General omnibus & hardcover discussion vol. II

[seusilva]

Hey, seeing that you bought Albums further down the whole series, what are your thoughts on 'Les Cités Obscures'? I'm trying to extend my collection to more EU stuff in my native French, and Schuiten's art always fascinated me, though I have no clue what this series is about.

I just read two volumes, Samaris and The Leaning Girl, and i liked both books. The art is fantastic and the history remind me Kafka, Borges, Italo Calvino, kind of Surrealism with social issues. I don't know anything about the other volumes and if there is some continuity between them...

[LordJulius]

Hey, seeing that you bought Albums further down the whole series, what are your thoughts on 'Les Cités Obscures'? I'm trying to extend my collection to more EU stuff in my native French, and Schuiten's art always fascinated me, though I have no clue what this series is about.

What the books have in common is that they are set in the same world, but mostly in different cities. Some characters appear in more than one story (Mary, the "Leaning girl" or "Enfant penchee") but so far that hasn't been an issue with the stories I've read since they all seem to be self-contained - and I'm not reading them in order of publication.

The stories deal with some fantastic and philosophical aspects, including the human condition and life in cities. It's difficult to pinpoint something, really. Imo the most accessible volume seems to be Brüsel, which is an allegory on Brussels and its architectural history (and sins).

Anyway, even if some of the stories might be too philospohical, Schuiten's artwork alone makes buying them worthwhile.

[Balakin]

What the books have in common is that they are set in the same world, but mostly in different cities. Some characters appear in more than one story (Mary, the "Leaning girl" or "Enfant penchee") but so far that hasn't been an issue with the stories I've read since they all seem to be self-contained - and I'm not reading them in order of publication.

The stories deal with some fantastic and philosophical aspects, including the human condition and life in cities. It's difficult to pinpoint something, really. Imo the most accessible volume seems to be Brüsel, which is an allegory on Brussels and its architectural history (and sins).

Anyway, even if some of the stories might be too philospohical, Schuiten's artwork alone makes buying them worthwhile.

I really wanted to check Leaning girl out but it seems to be oop in english

[LordJulius]

I really wanted to check Leaning girl out but it seems to be oop in english

Yeah, the old NBM Schuiten/Peeters books are all OOP. Luckily, IDW's on the case. Hopefully they're in it for the long haul, publishing their whole work:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Theory-Grai...huiten+peeters

EDIT:

And looks like they are:

http://www.theobscurecities.com/alaxispress/

"The Shadow of a Man" will be next.

@ Stargasm: the above site also provides a good overview of the stories and the world (though I guess there's something similar and even better in French)

[aaltomuoto]

My recent haul, I went to a comicon and got a nice dedi by Kerascoet in my (Dutch) copy of Beautyfull Darkness:

[Balakin]

Yeah, the old NBM Schuiten/Peeters books are all OOP. Luckily, IDW's on the case. Hopefully they're in it for the long haul, publishing their whole work:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Theory-Grai...huiten+peeters

EDIT:

And looks like they are:

http://www.theobscurecities.com/alaxispress/

"The Shadow of a Man" will be next.

@ Stargasm: the above site also provides a good overview of the stories and the world (though I guess there's something similar and even better in French)

Theory of grain and sand is on my wishlist and probably will be release date buy just like most of the IDW stuff I want (Corto, Dieter Lumpen, Alec Sinner, L&K, TMNT). While the article says Leaning girl is available from IDW I can only find ridiculously priced copies.

[Stargasm]

Yeah, the old NBM Schuiten/Peeters books are all OOP. Luckily, IDW's on the case. Hopefully they're in it for the long haul, publishing their whole work:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Theory-Grai...huiten+peeters

EDIT:

And looks like they are:

http://www.theobscurecities.com/alaxispress/

"The Shadow of a Man" will be next.

@ Stargasm: the above site also provides a good overview of the stories and the world (though I guess there's something similar and even better in French)

+ everyone else

Thanks for the feedback. This looks intriguing and as you mentioned the art alone will be worth it I'm sure. I'll visit a few LCS this weekend to see if they have used versions on something in new at good prices.

There's indeed lots of info in French, but am really conscious about spoilers - and I know people here are too - so I knew I'd get a simple straightforward answer, which was the case so thanks a lot for that!

[LordJulius]

+ everyone else

Thanks for the feedback. This looks intriguing and as you mentioned the art alone will be worth it I'm sure. I'll visit a few LCS this weekend to see if they have used versions on something in new at good prices.

Since you're from Brussels: I love "Brüsel". Such a great store. If only I'd had a few thousands of euros to spare...

[zaboraviti]

Well, I read the first volume and found it to be average at best. Def. the weakest Rucka I have read.

i agree. i mean, i still enjoyed them but all other stuff of his that i've read is much better, and that includes prose novels

[ER Prest]

i agree. i mean, i still enjoyed them but all other stuff of his that i've read is much better, and that includes prose novels

I actually just picked up his Queen and Country novels.

But honestly, average Rucka to me is still pretty solid stuff.

[awayne83]

Just got emailed by ist that terminal city library is on backorder from the distributor. Placed my order around 4p EST last week so i wonder how many (if any) they actually received in stock. Its not like this was an omnibus release or something, surely couldnt have been that many ordererd by then.

[Stargasm]

Since you're from Brussels: I love "Brüsel". Such a great store. If only I'd had a few thousands of euros to spare...

Yes, that shop is really cool! staff isn't always super friendly, but that's basically the case across the city, I'm afraid.

[QComix]

Back from a weekend in Brussels. Great place to buy comics:

Hey LordJulius, how's "Les Petits Hommes" ? I started to buy those Dupuis Intégrales recently with Spirou and also Gil Jourdan and I think I caught the bug...! I'll finish to buy Spirou, then I plan on buying Lucky Luke and "Les Tuniques Bleues" and then probably "Johan et Pirlouit" and ... damn there's a lot of those Intégrales out there lol Would you recommend adding "Les Petits Hommes" to my ever growing wishlist ? :P

[LordJulius]

Hey LordJulius, how's "Les Petits Hommes" ? I started to buy those Dupuis Intégrales recently with Spirou and also Gil Jourdan and I think I caught the bug...! I'll finish to buy Spirou, then I plan on buying Lucky Luke and "Les Tuniques Bleues" and then probably "Johan et Pirlouit" and ... damn there's a lot of those Intégrales out there lol Would you recommend adding "Les Petits Hommes" to my ever growing wishlist ? :P

Haven't read enough of the book to pass a final verdict yet, but so far it's good. "Johan et Pirlouit" starts of okay, but gets much better once Pirlouit is introduced. I also loved the first Integrale of the Smurfs. "Tuniques Bleues" is great, but so far there have only been two integral editions. Not a funny, but really rather excellent is Buck Danny. "Tif et Tondu" I enjoyed very much, too, but for now I'll wait for the new integral edition in the style of the other Dupuis ones. The first volume will be out early next year (same goes for Lucky Luke, which will see its first new edition later this year).

Overall, I have yet to find a series that I don't like.

Oh, and if you like Spirou, then you definitely have to get Gaston in case you haven't got that yet. It's not by Dupuis, but it's Franquin, which is all you need to know.

[ER Prest]

What's this new Metabaron book that't about to come out? Metabaron HC Book 01 Techno Admiral Anti Baron? Worth checking out? Or is it a reprint of stuff?