Jerome K Jerome Bloche

 

 

 Jerome K Jerome Bloche

This is the issue with posting about these graphic novels and artists here, it’s too limited!
There is SO much I would want to say about THIS particular series and so many images to share.
BUT, this is a series that started about 40 years ago in the pages of Spirou magazine.
It started out with Dodier and Makio as creators and along the way, it became just Dodier doing both the stories and the art.
What hooked me into this series is the storytelling. EVERYTHING is normal, real. Nothing is exaggerated, except maybe for the clumsiness and appetite of the main character. A Parisian Private Eye, fan of old US noire movies and books. His fiancee, Babette is the other strong(er?) part of the book for me.

The look is seemingly simple.There are no artifact, no pushed anatomy, no flying vehicles, no caricature of people or actions. Everything feels like it could be shot with a camera. And in many cases, it was. I’ve read interviews with Dodier where he talks about going from place to place, taking pictures as references for his shot.
He seems to pay particular attention to how the shots flow from one to another, creating moody intense sequences.
The earlier books had a greasier line, versus a sleeker, more precise line today.
Both are good. The earlier one was a little less refined but offered a lot of spontaneity which suited the series then, when Dodier’s storytelling wasn’t as thought out as it is today.
In the later books, the line is cleaner, the intent of the shots and sequences are stronger.
As the series evolves, it becomes less of a comedy and more of a social commentary ( in my opinion) but never loses it’s sense of fun either.
It’s just a great series. Each book is a full standalone episode, but if you read the series from the beginning, you get introduced to recurring characters and you see the protagonists evolve, grow, mature.

A special note about the colors as well.
They are done by a studio called “Cerise”, operated by a wife and husband duo. Cynthia Englebert and Gianluca Carboni. I find their approach to enhance the story rather than simply be” there”.

Overall, Jerome K Jerome Bloche is a series that I particularly loved growing up and that I read and re read every so often.
I know they’ve been translated and published in English.

#Dodier #Makyo #JeromeKJeromeBloche