The Extraordinary Adventures of Adele Blanc-Sec: Pterror Over Paris / The Eiffel Tower Demon (Vol. 1) (The Extraordinary Adventures of Adéle Blanc-Sec)

Classic comedy-thriller by one of France’s greatest, released to coincide with the film version!

Both a rip-roaring adventure series set in pre-World War I Paris and a parody of same, Adèle Blanc-Sec has been enchanting, thrilling, and puzzling readers worldwide through four decades.

With various American attempts to publish Adèle having dribbled into nothing decades ago, Fantagraphics Books, fresh from its triumphs with Tardi’s West Coast Blues and You Are There, launches a spectacular, newly re-translated, hardcover series that intends to collect every one of its nine (soon ten) volumes. In this premiere installment, Adèle becomes involved in an interlocking series of mysteries that involve a revived pterodactyl, a frightful on-stage murder, a looming execution by guillotine, and a demon from the depths of hell — plus of course moronic gendarmes, loyal (or perhaps traitorous?) henchmen, and a climax atop the Eiffel Tower.

The Adèle Blanc-Sec series is currently being adapted into a series of films by the renowned action director Luc Besson (The Professional, The Fifth Element), bringing this quirky, very French series to a new worldwide audience. 96 pages of full-color comics

Customer Reviews:

Finally I know (sort of) what's going on!

By Norm - November 18, 2010

I was given the french original many years ago, and fell in love with the art. I have gradually made up a story to explain what is going on - with the help of my high school french, and the occasional french visitor. Well, nothing comes close to finally reading the real thing in English. The story does not disappoint, and Adele is a complex, interesting character. I can't wait for the next volume to learn more about her. The hardback is well produced, and the price at Amazon is excellent. (Also, the trailers for the Besson film look great!)

Great art, muddled plot

By Alessandra Kelley - January 1, 2012

In 1967 Paris revised its building code, producing a master plan which threw out the old requirements that building height be limited by street width and that buildings be aligned with each other. Meant to encourage fashionable contemporary ideas on city planning, it resulted in massive, impersonal modern skyscrapers shattering and fragmenting old neighborhoods and the accompanying rise of automotive traffic. Although the code was revised in 1974, a great deal of damage had already been done.

I think that background has to be considered in the 1976 publication of the first of Jacques Tardi's comics of the Extraordinary Adventures of Adèle Blanc-Sec. Murky, confusing, and frustrating, these illustrated adventures are a lovingly detailed tribute to the Paris that used to be.

From the first panoramic view of the dramatically night-lit Jardin des Plantes (and then its marvelous museum interior), "The Extraordinary Adventures of Adèle Blanc-Sec" is a... read more

Lost in Translation?

By Sean Rueter "s1rude" - November 11, 2011

I'm always interested in expanding my comic book reading beyond American superheroes, and that drive - combined with forever being interested in Luc Besson on the strength of The Professional/The Fifth Element - is the long and short of how I found Jacques Tardi and his creation, Adele Blanc-Sec. I'm glad I did, even if I didn't love this volume.

There's a lot to like here. Tardi's art reminds me of Kevin O'Neill (of The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Vol. 1 fame), there's a strong sense of time & place and the whole thing feels very cinematic, especially at the larger page size. The plot is loaded with pulpy, comic book sci-fi/fantasy elements like the pterodactyl on the cover, and a Babylonian cult plotting to unleash the plague on turn of the 20th century Paris. I'm a sucker for that kind of stuff, but the remarkable thing is how well Adele's adventures mix it with an almost gritty real world... read more