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mediatoon January 2023
 
Starting strong
 
Another year full of great comics is ahead of us, so we are starting strong, with powerful stories about inspiring characters and their unwavering desire to fight for the right cause.

Brancusi’s legal battle to get his exhibits recognized as works of art in America is wonderfully depicted in Brancusi contre États-Unis. Arnaud Nebbache’s graphic novel is not just a courtroom drama, but a tale of one man’s crusade against the system that seems hostile to fresh ideas.

On the other side of the Atlantic, in Belgium, a couple of kids will give us a lesson in resistance. With Les amis de Spirou, Morvan, Ervrad and Ben BK gave us a tale, based on a true story, about children’s friendship and honor in the Resistance movement during WW2.

In 1974, everyone gathered in Kinshasa to watch the boxing match between Ali and Foreman, but for sixteen-year-old Tshilanda, the fight took place far from the ring. After she unwillingly becomes pregnant, Tshilanda decides to write the rest of her story in the USA, and to name her daughter Liberty.

But this is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the stories that we will be presenting in 2023.  Brace yourselves!

Graphic novel

 
 
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Brancusi contre États-Unis

Brancusi contre États-Unis (One-shot)

By Arnaud Nebbache

Publisher: Dargaud
Genres: Biography & Memoirs 

New York, 1926. Marcel Duchamp is organizing a major exhibition of the Romanian sculptor Constantin Brancuși’s work, but when the exhibits arrive at the harbor, customs officers refuse to treat them as works of art and impose the import duty applicable to “consumer goods”—to the tune of $40,000. With the help of Duchamp and his other American contacts, Brancuși sues the American government and the court has to decide what constitutes a work of art. The argument, which centers around one of Brancuși’s Bird in Space sculptures, lasts several months, with various other artists and expert witnesses called by Duchamp to answer the questions posed by Brancuși, who is still in Paris. Ironically, the man who coined the term “readymade” finds himself powerless in a country that seems hostile to new and fresh ideas.


 
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Tous les vivants

Tous les vivants (One-Shot)

By Roman Muradov

Publisher: Dargaud
Genres: Fantasy & Esoteric 

Waking up in Hell, she is forced to take part in a lottery, which she wins. Unfortunately for her, since she has had enough of life, the prize is to return to the living world and continue her life from where she had left it, with one significant difference: this time, she will see people as ghosts—herself included. She begins to roam, as before, but are things the same?

Through this simple story, illuminated by his familiar graphic and narrative genius, Roman Muradov reveals the monotony, hopelessness, and absurdity of our existence and the sadness and emptiness of the world.


 
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Jumelle

Inséparables (1)

By Florence Dupré la Tour

Publisher: Dargaud
Genres: Biography & Memoirs 

Following “Cruelle” (Cruel) and “Pucelle” (Maiden), the third series in Florence Dupré la Tour’s exploration of her childhood deals with the great love of her life: her twin sister. With an emotional mix of joy and suffering, their story raises big questions such as how not to lose yourself in a relationship, how to find your place in society, and how to come to terms with being male or female.


 
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Le Petit Livre de...

Le Britbook (One-Shot)

By Hervé Bourhis

Publisher: Dargaud
Genres: Biography & Memoirs 

A book about pop culture in Britain from The Beatles’ debut and the “rise” of the mini-skirt in 1962!From the world of music, there are The Kinks, The Sex Pistols, The Spice Girls, Wham, Adele, and Queen, but let’s not forget other notable personalities such as James Bond, Banksy, Mary Quant, the Queen, Margaret Thatcher, Vidal Sassoon, and Francis Bacon—not to be confused with fried bacon, which you’ll also read about, along with beer and fish and chips.


 
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Mademoiselle Sophie

Ou la fable du lion et de l'hippopotame

By Hippolyte & Zabus

Publisher: Dargaud
Genres: Drama 

The latest graphic novel from Zabus and Hippolyte is a gentle and amusing story that is once again set at the interface between the adult world and the world of children. “My head is full of questions — so many that it sometimes feels like my brain is boiling—but who can give me answers?” asks 12-year-old Romain.

What particularly bothers him is Miss Sophie’s corpulence, his teacher. He watches her with curiosity and sympathy, sensing that something is not right, that she is unhappy, but knows that his young mind cannot work out why. Is she ill? What kind of life does she lead? Is she in love? Using his overactive imagination, Romain begins to learn about life and, like an adventurous lion cub, discovers what goes on in the adult world—a world in which it is possible to conceal suffering and confusion and to make out, in spite of everything, that all is well…


 
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Vague de froid

Vague de froid (One-Shot)

By Jean Cremers

Publisher: Le Lombard
Genres: Drama 

Brothers Martin and Jean decide to explore the Norwegian fjords. Martin has recently become fascinated by Nordic mythology and Jean sees the trip as an ideal opportunity to reconnect with this brother, who has become cold and distant since the death of his daughter and separation from his wife. Autofiction meets road trip against a backdrop of Norwegian legends and landscapes.


 
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Liberty

Liberty (One-Shot)

By Raives & Warnauts

Publisher: Le Lombard
Genres: Historical fiction 

A story covering 40 years in the lives of an African-American woman and her daughter. When 16-year-old Tshilanda falls pregnant, she is forced to leave her country and give birth in the US. Suddenly alone, she is taken in by two men from very different backgrounds: Edouard, a French diplomat, and Mike, an African-American musician.


 
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Yézidie !

Yézidie ! (One-Shot)

By Aurélien Ducoudray & Mini Ludvin

Publisher: Dupuis
Genres: Drama 

Present-day northern Iraq. Zere is a young girl who lives in a small Yezidi village. Her daily life revolves around her parents, her cousin, boys, and the knowledge that the Islamic State is not far away. That is until she is abducted by jihadists and sold into slavery… Meanwhile, a strange grocer seems to be engaging in very mysterious business behind closed doors. Mini Ludvin’s gentle artwork couples with a hard hitting storyline by Aurélien Ducoudray. A trilogy following a girl’s journey into the war against the Islamic State.


 
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Madones et putains

Madones et putains (One-Shot)

By Antico

Publisher: Dupuis
Genres: Drama 

Named after three saints, Agata, Lucia, and Rosalia also share their tragic destiny. A damning portrait of women’s place in 20th-century Italian society.


 
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Légendes

Dormir dans les transports en commun (2)

By Emmanuel Guibert

Publisher: Dupuis
Genres: Picture Books 

At once profound and light, philosophical and aesthetic: a magnificent “Aire Libre”, the second volume of Légendes, after a first volume in which Guibert, this time drawing in prestigious museums, offered a playful and splendid vision.


 
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Söng

Söng (One-Shot)

By Hai-Anh

Publisher: Ankama
Genres: Historical fiction 

A mother tells her daughter about her own teenage years during the Vietnam War. Now a famous movie director, Linh spent seven years—from 1969 to 1975—fighting for the Communists, who taught her not only how to kill but also how to make movies.

Through this story of an often neglected period of history, writer Hai-Anh paints a portrait of her own complex relationship with her mother and her past.


Mainstream

 
 
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NeoForest

Cocto Citadelle (1)

By Philippe Scoffoni & Fred Duval

Publisher: Dargaud
Genres: Fantasy & Esoteric 

Three characters, three paths, three destinies: intrigue and deception at the palace for Count Corto; a journey of discovery for his daughter Blanche; the road to redemption for resistance fighter Greem. Their three stories take place at the same time in the same place: the vast New Forest in the era of Neo-Feudalism. And while the protagonists lose their way, betray one another, fall in love, and tear each other apart, a terrible storm is brewing in the forest, where trees are starting to mutate…


 
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Les Sauroctones

Les Sauroctones (3)

By Erwann Surcouf

Publisher: Dargaud
Genres: Action & Adventure, Fantasy & Esoteric, Humor, Sci-Fi 

After having defeated the legendary Tamaro, fought the madmen of the Brotherhood of the Millers, braved the cursed tomb of the King-Lichette and thwarted the Machiavellian plans of the Jacques Centre, Jan, Urtsi and Zone, our Dynamic Trio, continue their quest to find the rocket that will help them escape from this crazy post-apocalyptic world! And it is not the end of their troubles: underground labyrinth, weird meetings, monsters of all kinds, betrayal and reunion await them.


 
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Purple Heart

Jambalaya Blues (4)

By Raives & Warnauts

Publisher: Le Lombard
Genres: Crime & Mystery 

Final volume that concludes the series!

In order to help Winston (his regimental comrade) find his niece who has disappeared in Louisiana, Josuah Flanagan has to take on the role of a rich white man whose driver Winston is. Because, in the middle of the 1950s, the South is still a land of tradition… and there is no question of Cajun cooking. The two former soldiers will have to stir up the filth lurking in the bayou mud and try their best to avoid ending up under the fangs of alligators.


 
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The Frontier

The Frontier (1)

By Alessio Fioriniello & Jacopo Paliaga

Publisher: Le Lombard
Genres: Western 

In 1870, a terrible storm hits the West Coast of America, killing thousands but leaving survivors with supernatural powers. They create an organization called The Frontier, whose aim is to put an end to the storm. Five of its members, all ex-cons, are sent to the area to make a ritual sacrifice of all surviving inhabitants in a bid to stop the destruction. But they are not the only ones to have supernatural powers, and soon their plan starts to colapse.


 
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In Memoriam

Manon (1)

By Djet & Mathieu Salvia

Publisher: Dupuis
Genres: Fantasy & Esoteric, Suspense & Thrillers 

Paris is in ruins. After a terrible explosion, what used to be the world capital of Arts and Witchcraft is now reduced to ashes. An unnexpected Duo, a young cop and a sorcerer who have nothing in common, will try to solve the mystery and find the cause of this horrible accident.


 
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Section de recherches : Gendarmerie nationale

Le Loup de Nancy (1)

By Gerardo Balsa & Emmanuel Herzet

Publisher: Zéphyr Editions
Genres: Action & Adventure 

In the midst of an inquiry into a military plane accident, Bruno Kratt, head of the French Air Force’s Investigation Unit, receives a call from a former colleague and friend, Eric Garnier, who reveals to him that an assassin Garnier thought he had “dealt with” 11 years ago is actually alive and well and very likely after him…

“Top Gun” meets “Jack Reacher” in this thrilling military espionage tale.


 
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Théodore Poussin

Aro Satoe (14)

By Frank Le Gall

Publisher: Dupuis
Genres: Action & Adventure, Crime & Mystery 

Our intrepid hero is now caught in the crossfire between the Singaporean authorities, who are holding his crew, and the British army, who want to get their hands on him for his acts of piracy. Taking refuge in the home of the beautiful Aro Satoe, he tries to escape the forces of perfidious Albion and sinks into the labyrinthine meanderings of the mysterious island.


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Wiloucha

Wiloucha (One-Shot)

By Mikael Coadou & Benjamin Blasco-Martinez
Historical fiction
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Ankama
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Ripper

Ripper (2)

By Jéronimo Céjudo
Manga, Action & Adventure
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Children's & family

 
 
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Elizabeth et Diego

Une vampire dans mon placard (1)

By Arthur du Coteau & Swann Meralli

Publisher: Dargaud
Genres: Humor 

Elizabeth is a little girl, but she is also a vampire. And she really really wants a pony that’s also a unicorn! After running into a fake Father Christmas (and treating him accordingly), she falls in with Diego, a lonely, sulky little boy with a prosthetic right hand who shouts and screams when things don’t go his way. Even though she finds him rather noisy, Elizabeth makes friends with him. She tells him about Saint Nicholas, because he’s the real Father Christmas, and he tells her about Golden Boy, his favorite superhero, because he’s… well, he’s Golden Boy. Now, as everyone knows, Saint Nicholas puts children back together when they’ve fallen to pieces, so why not ask him to restore Diego’s right hand?


 
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La Forêt du temps

Les envoyés sans retour (2)

By Mateo Guerrero & Tristan Roulot

Publisher: Le Lombard
Genres: Fantasy & Esoteric 

In pursuit of the thief who broke the time bubble in which they have always lived, the village children have reached the end of the forest of time. However, the woman they are looking for has passed away… several millennia ago! She has become a legend, just like Cernos, the last of the giants – whom they have just met! The present seems to have fled to the past, and the past is writing their future. And only the mysterious and fearsome Time-Eater seems to understand this infernal spiral.


 
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New Hope

Celle qui voulait infiltrer Epsilon (1)

By Jalo & Cee Cee Mia

Publisher: Dupuis
Genres: Action & Adventure, Suspense & Thrillers 

At New Hope, two secret societies compete for control of the campus. One of them is for boys only, but Isabella must find a way in if she wants to save her terminally ill brother. A dizzying dive into the heart of US student fraternities.


 
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Nocéan

Atari et Tika (1)

By Efa

Publisher: Dupuis
Genres: Sci-Fi, Action & Adventure 

Ice melting has caused the oceans to swallow up vast swaths of the Earth. The ocean itself has radically changed and is now called the Nocean. The European continent’s borders and coastlines have transformed; new cities have appeared where others have changed radically, and some of them have been abandoned for many years. A new form of government, called Systema, runs society along with the large corporations that support it. A neo-liberal dictatorship rejects those it no longer considers citizens. Amidst it all, two young orphan girls will become modern-day Robin Hoods, helping the most needy—those whose voices have been repressed by the system.


 
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Mélie et le Monster Maker Club

Porte emporte-moi ! (1)

By Gorobei, Carbone & Thitaume

Publisher: Dupuis
Genres: Fantasy & Esoteric 

Melie acquires the power to assimilate drawings of imaginary creatures and to summon them afterwards. The young girl uses this incredible power to save worlds in trouble. In order to always have plenty of drawings at her disposal, she and her little brother create the Monster Maker Club: a group of children that draw imaginary creatures to help her in her quest! And the readers who wish to do so can also be part of this club! They can send their creature drawings to Mélie and help her in her adventures!


 
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Elliot au collège

Panique en sixième (1)

By Théo Grosjean

Publisher: Dupuis
Genres: Fantasy & Esoteric 

Slightly stressed, young Elliot has recently finished elementary school and he is now going to enter middle school. This little apprehension he has will eventually turn into full-blown anxiety that will stay with him throughout the twists and turns of his school life. But his new imaginary friend is much more anxious than Elliot and, while trying to warn him of all the dangers that lie ahead, he is going to turn his life into a living hell!


 
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La sentinelle du Petit Peuple

Au secours de la licorne (3)

By Forns, Carbone & Barrau

Publisher: Dupuis
Genres: Action & Adventure, Fantasy & Esoteric 

Elf Llyam, who has gone to the Shadow Swamp to find a leaf for his new hat, discovers that the goblins have captured a unicorn! Elina, the new sentinel of the Little People, first takes advice from her grandmother Adelaide: as guarantor of the survival of the incredible legendary creatures, she and her friends must go and rescue the fabulous animal. But the mission will prove to be more complicated than expected.


 
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Les amis de Spirou

Un ami de Spirou est franc et droit… (1)

By BenBK, David Evrard & Jean-David Morvan

Publisher: Dupuis
Genres: Historical fiction, Action & Adventure 

Based on a true story. In 1945, the editor-in-chief Jean Doisy published a stunning text honoring two children killed in the Resistance movement during the Second World War. The children had become involved in the movement along with several of their friends and had followed the precepts of the Amis de Spirou (Friends of Spirou), an honor code shared by readers since the founding of the magazine in 1938. This three-volume work revisits the background and story of these kids from Marcinelle and traces the history of the magazine’s creation, led by Jean Doisy and the Dupuis family


Dupuis
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Les bras armés

Les désignés (1)

By Enrico Orlandi & Olivier Pog
Fantasy & Esoteric
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Dupuis
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Coven

Coven (One-Shot)

By Da Coffee Time & Taous Merakchi
Fantasy & Esoteric
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Illustrated books

 
 
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Une Sieste

Une Sieste (One-Shot)

By Camille Romanetto

Publisher: Little Urban
Genres: Picture Books 

First picture book from this author-illustrator! A sweet rendez-vous. A pure wonder. It’s nap time. But this is no ordinary nap! In the land of dreams, the young Madenn is invited to an extraordinary teatime.


 
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À l’intérieur

À l’intérieur (One-Shot)

By Jean-Baptiste Drouot

Publisher: Starting strong
Genres: Picture Books 

What would you find inside a pig? A family of wolves, of course!
And inside an iron? A fitness gym, obviously!
And inside a hunk of snot? A sock? A volcano?
The answers are inside this book, which contains everything you’ve always wanted to know about what’s inside things. (All the information is scientifically verified and 10,000% accurate… more or less.)


Compilations & special editions

COMPILATIONS AND SPECIAL EDITIONS

 
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Madeleine résistante - Cahiers

Madeleine résistante tome 2 – Cahiers 1/3 (4)

By Dominique Bertail, Jean-David Morvan & Madeleine Riffaud

Publisher: Dupuis
Genres: Non-Fiction 

The young Madeleine has her back to the wall: introduced into a Resistance cell, she finds the war name that will accompany her in her future battles? “Rainer”? and learns all the tactics of action and discretion… With her companions, including Picpus, a lover of poetry like her, the young woman will take us into the daily life of the Resistance, with an unprecedented documentary precision…