Approximate Continuum Comics
Written & Illustrated by Lewis Trondheim

Translated by Kim Thompson
Lettered by Stephanie Noell & Priscilla Miller
Published by Fantagraphics

Lewis Trondheim is one of Europe’s best cartoonists.

Let me revise that: Lewis Trondheim is one of the world’ best cartoonists. He happens to be French, however, and not all of his books are available in English, so it’s always exciting when something new comes to the States. (In the interests of complete documentation, the first half of Approximate Continuum Comics was previously serialized in English, but the latter portion was not – and I didn’t know Trondheim’s work at the time and missed the first half its first time around. So it’s all new to me.)

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Marvel Masterworks: Fantastic Four v. 3-6
Written by Stan Lee
Co-Plotted & Penciled by Jack Kirby

Inked by George Roussos, Chic Stone, Frank Giacoia, Vince Colletta & Joe Sinnott
Lettered by Art Simek & Sam Rosen
Color Reconstruction by Michael Kelleher & Kellustration, and Wil Glass & All Thumbs Creative
Published by Marvel Comics

I’ll be forever grateful to Marvel for putting their Marvel Masterworks series in softcover. I’ve read a few Essentials – their 500-page black & white on newsprint paper omnibuses – but I’d prefer to see these classic stories in color on a slightly better paper. The hardcover Masterworks, I told myself often, “I’ll get around to them.” But I kept not getting around.

And to give you an idea how far behind my reading pile has gotten, I sat down last week and read four consecutive volumes of classic Stan Lee-Jack Kirby Fantastic Four comics. And they’re a blast.

I can’t truthfully say that they age well. It’s not only the dated pop culture and world event references, but it’s hard to imagine a heroine today being so disrespected as Sue Storm is repeatedly throughout these stories – and most often by her two romantic suitors!

Despite these awkward, and often hilarious moments, the stories are still totally entertaining. Sure, there are a few odd plot quirks, but they’re fun, and crazy adventurous. Lee and Kirby infuse the characters with playful personalities, a little pathos, a little banter, and plenty of personality (Ben and Reed in particular). By book four, multi-issue storylines have begun, creating a broader, more intricate tapestry. In book five, Joe Sinnott becomes Kirby’s inker, creating the Fantastic Four imagery that readers remember best. Book six takes all the groundwork laid in previous books and builds one of the most cohesive and multi-threaded plots in superhero comics history.

Most of the foundation of the Marvel Universe is established in these pages. And many readers will want to see that history. But to me, I just love seeing these exciting stories for myself. The burgeoning cosmology of the series, Lee and Kirby’s playful undercutting of their own narrative conventions, the beautiful artwork (my only complaint: the garish color on the covers makes them look hideous!), the snappy dialogue, the purely fun stories. The books are a delight, and highly recommended.

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Yotsuba&! v. 8-9
Written & Illustrated by Kiyohiko Azuma
Translated by Amy Forsyth
Lettered by Terri Delgado
Published by Yen Press

When I get a new comic, it gets slotted onto the bottom of my towering to-read pile. The exception to that rule is Usagi Yojimbo, which I always read immediately when a new book emerges. If I were to make two exceptions, Yotsuba&! might be the second such title.

Each chapter is titled “Yotsuba & something“, and that chapter follows our youthful protagonist as she, wide-eyed and full of wonder, explores the world around her. With absolutely hilarious results. In these two books, Yotsuba attends a school festival where her friend and neighbor’s class is distributing cake. She flies in a hot air balloon. Opposites, teddy bears, restaurants, typhoons and schedules also find their way into Yotsbuba’s inquisitive, excitable gaze.

Kiyohiko Azuma is a master at blending slapstick timing with innocent, childish enthusiasm. Yotsuba’s continual amazement and delight make her appear too young for her age, but Azuma’s ability to play the rest of the cast off her reactions only makes every situation that much funnier. With its warmth, affection and gee-whiz humor, Yotsuba&! stands out as something totally unique on comic shelves today. It’s easily one of the best books I’m reading, and well worth checking out.

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Bloomberg is a busy news organization, and perhaps that explains why they were both late and short-handed against the DC Bullets on Thursday afternoon. The game wound up only going five and a half innings, and three Bullets had to play for Bloomberg to give the opposition a full line-up. Rookies Travis Hastback and John Choi, lacking seniority on the DC team, were optioned to Bloomberg, as was good-sport Jeff Boison. The trio proved very effective at run-stopping for the Bloomberg squad, but the Bullets eked out a 6-4 win.

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The Nobody
Written & Illustrated by Jeff Lemire
Lettered by Sean Konot
Published by DC/Vertigo

In Jeff Lemire’s first book from Vertigo The Nobody, he appropriates the protagonist of H.G. Wells’ The Invisible Man to explore a theme obviously dear to Lemire, the interconnectedness and occasional small-mindedness of small towns. John Griffen, bandaged head to toe, arrives in Large Mouth, where everyone knows everyone, checks into the local hotel and stays to himself.

Lemire explores Griffen’s tenuous friendships and the community’s complicated sense of acceptance and respect for privacy against a simultaneous and conflicted urge to question this stranger in their midst. Like his Essex County books and his Vertigo serial Sweet Tooth, Lemire’s The Nobody moves slowly, contemplatively, focusing on the small moments in ordinary lives.

With his rough-hewn artwork, Lemire captures the worn-in quality of Large Mouth and its residents, and his natural dialogue draws readers into their lives quickly. The characters aren’t the deepest you’ll meet, but Lemire provides a range of personalities, and the major players have a few wrinkles to keep them interesting. The haunting plot pulls readers in, and everything builds to a tragic, and effective climax.  The Nobody‘s another worthwhile offering from a cartoonist with a talent for mood and small-town exploring.

Neil Young’s Greendale
Based on the album by Neil Young & Crazy Horse
Written by Joshua Dysart
Illustrated by Cliff Chiang
Colored by Dave Stewart
Lettered by Todd Klein
Published by DC/Vertigo

I already reviewed this one a while back, but that was based on a black and white advance copy. I got a permanent edition, finally took time to read it during my 2011 dig-out, and wanted to give some props to Dave Stewart. Greendale‘s a beautifully colored book, soft (maybe a little too soft at times) and organic, warm and inviting. Lots of cool, natural tones.

DC did a very nice job assembling the book also, something I rarely feel they deserve credit for. It’s an attractive package. The script holds up well – Greendale‘s not exactly nuanced, but it’s engaging and fun to read, and my sympathies lie along its message. And Cliff Chiang, man, that dude makes it look fantastic.

Softball’s always fun, but it’s most fun when your team plays a evenly matched foe. Two teams see-sawing the lead, each at-bat becoming magnified in the game’s final outcome, every out a tragically missed opportunity – it doesn’t get any better. In The Daily Show squad, the DC Bullets seem to have found an equally matched rival. Their first confrontation last summer is already part of Bullet lore.

Although their second game (thankfully) didn’t occur on the hottest weekend of the year, it matched the excitement of that initial game on every other level. In the end, as they did one year prior, The Daily Show emerged triumphant, walking off with a game-winning single in the bottom of the eighth inning to secure the 12-11 victory.

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On Thursday, April 28, the DC Bullets were supposed to match up against Archie Comics. It rained; the game was cancelled. This past Thursday, another match-up against a comics industry softball squad was missed when Wizard cancelled on the Bullets barely 24 hours before gametime. (If they weren’t already dead to me, they’d be dead to me now, I jested.) So the Bullets took the field anyway – those field permits are use ‘em or lose ‘em, after all.

After a productive practice, New York Community Bank showed up for a 7:00pm game on the same field. Except their opponent also stood them up. Rather than have both teams go home disappointed, the Bullets and NYCB opted to play a friendly few innings. In a lopsided four-inning affair, the Bullets emerged victorious, 23-10.

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And so the great dig-out of 2011 begins. I’m cutting back on the library for a little while. With all the review comics I get, some library books sprinkled in, and a few comic strip collections, and the prose books I squeeze in as often as possible, I’ve basically not read a single comic that I’ve purchased for myself since last August.

It’s gotten a bit ridiculous. I’m talking about nearly 70 books (including a few rereads, mostly for reasons that’ll become clear about two paragraphs down) piled up on my end table. They’re going to collapse one night and kill me in my sleep, I’m convinced. So it’s time to whittle that bastard pile down, come hell or high water.

So over the new few months, you’ll see some … not very timely reviews. But I’m going to get it all read, and you’ll see what I’ve been missing out on.

Young Liars v. 1: Daydream Believer
Young Liars v. 2: Maestro
Young Liars v. 3: Rock Life
Written & Illustrated by David Lapham

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Delirium’s Party: A Little Endless Storybook
Written & Illustrated by Jill Thompson
Published by DC/Vertigo

Jill Thompson’s latest visit to the realm of Neil Gaiman’s Endless characters finds the whimsical, whirlical Delirium in the spotlight again, as Delirium decides to throw a party for her surly sister Despair.

Delirium’s Party is the result, a bringing together of all seven Endless in an effort to get a solitary grin, just a tiny little uptick of the mouth’s corner, from Despair. Thompson pretty much nails everything about the story – Delirium’s swirling, track-leaping logic arranges a perfectly wonderful and utterly grandively (her word, not mine) party. Keeping all the Endless on track, with small touches in their dialogue and in their perfectly suited gifts for Despair, Thompson captures the essence of each fundamental being. But most of all, she’s able to give the book an engaging, insistent readability, a pleasant breeziness that makes for a too-quick and entirely pleasurable reading experience.

Thompson’s watercolors and page compositions match the unexpected, yet somehow totally dream-logic reasonable, mania of Delirium’s party organizing talents. A cake with all your favorite things: bicycles, books, cupcakes, paintbrushes and action figures; the warm, psychedelic colors of Delirium’s… hair, clothes, bed… pretty much everything, really; flying pickles and ice cream cones – it’s all here. Jill Thompson’s practically born to draw this character – and yet she’s still born to draw all of her own wonderful characters too. It’s really too much talent for one person to have. How about sharing a little, Jill?

Delirium’s Party: A Little Endless Storybook is a pure blast, superduper fun, with intoxicating prose and colorfully twisted artwork. Fans of Neil Gaiman’s Sandman will want this one; it’s one of the best non-Gaiman Endless stories to date (and better than a couple of Neil’s even). Fans of Jill, of beautiful illustration, of just-plain terrific stories should definitely keep an eye open for it.

Onward Towards Our Noble Deaths
Written & Illustrated by Shigeru Mizuki
Translated by Jocelyne Allen
Published by Drawn & Quarterly

This book is excellent. It is, according to the interview with its author Shigeru Mizuki printed within, the first of his books to be published in English – I can only hope we’re soon flooded by Mizuki translations. I’d like to drown in them.

A veteran of World War II, Mizuki based Onward Towards Our Nobles Deaths on his experiences in the Pacific theatre. Now, there are two types of war stories: tales of noble men (and women) accomplishing amazing things in horrifying circumstances, and sagas showing the ugly futility of it all. I enjoy the former, but my peacenik sensibilities are far more in line with the latter. And Mizuki appeals to my side of the equation very strongly.

With upwards of thirty named characters, Onward doesn’t spend much time getting to know the cast outside of their military roles, but Mizuki spends plenty of time sympathizing with each man within the extreme expectations placed upon them by the military. The ongoing theme of the book deals with the men being ordered into a pointless suicide charge, contrasted against the high-level brass who fret they’ll be made fools when they report the squad killed only to find out that not everyone participated in the charge.

Mizuki threads a little comedy, absurdism, theatrical speeches about the honor of death, through Onward Towards Our Noble Deaths, preventing it from becoming a moribund book. It’s still quite dark, and tragic, but mostly, it’s a reminder that for every hero found in war, there are thousands of senseless losses.

John Stanley Library: Melvin Monster v. 3
Written & Illustrated by John Stanley
Published by Drawn & Quarterly

Drawn & Quarterly brings readers another collection of John Stanley’s terrific Melvin Monster comics, originally published in the late 1960s. Melvin’s a young monster, living with his Baddy and Mummy in Monsterville, and he just doesn’t fit it. He’s very polite and wants to go to school – which makes him a very poor monster!

This third hardcover collects the final three issues of Melvin, and though the formula has become more obvious than ever (the increasing number of short gags suggest Stanley was running out of twists on his longer narratives), Stanley’s strong cartooning and sturdy scripting keep the series engaging and fun.

While it’s definitely a book for children, fans of quality cartooning will find plenty of reasons to appreciate Stanley’s terrific work. He’s able to move readers’ eyes confidently through pages, and his quirky, iconic character designs capture the core essence of each character so immediately that little dialogue is needed to enforce their personality.

Drawn & Quarterly, working with designer Seth, continue to knock it out of the park in the design and assembly of the Stanley Library tomes. Sturdy hardcovers, sewn bindings, flat solid pages – you can actually give these comics to their target audience! I’m almost disappointed to get to the end of Melvin Monster; it’s been a relentless fun, terrifically clever series. If you have kids, get all three books. If you don’t, you still owe it to yourself see why Stanley’s considered a master (I’d recommend the second book if you get only one – that’s where I felt Stanley’s voice felt strongest and freshest on this particular series).

No doubt all you loyal Blog@ readers have lately been saying to yourselves, where’s Mike been with his untimely, semi-coherent reviews? My apologies for the absence – somehow the three non-comics that I’d requested from the library, despite all having seemingly different wait times until I’d get my copy to read, all came in within five days of one another (and right on the back of a brief comics break I’d taken to read another prose novel). I know, what are the odds? Murphy’s Law says pretty damn high.

So if you’re curious, E.L. Doctorow’s The March is quite good. Not quite essential, but worth your time if you come across it. Waylon Jennings and Lenny Kaye’s Waylon and Keith Richard’s Life are both enjoyable, despite a few awkward digressions and some later chapter rambling. Michael Lewis’s Moneyball (yeah, I’m late to the party, so what?!) is simply superb, even if you’re not a baseball fan. Though its snotty afterword didn’t really help its case.

So, anyway, I’m back to comics. Let’s get to it:

Modern Masters v. 25: Jeff Smith
Edited by Eric Nolen-Weathington
Published by TwoMorrows

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New season, old story for the DC Bullets in the 2011 season opener. On a cold, blustering afternoon, the top of the first inning, always a thorn in the comic book makers’ sides, got the better of the team again, as the Bullets fell behind early and couldn’t rally back to make up the difference in a 6-5 loss against The Nation.

The Nation came out aggressive against DC’s pitcher Jeff Boison, driving a series of hard line singles over the infield to take a quick lead. DC had a chance to minimize the damage to one run when Mike Lorah fumbled a routine grounder at third base with two outs registered. Four successive hits followed, and the Nation tallied five runs for the early lead.

In the bottom of the first, second baseman Brian Walters flared a single into right field, but the momentum quickly turned when shortstop Nel Yomtov scorched one of the hardest hit balls of the evening – right to The Nation’s third baseman. Brian, moving on contact, was easily doubled off first base. Mike, looking to make up for his error, launched a solo home run into right center field to get the Bullets on the board, but right centerfielder Vince Letterio flew out to left, ending the first.

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The 2011 season stood out as the most successful summer in recent history for the DC Bullets. Despite a first round playoff loss against the eventual New York Media Softball League champions, Wall St. Journal (congrats to them on back-to-back championships!), the Bullets’ 8-2 mark in league play tied for the league’s best overall record. And the Bullets’ overall 16-5-1 mark is easily their best tally in memory.

Along the way, many highlights:

* Larry Ganem’s six innings of perfect pitching against Vanity Fair

* Allison Dugas’ two-out, game-tying hit in an extra-inning victory over Wall St. Journal

* a spectacular, Willie-Maysesque, over-the-shoulder catch by Nel Yomtov during a showdown with High Times

* an Independence Day-weekend showdown against the Daily Show that will go down in Bullet lore for the number of pounds every player sweated out during the game

* and a comeback-player-of-the-year performance by Joel Press, after surgery hobbled his previous summer.

But probably the biggest accomplishment was simply the team’s steady defense and offense, consistently limiting the opposition’s rallies while relentlessly keeping pressure on their defenses.

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It Came From the NYPL

Alan Moore’s Complete WildC.A.T.S
Written by Alan Moore

Penciled by Travis Charest, Kevin Maguire, Ryan Benjamin, Jason Johnson, Dave Johnson, Kevin Nowlan, Scott Clark, Aron Wiesenfeld, Jim Lee, Josh Wiesenfeld, Mat Broome, Pat Lee & Rob Stotz
Inked by Troy Hubbs, Randy Elliott, Sal Regla, Trevor Scott, Scott Williams, Art Thibert, Terry Austin, Hakjoon Kang, Andy Owens, Harry Thuran, Tom McWeeney, John Nyberg, JD, Bob Wiacek, Dexter Vines, Richard Friend, Mark Irwin, Luke Rizzo, Sandra Hope, John Tighe, Richard Bennett, Jason Gorder & Scott Taylor
Colored by Wildstorm FX, Bad@$$ & Alex Sinclair
Lettered by Bill O’Neil & Comicraft
Cover art by Charest
Published by DC/Wildstorm

A while back, I borrowed Wild Worlds, a collection of Alan Moore-written odds-n’-ends set in the Wildstorm universe, from the library, and it was a mostly terrible reading experience. Eventually, despite Wild Worlds, I decided to borrow the other major collection of Alan’s Wildstorm tenure – his slightly-over-a-year long turn on Jim Lee’s WildC.A.T.S series.

Reading the stories, I’m couldn’t help but think … — so y’all know I’m a big Neil Young fan, right? These books – Wild Worlds and Complete WildC.A.T.S – remind me of Neil’s early and mid-1980s output: amazing artist, really terrible work.

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Rip Kirby v. 3
Written by Alex Raymond, Ward Greene & Fred Dickenson
Illustrated by Raymond
Published by IDW/Library of American Comics

After leaving the Flash Gordon, the sci-fi adventure strip he’d created in 1934, for a stint in U.S. Marines during World War II, Alex Raymond was informed by his editors at King Features that Flash was doing quite well without him, thank you very much, and they would not reinstate him to his creation. Although he was almost certainly very disappointed, Raymond didn’t let it show – he simply created another engaging strip, this one thoroughly different in tone, content and style.

Rip Kirby, which debuted in early 1946, became Raymond’s longest run on a daily strip (Flash was a Sunday strip), the feature which he devoted himself to until he died in a car accident in late 1956. A break from earlier pulp-inspired detective strips, Kirby presaged more recent procedurals, with a debonair private detective who relied on wits and science. Though he could punch a crook out when he had to!

While it’s not the best adventure strip you’ll read – the plots are mostly good, though a few stretch credulity, such as The Mangler’s attempts to ruin Pagan Lee, a storyline predicated on a half-reasoned excuse to bring back a popular female character – Kirby always manages to entertain. Raymond and his co-authors (Greene, who scripted the early stories, leaves during this run, claiming that Raymond received too much credit for the writing – Dickenson replaced him) keep the pace up consistently, pepper the scripts with small bits of humanizing humor, and throw in enough wrinkles to keep readers off-balance if not entirely surprised.

The classic romantic aspect of adventure fiction remains strong here; nearly every case Kirby solves seems to bring together two conflicted lovers. Supporting players are well developed during the strip – onetime bad-girl Pagan Lee and Kirby’s reformed-safecracker-cum-valet Desmond each carry the strip for over a month of strips without any slack in the storylines, and Rip’s main squeeze Honey Dorian nearly matches them in a storyline of her own.

Raymond’s attention to detail – both in panel composition and in the styles of the time – pull readers into each continuity. Raymond was among the first comic artists to speak publicly about the possibilities of the comics medium – he found the glossy illustration work he thought he wanted less fulfilling than telling stories with pictures – and his attention to craft shines through on these pages. The Library of American Comics’ typically high standards of reproduction remain unimpeachable, with pristine linework, proper binding and a handy sewn-in bookmark.

Fast-moving, surprising, and beautifully drawn, Rip Kirby ages very well, and fans of Alex Raymond or comic strip history should love having the Library of American Comics’ superb collections on their bookshelves. These strips are among the most influential artistry in comics history – they deserve preservation and, even more, a passionate audience.

The Complete Calvin & Hobbes
Written & Illustrated by Bill Watterson
Published by Andrews McMeal

Not the timeliest review, I know, right? I’ve had my eye on this half-ton, three-book, slipcased Calvin & Hobbes set ever since it came out, but never quite convinced myself to splurge out the cash for it. My brother thankfully enabled me to sidestep ever paying for it when he gave it to me this past Christmas. And believe me, I had no idea what to think when I found a gaudily wrapped, immovable weight under my Christmas tree.

I probably don’t have to say much about Calvin & Hobbes. Although the last strip appeared nearly fifteen years ago, I’d guess that most of you have read it in some form. My local paper didn’t carry the strip during its entire run, and I was too distracted by being a teenager when it did show up those last four or five years to read it religiously, but even then, I knew Watterson was creating something special.

The years have done nothing to diminish that accomplishment. Calvin & Hobbes continues to stand out as one of the most important, funny and singular comic strips of all time. Celebrating imagination, mischief, ingenuity and basic human decency, Watterson spent twelve years giving voice to perhaps the best newspaper comic strip in American history. Yes, it’s that good.

To have this singular brilliance wrapped up (embalmed and boxed, as Watterson puts it in his introduction) in one package is priceless. The books feature sturdy, proper binding (comic book trade programs, pay attention!), and heavy pages that stand up to repeated turning. The linework is reproduced pristinely, and the colors dazzle. And even the box looks great, with a clean, simple look and good choices for the exterior artwork.

Calvin & Hobbes is, perhaps, the best comic strip ever, and it’s all here, a permanent keepsake, to revisit again and again and again. Everybody simply needs to have the Complete Calvin & Hobbes in their homes (even if, like me, you’re a little late in doing so!).

It Came From the NYPL

Grandville
Written & Illustrated by Bryan Talbot
Published by Dark Horse

Bryan Talbot’s one of my favorite cartoonists. Even if Alice in Sunderland wasn’t one of the five greatest comics of all time, the mind-bending Luther Arkwright books or the hippie-dippie fun of Chester Hackenbush would place Talbot high on my personal favorites list.  Grandville, his steampunk, “scientific-romance thriller” from 2009, didn’t really grab my attention, however. I wanted to read it; it’s Talbot after all, but the genre elements didn’t really appeal to me. That steampunk thing just isn’t my bag. So I kept checking the library and finally (and I mean finally, I’ve been checking regularly), the library got it in stock and I borrowed it.

It’s pretty much the perfect library book. Grandville‘s fun, a whole lot of it. Anthropomorphized animals, a stylized steampunk Europe setting, fast action, a few good plot twists and plenty of danger make it a worthwhile thriller. Talbot’s always been a terrific artist, and his expanding mastery of modern coloring only enhances the speed and tension of his line work during the book’s many chase sequences, fistfights and gun battles.

The plot’s not exactly wholly original – and it’s an entirely plot-driven book – but Talbot adds a few wrinkles to keep it interesting. In short, Grandville‘s the perfect library book – a rock-solid adventure by a favorite cartoonist, but one that I probably won’t want to revisit frequently. If steampunk-based, government-murder conspiracy thrillers are your thing, this book’s among the best of its ilk. And even if it’s not, Grandville‘s a really well crafted comic and recommended. If you’re lucky, you can find it in your local library and find out for yourself if it’s a keeper or a borrower – either way, it’s worth the time.

The Arctic Marauder
Written & Illustrated by Jacques Tardi
Translated by Kim Thompson
Published by Fantagraphics

Fantagraphics has been injecting a steady stream of Jacques Tardi into the American comic book market, and I, for one, am appreciating it. From the ugly World War I drama It Was the War of the Trenches to whimsical fantasy The Extraordinary Adventures of Adèle Blanc-Sec, Tardi is proving a singular and unclassifiable cartoonist. Their latest translation, The Arctic Marauder, continues to showcase Tardi’s range.

Set in 1889, The Arctic Marauder tells of young Jérôme Plumier, a medical student, witness to the unlikely discovery of a sailing vessel lodged atop an iceberg. When his own ship is destroyed, Plumier is eventually rescued but begins a strange, surreal and twisted adventure, leading to the discovery of why so many ships have been sinking in the Arctic Sea and the origin of the iceberg-bound boat.

Whimsically dark, The Arctic Marauder doesn’t fit in with many other books. It’s steampunkish, with an innocent. humorous narration that contrasts the book’s cynically maniacal characters. I have to admire Tardi’s choice to end the book on the most unlikely note, where most writers would end the prologue.

Graphically, Tardi is a superb cartoonist, using strong layouts and strikingly iconic character designs that stay with the reader. His page designs add to the boldness of each composition, and the architecture and technology give the book a palpable sense of place and time.

In short, The Arctic Marauder is pure fun, silly and dark camp. It’s a beautiful book, with an appealing cover and a sturdy hardcover binding. Tardi’s narrative voice keeps the proceedings puckishly light and pleasant, while the plot itself explores oceanic depths and throws out characters rife with madness and egocentrism. There aren’t many books quite like it; comics readers are better off for having Tardi available here in the States.