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SHADOWMEN 2:Heroes & Villains Of French Comics

Jean-Marc and Randy Lofficier

319pp  +330 b&w illustrations  $20.95/£15 Uk

Obviously,you can purchase via the internet if this book has not appeared in your local store or book shop by going to

http://www.blackcoatpress.com

I had this odd idea that,once I got the book,I might be a little disappointed.  No idea why.  However,when it did arrive after a long delay [thanks to UK postal problems!] I was far from disappointed by this husband and wife team’s work.

There are some 45 character biographies and synopses of what one can only call some great and often weird French comic creations.   These include Zig & Puce from 1925 -said to have influenced Tintin;Zembla,Kabur and my favourites-Mikros,Photonik and Luc Orient!

After each publishing history there is a link to each on the Lofficiers fantastic Cool French Comics site.  This site alone is a pure joy and you get to see many samples of colour work and more.

But there is more.  There is a lovely and wonderful touch in the way of creator [writer/author] biographies complete with photographs or,as in the case of Jean-Yves Mitton,a self charicateur.

What really -really- irks me is that,in the 1980s,I was often assailed by the pro-European BD arty-types who argued vehemently that super heroes and such were “Childish American creations -BD is more sophisticated!”.  With this book I could have happily slapped those people silly [and they know who they are!].

Fantax,Black Boy and Satanax,come to mind.  But we have lots of info on Barbarella,Wampus,The Frankenstein Monster and M. Choc!  For me,though,learning more about Mikros,Photonik and Luc Orient [the latter a favourite since I first encountered him in the German Zack 2000 comic in the mid-1970s] made this book a bargain.

I think that,rather like the UK is now cataloguing and trying to find out more about its characters and creators,the Lofficiers have shown just how rich France is comic-wise.

Every country should have a book like this -if it has a comic industry.

This book comes highly recommended and I’d urge you to also check out the first volume in this series,Shadowmen 1:Heroes & Villains Of French Pulp Fiction,also by the Lofficiers.

Oh,and two other things I need to point out:

1] lovely covers by Andrew Paquette for both books,and,

2] Wampus,C.L.A.S.H.,Kabur and so on are being reprinted in book form by Hexagon Comics -check them out at

  http://www.blackcoatpress.com/hexagon.htm

 This company needs far more publicity than it gets and please,please,please:if your local comic shop has no copies -COMPLAIN!