Trouble viewing this newsletter? Click here
mediatoon May 2019
MFR Goes Planetary

 
3, 2, 1... Lift-off!
 
That’s right — this month we’re packing some serious bags for intergalactic adventures. The new science-fiction graphic novel “Aiôn” follows Captain Lexi Neel, woken from a deep hyper-sleep years ahead of schedule to find herself on a mysterious moon… Then there’s “Hercule“, a young reader’s trip into space in the lively company of Hercule and his friend Marlon, students at the School of Intergalactic Agents whose very first mission to Earth does not go as planned! Finally, the newest cycle of the hit science-fiction series, “Retour sur Aldébaran“, takes us back to the planet where it all began.

All of this space action is perfectly timed as we approach the 50th anniversary of Apollo’s landing on the moon. What better time to remind you about the incredible best-selling graphic novel published last year by Dargaud, “Inside an Astronaut’s Flight Suit“, a hilarious look behind the scenes of an astronaut’s six-month trip to the International Space Station. More than 160,000 copies were sold in 2018, and we’re currently on its 15th reprint… Ask us now for a sample English excerpt.

In the same vein, we’re also pleased to announce the upcoming Dupuis children’s album “Le premier pas sur la lune”, an educational look back at the Apollo landing, as well as the best-selling  “L’univers. Créativité cosmique et artistique”, written by renowned Canadian scientist Hubert Reeves and published in the “Bédéthèque” collection with Le Lombard.

We invite you to take a look below at the rest of our new titles on offer this spring. There’s no doubt about it, you’ll be over the moon!

The MFR Team

Compilations & special editions

BEST-SELLERS

 
couverture
 
Preview
 

Retour sur Aldébaran

Retour sur Aldébaran (2)

By Leo

Mainstream Comics
Publisher: Dargaud
Genres: Sci-Fi 

In this new cycle of the best-selling “Aldebaran” series, translated in several languages, Kim returns to her native planet, where she has become famous. However, things soon prove to have become complicated: the extra-terrestrials are interacting with Earthlings in a strange fashion. Kim’s daughter is gravely injured, and Kim meets a certain Manon, who becomes her bodyguard. But another attack is on the horizon…


 
couverture
 
 

Autour de Blake & Mortimer

Le Dernier Pharaon (11)

By Schuiten, Van Dormael, Durieux & Gunzig

Graphic novel
Publisher: Blake Mortimer
Genres: Special Editions 

In “Le Dernier Pharaon”, the Belgians François Schuiten, Jaco Van Dormael, Thomas Gunzig and Laurent Durieux revisit the work of Edgar P. Jacobs. Their respective talents merge to create a new album that retains full respect for the original series. Don’t miss this latest album!


 
couverture
 
Preview
 

La Famille Blaireau-Renard

La Famille Blaireau-Renard présente les arbres (2)

By Tharlet & Luciani

Children's & Family
Publisher: Dargaud
Genres: Picture Books, Movie & TV adaptation 

The very successful series Monsieur Blaireau et Madame Renarde has been turned into an animated series for one of France’s major TV channels. To celebrate, Dargaud has launched a spin-off series with a pedagogical aim: La Famille Blaireau-Renard. This new series features stand-alone, thematic volumes where the adventures of the mischievous siblings will be used to talk about educational themes with children. This second volume discusses the role of trees in our world.


 
couverture
 
Preview
 

Les Bidochon

Les Bidochon relancent leur couple (22)

By Binet

Mainstream Comics
Publisher: Dargaud
Genres: Humor 

The world’s most famous French couple is back! Raymonde and Robert Bidochon try to revive the flame of their love in the most hilarious ways.


Graphic novel

 
 
couverture
 
Preview
 

AIÔN

AIÔN (one-shot)

By Rio

Publisher: Dargaud
Genres: Sci-Fi 

Captain Lexi Neel thought she’d sacrificed years of life with her daughter when she left Earth on a decades-long journey through the depths of space. But when a distress signal takes her out of hypersleep years ahead of schedule, she finds herself on the mysterious moon Aion, home to exotic wildlife and a research station dedicated to study of the moon’s “particularities.” It might mean a chance to start over as if she never left… As Lexi is about to learn, time is an experience.


 
couverture
 
Preview
 

El Comandante Yankee

El Comandante Yankee (one-shot)

By Jakupi

Publisher: Dupuis
Genres: Biography & Memoirs, Non-Fiction 

This is the true story of William Alexander Morgan, the Yankee Comandante, an idealistic young American who found fame fighting in the Cuban Revolution. The blond American didn’t speak a word of Spanish, but he felt his rightful place was among the guerilleros of the Escambray Mountains, fighting to bring down dictator Fulgencio Batista. There was a time when Morgan was front-page news, on a level with Che Guevara. Yet El Comandante Yankee has largely disappeared from the history of the Cuban Revolution. Author Gani Jakupi recounts a forgotten tale from one of the greatest military and political events of the 20th century.


 
couverture
 
Preview
 

Les Cahiers Aire Libre

Haïku (3)

By Cinna & Barboni

Publisher: Dupuis
Genres: Non-Fiction 

The Aire Libre imprint has been publishing the very best of contemporary comics since its creation in 1988 by Jean Van Hamme. To celebrate its 30th anniversary, Dupuis has launched this collection, which retraces the years of the imprint’s existence through a series of interviews with its most influential protagonists. This newest album is dedicated to Olivier Cinna, artist of the graphic novel “Hibakusha.” The images are strongly influenced by Japanese art; both poetic and suggestive, they are an invitation into the delicate visual world of the late talent Cinna.


 
couverture
 
Preview
 

La petite Bédéthèque des Savoirs

Le Burn out (28)

By Thouron & Linhart

Publisher: Le Lombard
Genres: Non-Fiction 

We thought work had become much easier than in the last century, didn’t we? So why are burn-outs, depressions, and even workplace suicides more common than ever before? The labor sociologist Danièle Linhart, who specializes in these issues, uses a good dose of humor to explain the perverse effects of contemporary managerial policies and shows what undermines workers, often making them doubt their own value and legitimacy.


Mainstream

 
 
couverture
 
Preview
 

Zaroff

Zaroff (one-shot)

By Miville-Deschênes & Runberg

Publisher: Le Lombard
Genres: Action & Adventure 

1937: An island somewhere in the middle of the ocean, which Count Zaroff has chosen as his new hunting ground. He’s tired of hunting the usual game — animals are far too easy to kill. He has set himself the supreme challenge: a prey that is both dangerous and unpredictable, in fact the only prey worth hunting — people. But when the Count brings down a Mafia boss, the “family” lands on the island looking for revenge. Suddenly, the roles are reversed and the Count finds himself being hunted. To make matters worse, the Mafiosi have kidnapped the Count’s sister and her children and brought them to the island. If Zaroff doesn’t find them soon, they’ll all be killed. And he’ll be next.


 
couverture
 
Preview
 

Dans la tête de Sherlock Holmes

L’Affaire du ticket scandaleux (1)

By Lieron & Dahan

Publisher: Ankama
Genres: Suspense & Thrillers, Crime & Mystery 

Sherlock Holmes decides to take on a case which, in the beginning, seems to be no more than a matter of simple medical diagnosis for Dr. Watson. But the discovery of a mysterious powder on some clothes, as well as a ticket to a strange magic show, lead Sherlock to believe that his client is the victim of a large-scale plot, and that he’s not the only one… This volume offers an investigation squarely in the tradition of the master of mystery, Arthur Conan Doyle.


 
couverture
 
Preview
 

Les Enfants de la colère

Les Enfants de la colère (1)

By Damian & Naranjo

Publisher: Ankama
Genres: Action & Adventure, Sci-Fi 

For decades, the planet Aegis has been dominated by the Confederation of Northern States. Its superior technology and military have enabled it to exploit the natural resources of the underdeveloped south. A resistance group decides to fight back using a new type of mecha. At first glance they seem rather basic, yet they are fast and well-organized. When the Confederation finally catches one, they discover that the mecha is piloted by a child…


 
couverture
 
Preview
 

Midnight Tales

Midnight Tales (3)

By Bablet & Bordier

Publisher: Ankama
Genres: Fantasy & Esoteric 

Since the beginning of time, the Midnight Order has operated in total secret to fight against the dark forces…


 
couverture
 
Preview
 

La base aérienne de Cognac

La base aérienne de Cognac (one-shot)

By Paringaux & Lert

Publisher: Zéphyr Editions
Genres: Non-Fiction 

With the arrival of the first PC-21s and the Reaper, the Cognac air base is at the head of some of the most modern aircrafts of the French Air Force. Its strength resides in a combination of various characteristics: advanced technologies, strong territorial anchorage, resolutely human values, and an openness to the world.


 
couverture
 
Preview
 

Deux Mille Meuf

Deux Mille Meuf (one-shot)

By F’Murrr

Publisher: Dargaud
Genres: Humor 

Each year, F’murr makes unique greeting cards for his friends. In 2009, he decided to draw two thousand women, sketched in the street, in restaurants, wherever he went. Even if he wasn’t able to quite reach his goal, his notepads from 2009 reveal several hundred sketches of women, of which this volume publishes a selection. F’murr’s women are beautifully real, and beautifully drawn.


Dupuis
couverture
 

La véritable histoire vraie

Torquemada (3)

By Marco Paulo & Swysen
Biography & Memoirs, Humor
Preview
 
Dupuis
couverture
 

La véritable histoire vraie

Robespierre (4)

By Bercovici & Swysen
Biography & Memoirs, Humor
Preview
 
Dupuis
couverture
 

Aria

Flammes salvatrices (39)

By Weyland
Fantasy & Esoteric
Preview
 
Dupuis
couverture
 

Les femmes en blanc

Traitement et sale air (41)

By Bercovici & Cauvin
Humor
Preview
 

Children's & family

 
 
couverture
 
Preview
 

Hercule agent intergalactique

Margot la fille du frigo (1)

By Dalena & Zabus

Publisher: Le Lombard
Genres: Action & Adventure 

Hercule and his friend Marlon have just enrolled at the School of Intergalactic Agents, but they’re both having problems. Hercule is a little young — and a little short — to make the grade, while Marlon just can’t help being a coward. For their first Surveillance Operation, they’re sent to Earth to gather information on a girl who’s behaving strangely. But while they’re away, the dreaded Blackbird plans to attack the School…


 
couverture
 
Preview
 

Mamma mia !

La famille à dames (1)

By Obion & Trondheim

Publisher: Dupuis
Genres: Humor 

Mamma Mia! has nothing to do with ABBA, but it does have to do with mother-daughter relationships over several generations – from granddaughter to great-grandmother. It’s also funny and touching enough to appeal to as wide an audience as the film.


 
couverture
 
Preview
 

Marsupilami

Bienvenido a Bingo ! (32)

By Batem & Colman

Publisher: Marsu Productions
Genres: Action & Adventure, Humor 

Marsupilami and his wife live in the Palombian jungle with their three children, Bobo, Bibi and Bibu. Agile and generous, gluttonous and mischievous, Marsupilami does his best to give his family a nice, peaceful life in the heart of the rainforest. But there are many who seek out his black-spotted yellow pelt… on their own head be it!

The series has been turned into an animated series. More information can be found here. 


Illustrated books

 
 
couverture
 
Preview
 

Igor

Igor (one-shot)

By Baur & Morlet

Publisher: Little Urban
Genres: Picture Books 

Igor, the renowned piano virtuoso, is about to start his latest tour around the globe. With his faithful agent at his side, he’s going to board a plane to Beijing. But it seems customs aren’t allowing such big ears in the cabin! It looks like Igor’s ears will need to go in the baggage hold. But once the plane has landed, ugh! How awful, the ears have gone missing! It’s the start of a wild chase around the world…


 
couverture
 
Preview
 

Professeur Goupil

Professeur Goupil autour du monde (3)

By Montel & Clément

Publisher: Little Urban
Genres: Novels & Story Books 

Life is but a long, quiet river for Professor Fox. At least until his fiancée decides to go off to the end of the world! To rescue the love of his life, the professor has no other choice than to go against his instincts and head out into the perilous unknown. Loïc Clément and Anne Montel invite you on a fantastic trip around the world. Will you be able to recognize all the different spots the professor and his friends make along the way?


Compilations & special editions

COMPILATIONS AND SPECIAL EDITIONS

 
couverture
 
Preview
 

Merlin – Intégrale

Merlin – Compilation (2)

By Munuera, Sfar & Morvan

Children's & Family
Publisher: Dargaud
Genres: Humor, Fantasy & Esoteric 

The wizard Merlin, a druid feared by all, is one of the best known characters of the Arthurian world. But who holds the secrets of his childhood? Sfar, Munuera and Morvan imagine a heart-warming tale full humor.


 
couverture
 
Preview
 

Team Rafale – Intégrale

Team Rafale – Compilation (2)

By Durand, Loutte & Zumbiehl

Mainstream Comics
Publisher: Zéphyr Editions
Genres: Action & Adventure 

Team Rafale is a series of contemporary air force adventures featuring Tom Nolane, a fighter pilot who doubles as a test pilot. As his career progresses, Nolane gets wrapped up in issues that concern our not only our real pilots, but also men and women in the military and politics, and everyday citizens. While facing such problems as industrial spying, terrorism, and economic warfare, he wages his own personal battles as well…


 
couverture
 
Preview
 

Capricorne – Intégrale

Capricorne – Compilation (2)

By Andreas

Graphic novel
Publisher: Le Lombard
Genres: Fantasy & Esoteric, Crime & Mystery 

An object with incredible powers coveted by a gang of bandits and an unscrupulous government organization; a mysterious power source that frees a monster thirsty for electricity; a rich heiress with paranormal powers, threatened by kidnapping; a submarine diving to the place where strange lights emanate from the abyss… Since he arrived as an astrologer in New York, the enigmatic Capricorn is continuously confronted by strange affairs, fantastic discoveries and relentless enemies.


 
couverture
 
Preview
 

Valhardi – Intégrale

Valhardi – Compilation (1959-1965) (5)

By Mouminoux, Jijé & Philip

Mainstream Comics
Publisher: Dupuis
Genres: Action & Adventure 

Jean Valhardi first hit our shelves in 1941 and has been one of the biggest characters, alongside Spirou and Tif and Tondu, to come out of Dupuis. His adventures have been brought together here for the first time in this fully restored version. Fans will finally get a chance to read the extremely rare L’étrange réveillon de Jean Valhardi as it was originally published, copies of which are all but impossible to find these days. Includes a detailed introduction, the result of two years of research by the authors of La véritable histoire de Spirou, Christelle and Bertrand Pissavy-Yvernault.