Adèle Blanc-Sec Series by Jacques Tardi

Both a rip-roaring adventure series set in pre-World War I Paris and a parody of the same, Adele has been enchanting, thrilling, and puzzling readers worldwide through four decades... moreBoth a rip-roaring adventure series set in pre-World War I Paris and a parody of the same, Adele has been enchanting, thrilling, and puzzling readers worldwide through four decades. With various American attempts to publish Adele having dribbled into nothing decades ago, Fantagraphics Books, fresh from its triumphs with Tardi's West Coast Blues and You Are There, launches a spectacular, newly retranslated, hardcover series ¬- The Extraordinary Adventures of Adele Blanc-Sec - that intends to collect every one of its nine (soon ten) volumes. In this premiere installment which features two tales, "Pterror Over Paris" and "The Eiffel Tower Demon," Adele becomes involved in a series of mysteries that involve a revived pterodactyl, a frightful on-stage murder, a looming execution by guillotine, and a demon from the depths of hell - plus of course moronic gendarmes, loyal (or perhaps traitorous?) henchmen, and a climax atop the Eiffel Tower. less

After establishing the world of the prickly heroine with the first two episodes of this classic series (combined in Fantagraphics’ The Extraordinary Adventures of Adele Blanc-Sec, Volume 1), Jacques Tardi plunges us back into Belle-Époque Paris for another double dosage of heroic derring-do, evil and crazy malefac- tors, mad actresses (yes, Clara Benhardt makes a return appearance) and monsters!In “The Mad Scientist,” the science that brought us revived dinosaurs now results in a pithecanthrope... moreAfter establishing the world of the prickly heroine with the first two episodes of this classic series (combined in Fantagraphics’ The Extraordinary Adventures of Adele Blanc-Sec, Volume 1), Jacques Tardi plunges us back into Belle-Époque Paris for another double dosage of heroic derring-do, evil and crazy malefac- tors, mad actresses (yes, Clara Benhardt makes a return appearance) and monsters!In “The Mad Scientist,” the science that brought us revived dinosaurs now results in a pithecanthrope stalking the streets of the City of Light, climaxing in an amazing car chase involving a foe from the previous volume. Will the perpetually inept Inspector Caponi just make things worse? Probably. Then in the second episode, “A Dusting of Mummies,” the mummy glimpsed in Adele’s apartment in previous episodes comes alive! The volume concludes with the sudden startling (and delightful) incursion of some characters familiar to Tardi fans, and a shocking climax that leaves the future of both Adele and this series in doubt as World War I erupts. (It’s the only story in the entire series not to feature an “in our next episode” teaser.)The Extraordinary Adventure of Adele Blanc-Sec, Volume 2, is the lucky seventh book in Fantagraphics’ acclaimed series of Tardi reprints, showcasing the rich variety of graphic novels from one of France’s greatest living cartoonists. less