–
L
sergeant Azami Tanaka forms a funny family with Pavel, the tattoo artist who adopted her. An American of Japanese origin, bodybuilder and a Russian survivor of the Kolyma camps. So, when the past of the elder resurfaces in the present of the policewoman, it is not surprising that everything gets out of hand.
For their fourth association in the prestigious Signé collection, the Jérôme Charyn – François Boucq duo are back to their basics. The New York slums, immigrants fleeing the gulags, the mafia and violence. In the extension of Little Tulip, the readers find Pavel, Azami – who grew up well – and all their small world. Once again, the painting of this New York seems faithful and the decorations like the framing of the designer restore striking atmospheres. The atmosphere, in the 90s this time, which emanates from the alleys, discreet apartments or hovels quickly becomes stifling. Accidented by life, left behind, gangsters without faith or law engaging in all kinds of trafficking, the fauna hardly shines with its joy of life and candor.
As a specialist in the subject, the screenwriter has imagined a twisted plot, tailor-made for his accomplice. He can deploy all his talent for these broken faces and their distorted anatomy. Too much perhaps. Not that the Boucq style is not suitable, but the exaggeration of the facts, twists and turns as motivations, added to the (big) strings now recurring in the tandem make the immersion random. Mostly gripping, the frame suffers, at times, from its convoluted impulses. Blame it on the use of the irrational, not always well conducted or credible even if the intentions remain clearly good and the implementation applied. However, the ensemble holds together and will delight fans of the pair as well as fans of dark bloody business with a fantasy tendency.
The aficionados by François Boucq will see in this New York cannibals that, despite the passage of time, his talent does not weaken. A dark, murky and violent story sprinkled with mysticism which, although it is not an indispensable part of the duo, is well worth the detour. This is already a lot.
Read the preview of New York Cannibals.
Par M. Moubariki
– .
