Author:Bryan Talbot
In Grandville, the first volume in the series, Talbot brings us a steampunk masterpiece. IIt tells the story of detective Inspector LeBrock of Scotland Yard as he stalks a gang of murderers through the heart of Belle Epoque Paris. In this alternative reality France is the major world power and its capital throngs with steam-driven hansom cabs, automatons and flying machines. The characters are mostly animals, though there is an underclass of humans, often referred to as 'dough faces'.
Visually stunning, Grandville is a fantastical and audacious rollercoaster ride that will add to Talbot's reputation as one of the best graphic novelists in the world.
A solid conspiracy caper with bursts of Tarantino-like mayhem...a witty romp in a vividly realised topsy-turvy world.
—— Times Literary SupplementUtterly delightful...It's a playful, allusive book in which there's a witty touch or deliciously knowing in-joke on almost every page...beautifully rendered, throughout, the glossy gorgeousness fills your eyes.
—— The TimesA gorgeously coloured steampunk fantasy.
—— MetroThink Wind In The Willows meets 1920s film noir, a combination you never knew you needed… From political conspiracies to serial killings, this is all set in an alternate present day where Britain lost the Napoleonic Wars and the entire Royal Family were executed... It’s a really compelling setting for any story, but the detective mystery element brings it all together. To me, this is perfect fodder for a Wes Anderson-style stop-motion film series. It’s funny, eerie, and altogether very surreal.
—— Megan McGill , Den of GeekIt reminds me of nothing so much as a Roald Dahl novel.
—— Alex Hern , New StatesmanCharming.
—— Mail on SundayHappily as splendiferous as its title.
—— Siobhan Murphy , Metro HeraldA gorgeously penciled fable… The pacing and page design are immaculate.
—— Teddy Jamieson , Sunday HeraldThere’s a touch of Roald Dahl to this dark, beautifully drawn and wonderfully surrealist tale.
—— MonocleA witty and surreal response to conformity, and how we should embrace our difference. Accompanied by incredible pencil drawings, you will be blown away by the quality, and be humbled by the underlying message.
—— ItsNiceThatMy pick of next season’s graphic novels.
—— The BooksellerA rich allegorical work with a certain Kafkaesque quality, with the story told in a rolling, rhyming blank verse.
—— Comic Book ResourcesThis incredible fable is rich with subtext and allegory… It is a singularly spectacular graphic novel… Timeless, uniquely insightful into the human condition, witty and poignant.
—— PM Buchan , StarburstWith The Gigantic Beard that was Evil, Stephen Collins has produced a book too profound to be serious, too good for the patronizing pat of mainstream media...In The Beard That Was Evil, Collins has created a total work of art which elevates itself beyond comparison.
—— Nick Hayes , Literary ReviewCollins’s [book] is a love song – or is it? – to facial hair and all who get tangled up in it.
—— Rachel Cooke , ObserverA book to make you sing with the genius of it... A book of revolution, and a beautiful story told with imagination, grace and a lot of pencil lines. And you feel the hard effort on every page. Those individual hairs don’t draw themselves.
—— Rich Johnston and Hannah Means-Shannon , Bleeding CoolIn exquisite pencil drawings, Stephen Collins pursues Dave’s absurd quandary through its logical stages, from infamy to celebrity, from vast scaffolding to hot-air balloons. It’s a timely fable about any government’s attempt to impose conformity on the “becauselessness” of humanity.
—— Paul Gravett , Independent