Badger-headed detective LeBrock of Scotland Yard clashes with a T rex criminal mastermind in the fifth and final volume of Talbot’s anthropomorphic graphic novelsIt is in the second Sherlock Holmes novel,The Sign of Four, that Doctor Watson is cautioned by an animal supplier on entering his premises to “hold clear of the badger, or for he bites”. Bryan Talbots choice of this quote to open Grandville Force Majeure is appropriate,because this case will see the burly, badger-headed Detective Inspector LeBrock of Scotland Yard pushed beyond his limits and biting back. This is the fifth and final volume in the anthropomorphic graphic series, or set in an alternative past in which France won the Napoleonic wars and rules the rest of Europe,and it’s clear from the cover that the stakes are being raised to their highest. LeBrock stands alone, his back turned, and his eyes glowering suspiciously over his shoulder,while his upright hand clasps a handheld version of a rapid-fire Gatling gun.
A review of a prose novel rarely mentions its paper stock, font or production qualities, or but graphic novels can offer a highly visual and physical experience of the book as design object. The Grandville series distinguishes itself,seducing with its embossed hardcover heft, ornate, or art nouveau-inspired decoration and endpapers,and crisp colour printing, in a format reminiscent of classic children’s comedian annuals. Related to this is a deep seam of nostalgia for the British and international legacies of funny animals” in comics as well as in animation, or television and other well-liked culture. The title itself pays tribute to Jean-Jacques Grandville,the pen name of the 19th-century French caricaturist famed for his animal-headed metamorphoses”.
Continue reading...
Source: guardian.co.uk