The Best Of Euro Comics: Cinebook’s Titles For April, Including Blutch’s Brilliant Homage To Lucky Luke

Every month the publisher Cinebook brings us the very best of the incredibly rich and diverse world of European comics, and we’ve got the previews of their April titles right here…

 

Cinebook deliver the finest of the 9th Art to us English-speaking readers, giving us the chance to explore the wonders of Euro comics, a whole world of comics that have traditionally been under-represented in English over the years. Wonderfully diverse, full of incredible artistry, amazing characters – it’s a whole world of incredible comics awaiting you!

In April, we have a trio of great albums to enjoy from Cinebook, there’s more of the all-ages Yoko Tsuno, a new storyline from the Kenya series from Leo, and a fascinating and magnificently different look at one of the great characters of Euro comics, Lucky Luke, by the quite brilliant Blutch.

Yoko Tsuno is a long-running all-ages title, featuring the intelligent and courageous young electronics engineer who always seems to happen upon weird and wonderful adventures through her albums written and drawn by her creator, Roger Laloup. In the past, Yoko’s science background and smarts have come in particularly handy as she dives into tales that take her across the globe and through time and space. It’s one of those books where the character shines through, no matter what the peril she faces, and we get to read tales of loyalty, friendship and respect for life – and it’s no different in this latest album, where Yoko travels to Belgium to meet an artist meant to have made a deal with the devil, who shows her a portrait of Yoko that he claims was painted in the 16th Century.

Amazonia is the latest fantasy from the pen of Brazilian writer and artist Leo (Luis Eduardo de Oliveira), here writing with Rodolphe and with art by Bertrand Marchal. You may know Leo’s name from the expansive, fantastical series Aldebaran series, but this one is firmly set on Earth, where a fantastical tale of possible extra-terrestrials unfolds in Brazil in 1949. It’s part of the Kenya series by Leo and Randolphe.

 

Last, but by no means least, we have the one I am absolutely looking forward to this month – one of the Lucky Luke Homage editions, taking the famous character created by Morris and seeing what other artists with radically different styles can do with him. I adore Lucky Luke‘s tales, think Morris is one of the finest artists in all Euro Comics, and have enjoyed every adventure Cinebook have produced, whether it’s by Morris or a handful of greats who’ve taken on the series in Morris’ style since. But these Homage volumes are something very different and very exciting.

So far Cinebook have published the two volumes by Matthieu Bonhomme, The Man Who Shot Lucky Luke and Wanted Lucky Luke (you can see my review of The Man Who Shot Lucky Luke here). There’s also albums by Guillaume Bouzard, Mawil, and Ralf König that I really hope they’re going to be publishing in the future. But this one, Untamed, is the most recent, originally published in 2023 and written and drawn by the fabulous Blutch.

 

Now, Blutch might be a name familiar to you, especially if you’ve been following my Art For Art’s Sake series here at Comicon, where I gave up a whole piece dedicated to the joys of his work. He’s a French comic artist/author who’s swiftly become one of the modern greats, producing work that fascinates with the draughtsmanship, an artist who keeps innovating and pushing the work. He’s been working in comics since 1988 and produced so many incredible series and albums, including Waldo’s Bar, Mademoiselle Sunnymoon, Rancho Bravo, Blotch, le Roi de Paris, Blotch Face à Son Destin, Sunnymoon, Tu Es Malade, La Lettre Américaine, Mitchum, Peplum, Le Petit Christian, Vitesse Moderne, Total Jazz, So Long, Silver Screen, Dark Side of the Moon, Modern Speed, and Where is Kiki?

 

I simply cannot wait to read and see what Blutch has done with Lucky Luke. It won’t be a reinvention, in the same way that Bonhomme’s work on Lucky Luke wasn’t, these are homages, taking the character and keeping true to the core idea and values by allowing new and different artists to interpret the character. It should be rather special.

Now, Blutch has already had a go at Lucky Luke in his 2017 album Variations, where he published his own versions of many classic Euro series, including Valerian, Bluecoats (the series from which he got his childhood nickname of Blutch), and of course… Lucky Luke…

Now, let’s take a little look at the books from Cinebook coming in April, plus a little extra treat at the end…

 

Yoko Tsuno Volume 19 – The Astrologist of Bruges – by Roger Leloup
Published by Cinebook on 18 April 2024

Yoko goes to Bruges, Belgium. She’s been invited there by a local artist, Van Laet, who wants to show her portrait of her he supposedly painted. Taking in the sights before their appointment, the young woman learns that the man has an unpleasant reputation – it is said he made a deal with the devil. When they finally meet, the painter produces the portrait and claims that Yoko posed for it … in the 16th century!

 

Amazonia Book 1 – by Leo & Rodolphe; illustrated by Bertrand Marchal
Published by Cinebook on 18 April 2024

Brazil, 1949. A photographer crawls into a mission deep in the Amazonian rainforest and dies. On one of his films is an extraordinary shot: a man with skin white as snow and an elongated cranium. Deformed human … or extra-terrestrial being? Kathy Austin, having reluctantly become the specialist in such situations, is immediately sent by the crown to investigate. But the British aren’t the only ones with an interest in the bizarre creature.

 

Lucky Luke – Untamed – by Blutch
Published by Cinebook on 18 April 2024

Lucky Luke enters a small town to drop off at the sheriff’s office a young man who tried to steal Jolly Jumper. A few miles down the road, in the middle of nowhere, he suddenly finds himself threatened … by a little girl! Young Rose and her brother are currently alone in their cabin after the mysterious disappearance of their parents. Luke will have to investigate, but also take care of two particularly wild and undisciplined children!

And now, just because I’m loving the art I’ve found online for Untamed, the French version, some of what you can expect in this album…