Culture
Posted about 1 hour ago
–
Excerpt from the comic strip “Pierre rouge plume noire”, scenario and drawing Thierry Robin, Dargaud. (Copyright: Dargaud)
–
A comic book with sumptuous images brings to life the tragic end of a monarchy in southern China, while an album for young readers evokes the way of life of Chinese children today.
–
*Red stone black feather, scenario and drawing Thierry Robin, 128 pages, Dargaud, 22.50 euros.
Reduced format for this edition of Drawn Asia! The editorial program for this beginning of the year is particularly lacking in comic strips dealing with our favorite continent. While waiting for the production to become more extensive again, Asian enthusiasts have at least one sumptuous album to put in their mouths: Red Stone Black Feather* by scriptwriter Thierry Robin. –
–
The story of this big half-historical half-fantasy story is in itself very curious. As the author explains in his afterword, this book “made me the first author to have produced a comic book directly for the Chinese market”. Passionate about China since always, Thierry Robin had stayed in the country several times and had produced a series of comics China red. This earned him one day to receive an original proposal. The province of Guizhou, in the south of the country, had just obtained the UNESCO World Heritage listing of a spectacular site: the remains of a kind of miniature Forbidden City perched on top of a hill. It was now a question of making the place known in order to transform it into a leading tourist destination. Hence the idea of asking a Western comic book author to dedicate an album to him.
–
Cover of the comic strip “Pierre rouge plume noire”, scenario and drawing Thierry Robin, Dargaud. (Copyright: Dargaud)
–
Excerpt from the comic strip “Pierre rouge plume noire”, scenario and drawing Thierry Robin, Dargaud. (Copyright: Dargaud)
–
Excerpt from the comic strip “Pierre rouge plume noire”, scenario and drawing Thierry Robin, Dargaud. (Copyright: Dargaud)
–
Excerpt from the comic strip “Pierre rouge plume noire”, scenario and drawing Thierry Robin, Dargaud. (Copyright: Dargaud)
–
Excerpt from the comic strip “Pierre rouge plume noire”, scenario and drawing Thierry Robin, Dargaud. (Copyright: Dargaud)
–
Excerpt from the comic strip “Pierre rouge plume noire”, scenario and drawing Thierry Robin, Dargaud. (Copyright: Dargaud)
–
Excerpt from the comic strip “Pierre rouge plume noire”, scenario and drawing Thierry Robin, Dargaud. (Copyright: Dargaud)
–
Excerpt from the comic strip “Pierre rouge plume noire”, scenario and drawing Thierry Robin, Dargaud. (Copyright: Dargaud)
— –
–
Contacted, Thierry Robin, who recounts all this in a very interesting afterword, jumps at the chance. Several trips followed, embellished with work meetings with Communist Party officials who had no “never seen a European comic book page”. An agreement having finally been reached, the designer spent several years in the country to carry out his work. This will finally be published, after long delays, by the Chinese publisher, with a certain lack of enthusiasm. ” I thought I heard, explains the artist, that the sponsors, above the publisher, had not liked. The narrative is arguably too harsh and uncomfortable for Chinese audiences. »
–
Whether or not the book is suitable for the Chinese public, the fact remains that its publication in France should enthuse Western readers. Because this red stone black feather is a complete success. Thierry Robin’s mission was to evoke the historical events that led to the destruction of this mountain palace by the troops of Emperor Ming. In scouting on the spot, he notices that there are few things left and that he “should have to embroider. So much the better. »
–
The story therefore combines a certain historical verisimilitude with a great deal of imagination. We follow the exodus of the rural population of the surroundings who came to take refuge in the fortress of the king of the region to flee the advance of the troops of the Ming emperor. Many civilians crammed into the palace fortress, quickly surrounded by the Imperial armies. We are witnessing the gradual deterioration of the situation, the lack of food which is gradually felt, until the final assault which ends with the massacre of all the occupants of the premises.
–
A whole gallery of characters makes it possible to embody the story: from the peasant who finds himself fighting without having understood why to the formidable military commander of the place, devoted to his king until death, passing by the king, precisely, completely detached from reality and who, in the middle of a siege, only cares about his artistic attempts.
–
Two rather unexpected “characters” dominate the story: a crow and the mountain itself on which the fortress is built. Both observe the events, the crow describing them to the eyeless mountain, and comment on them between cynicism (for the crow) and compassion (for the mountain).
–
But what carries the reader away is the extraordinary beauty of the imagery. Thierry Robin is certainly not a beginner. We owe him in particular the design of the very remarkable albums Moscow year zero and Stalin’s death devoted to Russia. In Red stone black feather, he gives the full measure of his talent. From the striking images of the miserable crowd advancing in a cloud of dust at the beginning of the book to those of the final apocalypse, the reader is entitled to an uninterrupted succession of scenes, each one more beautiful than the other. : Cyclopean architectures, fantastic armours, supreme refinement of the royal apartments, images of military maneuvers punctuated by the spears of the soldiers, impressive scrums during combat, etc. Extremely detailed, the drawing is also admirably served by a coloring with subtle harmonies. Local Communist Party officials may not have liked it, but if the goal was to interest a western audience in a place and history they didn’t know existed, mission accomplished. After having closed the album, we are surprised to take it again and again to savor the images one by one.
–
Cover of the comic strip “At the other end of China”, text and illustration Léa Decan, 48 pages, L’Agrume. (Copyright: Citrus)
–
Excerpt from the comic strip “At the other end of China”, text and illustration Léa Decan, 48 pages, L’Agrume. (Copyright: Citrus)
–
Excerpt from the comic strip “At the other end of China”, text and illustration Léa Decan, 48 pages, L’Agrume. (Copyright: Citrus)
–
Excerpt from the comic strip “At the other end of China”, text and illustration Léa Decan, 48 pages, L’Agrume. (Copyright: Citrus)
–
Excerpt from the comic strip “At the other end of China”, text and illustration Léa Decan, 48 pages, L’Agrume. (Copyright: Citrus)
–
Excerpt from the comic strip “At the other end of China”, text and illustration Léa Decan, 48 pages, L’Agrume. (Copyright: Citrus)
–
Excerpt from the comic strip “At the other end of China”, text and illustration Léa Decan, 48 pages, L’Agrume. (Copyright: Citrus)
— –
–
*At the other end of China, text and illustration Léa Decan, 48 pages, L’Agrume, 16.50 euros.
China still, but with a complete change of era, subject and audience: At the other end of China* is a picture book for children. This beautiful large-format album follows two six-year-old children, a small city dweller and a young country girl. The details of their daily life are evoked with their contrasts (chaos of the city, calm of the countryside…) and their similarities (the parents of the two children, each just as exhausted as the other in the evening when they return from work). Crossed departures on vacation allow the two children to discover the usual environment of the other and to conclude, of course, that it is much better elsewhere than at home. –
–
As this is an album intended for young children, you should not expect to find a lot of social realism… It is surprising, for example, that the rural family, made up of small farmers, can come and take vacation in a hotel in the heart of Beijing. Likewise, the final sentence of the little country girl saying that she is not sad to have gone home because “I know that when we grow up, we will live where we want to,” can leave you dreaming given the severe limitations still in force on the internal mobility of Chinese citizens…
–
In the register of books allowing young children to be introduced to the life of their counterparts in distant countries, At the other end of China however works perfectly. Very colorful and full of small details, the full-page images have everything to seduce young readers.
–
Cover of the comic strip “Réimp’!”, volume 2, script and drawing by Naoko Mazda, Glénat Manga. (Copyright: Glénat)
–
*Réimp’ !, tome 2, script and drawing by Naoko Mazda, 224 pages, Glénat Manga, 7.60 euros.
Anyone who wants to understand the gigantic industry that is the world of manga can take an interest in the series Reimp! the second volume of which has just been published. After a first volume which described in particular the commercial functioning of the sector, this new volume focuses more particularly on the relations between the publisher and the authors for whom he is responsible. Stormy relations by definition: according to the conception that prevails in publishing houses, the author is an artist who wants above all to draw what pleases him, while the publisher’s priority is the satisfaction of the reader. Result: as a manager told Kokoro Kurosawa, who is starting out as an editor, “you must know that the pleasure of the reader is proportional to the suffering of the author”. As the chapters go by, the young woman has to deal with a cartoonist depressed by the departure of his girlfriend or another who lives in the memory of his past glory but has lost all creative ability… Fun and instructive. –
–
Support us!
Asialyst is designed by a team made up of 100% volunteers and thanks to a network of contributors in Asia or elsewhere, journalists, experts, academics, consultants or former diplomats… Our only goal: to share knowledge of Asia as much as possible wide audience.
Make a donation
–
–
About the Author
Patrick de Jacquelot is a journalist. From 2008 to the summer of 2015, he was the New Delhi correspondent for the business dailies The gallery (for two years) and The echoes (for five years), covering subjects such as the economy, business, the strategy of French companies in India, political and diplomatic life, etc. He has also produced numerous reports in India and in neighboring countries such as Bangladesh, Sri Lanka or Bhutan for these two daily newspapers as well as for the quarterly China More. For Asialysthe writes about India and its region, and writes a column “L’Asie Dessine” dedicated to comics about Asia. –
–
–
–
–
–
/data/photo/2022/02/16/620c323d08835.jpg "Russia Says It Has a List of Ukrainians to Kill or Send to Camps")
