Paris, fatal city
Between a science fiction adventure and a story with geopolitical overtones, screenwriter Pierre Christin has always kept a taste for evoking the Paris of his youth. He had made it the setting of the albums co-produced with the late Annie Goetzinger. He has just found an accomplice of choice in the person of Jean-Michel Arroyo, a realistic draftsman, with a slightly outdated and very attractive line.
So here we are in the 1950s, in Pigalle, where the Corsicans rule the roost. Colorful characters, images in shades of gray, Arroyo mixes black and red to paint a capital he knows little about, but which he has greatly fantasized about.
“I love Paris, especially the Montmartre district. For me, it is beautiful, authentic and graphic. I love the Sacré-Coeur, avenue Junot with all its mansions, its old art deco workshops. A charm that I tried to transcribe in my boards.”
designer Jean-Michel Arroyoat franceinfo
The designer drew just as much from the memories of Pierre Christin. Paris is thus magnified, a little too clean no doubt, idealized. The story is twilight, fatalistic.
“Antoine, when he goes to Paris from his native Aubrac, only bad luck happens to him. Despite that, he remains honest, straight in his boots.”
Jean-Michel Arroyoat franceinfo
After closing this comic, you can easily imagine what the designer looks like. No matter how hard he defends himself, it is by looking at himself in a mirror that he must have imagined the protagonist of this dark, tender and glamorous thriller.
Pigalle, 1950Arroyo Christinunder the Aire Libre label of Dupuis editions.
Every fortnight, Jean-Christophe Ogier hosts here the “Info manga” column by Lætitia de Germon from the editorial staff of franceinfo.fr. To guide you through the many publications, Lætitia gives you her selection and her favorites.
Adabanaof No, published by Kana editions
Suspense, pretense and deceptive atmosphere are the key words of this manga. In a quiet little town in Japan, the dismembered body of a high school girl named Mako Igarashi is found near a lake. Very quickly, Mizuki Aikawa, a student in the same high school as the victim, claimed the facts from the local police forces. But doubt is gradually creeping into the heads of his lawyers.
The author gives us the impression of knowing Mizuki’s thoughts, but she remains an enigma despite everything. Impossible to know what she really thinks and if what she says is true, the doubt is always there, in particular because of the lack of clarity of her declarations. We are happy with this story.
The atmosphere is Machiavellian, the very realistic drawings, the sets and the expressions make us feel the coldness of certain situations. Attention, this manga is not to put between all the hands. Although never gratuitous, the scenes of physical violence are explicit and very realistic. Rape and harassment are also included without filter.