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A great explorer of the intimate, Jimmy Beaulieu offers in Jardin des complexes some of these “non-stories” that he is so fond of. Slices of life, especially in love, where not much happens, but which dig into the nuances of loneliness, amorous friendship, more or less failed games of seduction, the passage of time and the advancing age.
Jimmy Beaulieu does not upset anything. It’s not his type. He is full of sentimentality in evoking his youthful loves and his one-sided crushes, but also funny when he recounts lustful extraterrestrial love affairs or even the desire for a last embrace before the end of the world. His collection thus progresses in balance between misadventures of adulescent and a fine observation of the mechanics of the heart.
The mastery of the cartoonist lies both in his conciseness (The noise synthesizes in a few pages the evil that gnaws at a couple) and in his graphic virtuosity. The draftsman moves easily from one sketched story to another where the compositions are based on clean lines and colors that are not at all naturalistic and frankly evocative. The variety of approaches also contributes to the dynamism of this album, most of the chapters of which have previously been published in magazines or fanzines.
Jimmy Beaulieu tells as others whisper and he sometimes draws as someone looking through the keyhole. Not as a voyeur (not here, anyway), but as someone who seeks to reveal those invisible threads that bind us to those we love or desire. Perhaps even more to those whom one would like to be loved and desired.
Here are some manga titles that caught our attention.
Two short and interesting proposals highlight our current technologies, with a nice touch of originality. Let’s start with Threat Zone, an oppressive story in two volumes (we wish they had been combined into one) in which a talented young programmer is suddenly jeered at in the street, then chased by the police. His crime? None, and he has an alibi. But who is this look-alike who broadcasts heinous acts committed against acquaintances on the web? Since the development of a powerful antivirus, it seems that there is a bug in the matrix… The story of this seinen (intended for adults), well paced, keeps us in suspense and sets a dark and anxiety-provoking atmosphere. Finally, the readability of the dialogue bubbles is also to be underlined.
More oriented towards the general public, with a more sensitive, social and artistic side, Adieu Eri features Yûta, a young boy making a film about the last moments of his sick mother’s life. Projected in front of the students of his school, the work and its author are bitterly mocked. As Yûta prepares to commit the irreparable, her path crosses that of Eri, a mysterious film buff who will initiate her intensively into the 7th art, in order to give her a chance to catch up. But is his goal really to support him? A slightly confusing story, but brought with tact and original processes, where admirers of Fujimoto (Fire Punch, Chainsaw Man, Look Back) will find the paw of this mangaka like no other, armed with a message to convey .
For lovers of martial fights and heads flying in the air, two new series translated into French have just been launched in Quebec. It’s hard to miss Ikusa no Ko, which recounts the fictionalized life of Oda Nobunaga, one of the greatest lords of the Japanese feudal era. But before reaching the status of legend, he was the shrewd villain that we discover in the first volumes of the work. The work and finesse of the drawing, and particularly of the shadows, are eye-catching; we expected nothing less from the legendary author of Hokuto no Ken (Ken the survivor).
Another interesting proposal, still in the conflict department, the new series Valhallian the Black Iron features a talented samurai and his son left to their fate once the Mongol invasions are repelled. While they survive of pain and misery, the warrior suddenly finds himself in Valhalla, paradise of the greatest masters of arms. The reason: a valkyrie requires his services to clean up the place. The very dynamic fights have the particular advantage of pitting all types of swordsmen against each other, from Roman legionnaires to skilled ninjas. The very dynamic staging and the idea of this arena without spatio-temporal limits make it an attractive manga for those who love the genre.
The publication of a manga signed by Quebec names is rare enough to be highlighted. With Les Élus Eljun, the duo behind the U-Merlin series draws on Nordic mythology, which has been very fashionable in recent years, to build the story of young warriors, heirs of totemic powers (wolf, crow, etc.) to defend nine worlds. Decimated, these chosen ones have not yet breathed their last breath: Ulfa has escaped the massacre and is looking for her companion Revner… who has lost his memory, but will gradually find the forces dormant within him, as the threat arises again. . With their attacks linked to their personal totem and the stylized armor of the antagonist Hrym, the characters give off a light scent of Saint Seiya, all with great respect for the codes of the manga. The construction of the story through flashbacks, the incessant action, the humor and the successful drawing prove to be great assets, even if the proposed universe will not smash records for originality.
In this abundant spring, two other titles caught our attention: Mademoiselle Mozart, a plump work from 1989 translated into French in which we imagine that the mythical composer was in fact a woman, and must dodge all the traps so as not to to compromise ; in a completely different genre, the fascinating thriller Darwin’s Incident continues its momentum (three volumes published), dissecting the story of Charlie, a half-human, half-chimpanzee being at the heart of militant and ideological tensions. A solid title!
