This is a page from Juan Buscamares , the Water Book, set in a fantasy / post-apoc world.

Samples:
https://www.google.com/search?q=juan+buscamares+ciclo+del+agua&udm=2

I first read this chapter in Heavy Metal magazine, I believe Jan '98 issue.

In those samples above, you might be able to pick out a pretty wild sequence focusing on a ‘new savior,’ and how that shakes out for the people following him. I thought it was rather brilliant, with the rest of the series being kind of humdrum from there…

That’s the Temple of Artemis, from an old series I was reading by Jacques Martin:
https://www.bedetheque.com/serie-708-BD-Orion-Martin.html

His many series wade in to ancient and historical peoples, times, and events. Although his handling of plot and character can be pretty outdated and even bumbling, he nevertheless produces consistently interesting visuals, ones which often lead me to asking questions, as above.

https://www.lambiek.net/artists/image/m/martin_jacq/martin_jacques_orion_1990.jpg

I guess I’d just assumed since kid-dom that these temples were made entirely of marble or similar material, hence my puzzlement seeing the image above. Was this just neglect / incompetence by Martin? On the contrary, it seems a lot more technical and correct than I realised. Indeed, a little bit of searching suggests that such roofs were commonly made of wooden rafters, an underlayer sheathing, and then interlocking terracotta tiles.

Something like this, I guess:

https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S2352409X2300295X-gr10.jpg

With the tiles usually looking like this, perhaps:

https://www.iko.com/na/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/imbrex-tegula-roof-system.webp

I don’t know… maybe some titanically-important temples were attempted in all marble. The Acropolis, perhaps? The problem as I understand it though is that holding up all that weight was incredibly challenging even with an open budget. Or something like that.

https://cdn.sanity.io/images/nxpteyfv/goguides/8afd9a96dbd15f76fd716f26e1d64efdef9dc3b1-1600x1066.jpg

Instead of sticking to the usual schedule (M-W-F + bonuses), I’m going to have to pull back for a while. Mainly it’s down to a few things, such as preparation for my dad’s upcoming visit, trying to support more communities, and general posting burnout.

Out of those, posting burnout remains an ongoing issue for me. On the one hand, I hate shoving a substandard pic with sketchy info out the door, but OTOH this routinely leads me to spending 30min - 1hr posting what’s the equivalent of a ~2min post for other people. (it’s wild how time adds up that way) Now, I did previously create the ‘quickie’ category to handle that kind of thing, but posting that way also seems like lost opportunities to better cover whatever that art / subject was. In short, I’ve drifted in to a certain neurosis about my posting here. 😱

Another factor has been in increasing my posting coverage to a loose group of half-a-dozen other communities. Seemed like a good idea at the time! And actually it is, as variety is the spice of The Fediverse, but that also means a little less focus on EGN.

But enough about me. As a reader, there’re a couple things you can do if you’re looking for more BD content here. First is simply to dip in to all the prior content, which stretches back 3yrs and 650+ posts. (btw, if you happen to find something that lost its image content, let me know and I can see about restoring it as a fresh post)

Another thing would be to submit something yourself. For content sources, these are some good ones to pull from: [1], [2].

Again, I’ll still be posting, but it’s likely to be completely impromptu for awhile.

Note: the Euro-inspired art here is “Woman on Underwater Steps” by American artist Jane Fisher.

Up in the sky; it’s a bird, it’s a plane!
(it’s… eh, shut up, Johnny)

Right, so Siepermann’s the visual force behind Alfred J. Kwak, introduced in Friday’s post. Me, I’m always fascinated by WIP art, and some creators are… well, I daresay they’re more creative than others. *ahem*

So, here’s a fun mini-interview with him, over at Cartoon Brew :
https://www.cartoonbrew.com/old-brew/alfred-j-kwak-556.html

https://www.cartoonbrew.com/archives/siepermannd_b.jpg

“Quack-quack-quack! I’m doing okay, but I’m not quite there yet.”

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_J._Kwak

TBH I don’t really have a handle on this series, but it seems to have started with a Dutch theatre show, and later moved to other media such as BD and a childrens’ TV series. The BD art is full of old-school Disneyesque caricatures and charming layouts, anyway.

https://www.bedetheque.com/media/Planches/PlancheA_17824.jpg

https://haraldsiepermann.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Vissen-in-Troebel-Water-page-19a.jpg

https://haraldsiepermann.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Alfred-Jodocus-Kwak-page-13cd.jpg

More samples:
https://www.google.com/search?q=Alfred+J.+Kwak+comics+samples&udm=2

This post also represents the exact, 3yr anniversary of this community! I’m trying to put together some words to mark the occasion, but for now, I kinda like the idea that the sea monster represents that milestone.

Btw, this was a cover for the fumetti magazine Lanciostory from 1991. I’ve never read a full issue, but if it was anything like the Francophone magazines ( Spirou, Tintin, Fluide Glacial, etc ), there’s probably a load of interesting content waiting there… in Italian.

This is cover art for the 8th tome of this series, La lune gibbeuse. You know…

On the surface, nothing distinguishes Isabelle’s life from those of the thousands of her readers. This little girl lives a peaceful life with her aunt Ursule, on the Atlantic coast. And yet, with Delporte, Macherot, Franquin, and Will guiding her destiny, the marvelous is never far away. Ghosts, paranormal powers, or the marriage of her uncle Hermès to the beautiful witch Calendula—anything is possible, and nothing is ever frightening. --BDT

I’ve only read the first book so far, but found it pretty good. It might nominally be considered young adult fare, but I thought it worked perfectly well for an all-ages audience, a neat trick that any series would hope to achieve.

And… that’s it. Here’s one more cover just for fun:

https://www.bedetheque.com/media/Couvertures/Couv_3840.jpg

https://www.bedetheque.com/serie-885-BD-Isabelle-Will.html

Well, I goofed. Yes, I formatted and cropped a bunch of half pages, saved them in WebP format, and then remembered that Imgur doesn’t take that format. *Bah* So we’re down to three of my half-pages for this one, which… actually should be enough.

Me, I first began reading the later Franka albums, in which Kuipers had already evolved the character in to a combination adventurer, sex bomb, and private detective.

(right-click as needed)

[link]

But that’s not how she started. No, reading the first album, I discovered that she began as a rather mousy secretary working for a police task force (as seen in the OP). What I was amazed by is that later in that very same album… she somehow morphed in to a super-spy-like operative(!)

(did Tom Cruise learn his moves from her?)

From what I understand, Kuipers was a natural cartoonist from a very early age, yet went to school to become a sociologist. To me, his LC art is absolutely top-of-the-game, while his narrative style can be a bit bloated and bumbling. I truly love looking at the art, but getting through the stories can frankly be a rambling chore at times, having to sit through a lot of dialogue and exposition. Now did Kuipers’ concentration on sociology (skipping art & cartoonist training, evidently) play a role? Perhaps so.

Finally, jumping ahead again to her modern style, it’s the death of her lover, art-thief “Rix”:

And… LBK has an awesome article on Kuipers:
https://www.lambiek.net/artists/k/kuijpers_h.htm

Unfortunately, my two earlier posts on Franka were lost in the instance move, but I do seem to have backups for those, and should be able to re-post at some point.

“Manchu” is not to be confused with fellow artist Philippe Buchet, who worked on the wonderful Wake / Sillage sci-fi series. It seems that -this- Philippe B. is an all-around sci-fi illustrator, who only occasionally works in BD.

He has a solid LBK entry here:
https://www.lambiek.net/artists/m/manchu.htm

And here’s ~100 more of his very nice paintings:
https://scifinet.net/philippe-manchu-bouchet/

This evidently comes from Yoko Tsuno’s 7th album, The Titans. Some page samples from that one HERE.

The Titans begins with the three friends again waking up on Vinea after another month-long journey through hyper-space. In response to a request from Khany, they have brought some Earth specimens with them to help with the resettlement of the planet. The recolonising is going well as most of the Vineans who were in suspended animation for centuries have now awakened, including Khany’s mother who put herself into hibernation to allow more resources for her daughters. Technically she is hundreds of years older than her daughters, but Khany has aged while her mother slept and now they are more like sisters. Khany’s twin sister Poky came out of hibernation several years later than her so the two twins are now also years apart in maturity and Poky is still a child. Luckily Pol is very happy to play with her while the others deal with dangerous situations.

Roger Leloup sets up another interesting ethical problem in this story when the friends have to help Khany and the Vineans against intelligent creatures very much like locusts or grasshoppers, but five times the height of the average human. These ‘Titans’ are numerous and strong enough to take control of the planet, but does it have to come down to another battle for survival? Yoko’s empathic nature and diplomatic skills provide a great lesson for younger readers as she shows if you are willing to try there are ways to resolve differences that don’t always have to lead to force. There is enough jeopardy and cliffhanging moments to make you wonder if she’s made the right call as lines are drawn and sacrifices are demanded on both sides. –Slings & Arrows

I haven’t read this series much myself, mostly because I’m not very focused on young adult fiction in BD. But make no mistake, Yoko Tsuno is a well-beloved, enduring, and popular series, maybe in the 2nd or 3rd globally popular tier of BD, behind heavyweights like Asterix, Tintin and Lucky Luke and sharing real estate with Spirou, The Smurfs, Valérian & Laureline and others. Something like that, anyway.

If you happen to like this series in particular, I’d be interested in hearing your comments about it. And/or a recommendation would be good, as I think I’ve only read a couple albums so far.