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Friday, September 3, 2010
Big in France
David looks at the Angoulême festival
Each year, the French town of Angoulême is overrun with comics enthusiasts for the Festival International de la Bande Desinée. Festival organizers select a list of titles released in France during the past year “to cast a new light on books that outranked past year’s publications by their daring formal and/or narrative innovations.”
This year’s official selections look to be an exciting mix of styles from an international group of creators, with a healthy representation of comics from Japan. Only two of them have been released in English, providing yet another opportunity for me to be sick with envy of another country’s comics culture.
Are the titles representative of the French manga market? I have no idea; the bookstore aisles could be just as littered with les jeune filles reading Fruits Basket as they apparently are here. But I feel I would be remiss if I didn’t take a quick spin through the festival catalog to see what titles I should be begging publishers to license.
Avant La Prison, by Kazuichi Hanawa: “Sentenced to three year’s imprisonment in 1995 for illegal carrying of fi rearms, Kazuichi Hanawa related his jail experience in Dans La Prison. As he got a successful reception, he was urged into telling what had happened before. But Hanawa gave birth to an amazing work in which abruptly alternates the story of how the author repairs an old gun, a fiction set in the old times and several other digressions...”
A prequel of sorts to Doing Time, published in English by Fanfare/Ponent Mon, Avant La Prison is been published in France by Vertige Graphic and Coconino Press.
Gyo, by Junji Ito: “This time, the threat comes from the sea. Ito delights in confronting his neat couple of young heroes to the most dreadful situations. He displays a both ridiculous and dreary imagery, which is his trademark, setting the reader in an uncomfortable situation, between laughter and disgust. The craziness in the drawings cannot but freak you out...”
Gyo has been published in English by Viz, and Dark Horse has done Ito fans a big favor by publishing a new edition of the charmingly nasty Tomie in its Museum of Terror series. Gyo been published in France by Tonkam.
Jacarinda, by Kotobuki Shiriagari: “A giant tree suddenly grows in the middle of Tokyo, wiping out the city in a night’s time of sound and fury... Starting from this powerful idea, Shiriagari Kotobuki imagines a 300 pages nightmare, amassing one death and destruction scene after another, ad nauseam. This most striking visual work raises complex philosophical issues behind its apparent simplicity. Indeed it refers to the very Japanese awareness of the ephemeral nature of things as well as the concept of renewal and the danger of submitting to a higher power. A book that is off the beaten tracks, with a musical and hypnotic rhythm.”
Jacarinda has been published in France by Éditions Milan/Kanko.
Ki-Itchi!! , by Hideki Arai: “Left to himself at an early age in the slummiest parts of today’s Japan, Ki-Itchi learns how to survive on his own. As a teenager, how can he adapt to a society whose rules he rejects? Unless he creates his own rules... Just like in The World Is Mine (Sakka), the other series by Hideki Arai published in French, the satirical author levels a violent and exhilarating accusation against the contemporary hypocrisy and stupidity with a malevolent jubilation. Ki-Itchi, a raw icon of strength and integrity, stands alone against the world’s injustice and becomes an unforgettable character.”
Ki-Itchi!! has been published in France by Delcourt/Akata. Arai’s The World Is Mine has been published in France by Sakka.
Non Non Bâ, by Shigeru Mizuki: “As it remains an unknown territory of the 9th art, the Japanese comic scene continues to surprise us by its diversity, through masterpieces of incomparable romantic strength. Along with Tezuka, Mizuki is one of the greatest manga authors and therefore, one of the greatest authors across the world... In the country story Non Non Bâ, he achieves the perfect mix between The War Of The Buttons and Lovecraft’s Cthulhu, interweaving Japanese archaic folklore (and its ancestral animistic rites) and contemporary social features. This pathosless unidentified comic object cannot but stir you up.”
Non Non Bâ has been published in France by Cornélius.
Sorcières, by Daisuké Igarashi: “Considered to be one of the best newcomers in Japan, Daisuke Igarashi is the high priest of Nature and its mysteries. In parallel to his comic activity, he has also been a farmer for several years... Be they kindly or fiendish, Igarashi’s witches are the guardians of an ancestral truth that is jeopardized by contemporary civilization. Spiritually close to Kenji Miyazawa’s poems, these collected stories distinguish by their graphic power and the strong animistic beliefs of their author.”
Sorcières has been published in France by Casterman/Sakka. Igarashi has a marvelous short in Fanfare/Ponent Mon’s Japan As Viewed By 17 Creators.
Zipang, by Kaiji Kawaguchi: “As they are mysteriously transported back to the Pacifi c war, a ship’s crew from the Japanese Self-defence Force tries to remain neutral and not alter the course of History... Through Zipang, Kaiji Kawaguchi (Spirit of the Sun, Eagle) asks a fascinating question: what would be our reaction if we could change the course of History ? And in doing so, he puts in perspective the way his fellow citizens’ attitudes have changed. Zipang is a manga that combines entertainment and reflection qualities, obviously foreshadowing to a future classic.”
Zipang has been published in France by Dargaud/Kana. Viz has published Kawaguchi’s Eagle: The Making of an American President, though it seems to be out of print.
Two manga have been included in the Heritage Award category.
Golgo 13, by Takao Saito: “Golgo 13 is an emblematic character of Japanese comics. He was created in 1969 by Takao Saito as an eponymous hero to a series whose publication is still going on to this day. He is a legendary professional killer but his motives seem obscure. He fulfils his contracts in an emotionless way. This 1000 page book collects the 13 best episodes according to a readership survey. The oldest stories feature the killer in action while he disappears from the latest in favour of a popular geopolitical work.”
Golgo 13 has been published in France by Glénat. It’s currently being released by Viz as part of the Signature imprint.
Hato, by Osamu Tezuka: “This work by Osamu Tezuka is very little known though it was one of his favourite stories. The ‘god of Mangas’ revisits the traditional Japanese tale, combining a typical collection of animals, such as kappa, tanuki or foxes, to the specific dramatic figures of the time, samurai duels, peasants’ rebellions, etc... Hato relates the parallel courses of two brothers whose fate is to fight against the mountain gods that are warring against each other at the expense of mankind. This three-volume series is described as a ‘graphic novel’ by its publisher, for it combines comic style and illustrated text.”
Hato is being published in France by Cornélius.
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: I’m really going to have to brush up my French.
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I could pretend to be devout, but I’m really just lazy (as this week’s installment amply demonstrates), so there won’t be a new column next week. See you all in 2007.
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April 22, 2008:
February 4, 2008:
November 20, 2006:
A Comic-Con without the Captain
