The eighth page of Grandville: Bête Noire

The Badger is back! Comica Festival at Foyles proudly presents the world premiere of the third episode in Bryan Talbot's phenomenal Grandville series of anthropomorphic steampunk romance thrillers starring Inspector Le Brock. in his interview with Kim Newman, Bryan will be joined by his wife Mary Talbot, writer and co-creator of Dotter of Her Father's Eyes, part autobiographical family history, part biography of James Joyce's daughter Lucia. There will also be a trailer and sneak peak at the forthcoming Bryan Talbot documentary.

First review of Grandville: Bête Noire

The first review copies of Grandville Bête Noire have been sent out to faithful fanpage webmasters, and my first review is in: just outstanding!

This instalment initially feels a bit slower paced than the previous two Grandville stories, but that's because the plot unfolds more subtly and builds to an even more dramatic climax, with Billie and Archie LeBrock both undergoing interesting character developments, and with a truly vile villain.

The references and in-jokes are all in there, and as ever provide a fascinating layer over and above the narrative: if you catch them you stop and think - "did he just make a reference to Dangermouse?!" - and you go back and read it again and realise that yes: yes he did... - but they are not required to enjoy the steampunk detective-noir story.

And the re-reading is not just a luxury in this comic: it's a necessity. There's one panel of an artists studio that I found myself entranced by... - and it's just prosaic details that draw you in - but beautifully rendered and all with potential meaning in a classic "locked room" murder case which makes you try and work out which of the plain everyday items was responsible for the murder.

I still remember when Bryan explained his next project after Alice in Sunderland as an anthropomorphic detective romp in an alternative steampunk Paris, and I remember too how worried I was about attaining the necessary suspension of disbelief to get totally drawn into the novels... - I really should have known better shouldn't I? In the hands of a master like Bryan the lack of actual human beings is completely irrelevant: the species of each protagonist provides an excellent foil for their character and demeanor and allows another layer of meaning to be added onto the visual and textual. And that's completely aside to the actual humans - or "doughfaces" who actually partake of a subplot here that helps carry along the unfolding plot.

In fact, I can honestly say that this is the first time I've punched the air and shouted "yes!" on seeing one badger grab another to give her a very public snog to prove that she's the only person in the room he's interested in!

As ever Bryan takes a whole shedload of influences and melds them into a fascinating story, whose art elegantly compliments the plot. He even introduces an conspiracy theory that sounds fantastical in a comic and then in the afterword details how it truly happened here in our own world.

An excellent comic whose only flaw is that it leaves you gagging for the fourth Grandville to be delivered right now!

(And of course you can buy Grandville Bête Noire from Amazon right now!)