Violet, and Helen share an apartment, experience problems with men, work, parents, and school, and try to get along in a small space. The tension goes up and tempers flare when Leila acts a little too welcoming of the new boyfriend Violet brings home — Violet who just recently had her heart broken and who’s finding it hard to trust again. A slice-of-life tale of three young women navigating the ups and downs of friendship early adulthood.

Agents Janine Hallbeck and Sol Kathren, posing as husband and wife for their mission, were sent to Tehran in early 1973, on the trail of a priceless secret: the plans for a financial and petroleum manipulation that would have severe repercussions throughout the entire world. The problem is, nobody at the CIA wants to believe it. Except, perhaps, those who see a golden opportunity to line their pockets!

The going gets tough for Glorim Cortis and his men as they struggle through dense forest. The suffocating humidity and clouds of insects nearly have them at their wits’ end. No wonder they’re so elated when the reach what appears to be some kind of earthly paradise. But they’re not alone. It’s not long before they find themselves up against some of the smartest and most skillful adversaries they’ve ever come across: women.

Memories From the Futures, 22nd volume of the series ‘Valerian and Laureline,’ is a superb homage to a saga that has turned upside-down both our vision of the future and the role of women in comics. The saga had come to a close in the previous volume with a temporal loop to which only the authors hold the key. In this new volume, authors Pierre Christin and Jean-Claude Mézières play the role of intergalactic tourists, revisiting some of their heroes’ most remarkable adventures. In addition to adding a few sublime pages to Alflolol, they return to Central Point, as well as taking us back to a time when Laureline, a wild young woman, had yet to be seduced by spatio-temporal agent Valerian. Back to the future in comics’ first space opera!