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We are absolutely chuffed to welcome our new blogger, Betty, who is going to take us on a Bande dessinée adventure. Betty works for 'Librairie Album' - a Parisian bookshop specialising in comics.

Manu Larcenet is probably one of the most interesting and talented French comics writer. His work has changed a lot from his beginnings and, as years go by, they are becoming more and more deep and sincere. Larcenet was born near Paris in 1969.

From 1994 to 2006, he published short stories in a funny French comics magazine called "Fluide Glacial". He started to publish his first books in the 90s. At the same time, Larcenet created a publishing house called "Les Rêveurs" (the dreamers), which still exists today.

Let's take a closer look at Manu Larcenet's books.

We can separate his work into two pieces: one part is quite funny, the other is more deep and personal.

The main entertaining series is "Bill Baroud" (caricature spy adventures), "la vie est courte" (a black humour series), "Pedro le Coati" (a story of a coati in a zoo), "Les cosmonautes du futur" (two children who are sure that they live in a world full of robots and aliens), "30 millions d'imbeciles" and of course "le Retour à la Terre".

"Le retour à la terre" is a very funny series. Five books have been released so far. The story is about an avatar of Larcenet called Manu. He lives in the countryside with his cat and young daughter Capucine. He meets a lot of typical characters, like the mayor who wants Manu to go with the men of the village to cut enormous trees, La Mortemont a sort of witch that frightens Manu where ever he goes and the hermit who lives in a tree and acts like a psychoanalyst. There are also strange creatures called "les Atlantes" who have philosophers’ names and visit houses by night to eat tuna flakes.

On the other hand, you can find "Le combat ordinaire"," Blast", "Le rapport de Brodeck". These books are very personal and introspective.

“Le combat ordinaire” is the same story as "Le retour à la terre" but seen with a pessimistic/realistic point of view. A photographer who suffers an anxiety crisis decides to move to the countryside. He tries to make a report in pictures about the shipyards that start to disappear due to economic reasons. His father has worked in shipyards but he has now Alzheimer’s disease. "Le combat ordinaire" is one of the best French comics ever written. It's almost like life is sometimes awful, sometimes very funny (I assure you that this series can be hilarious, especially when the photographer meets his brother) . There is a real dichotomy between what is drawn and what is written. It's the best start when reading Manu Larcenet.

And there is "BLAST". A series of 4 books. Black and white, very dark, stunning, minimalist, essential.

The lastest published book is called "Le rapport de Brodeck", based on a novel from Philippe Claudel. In winter, in an unfamiliar place, a man is supposed to write a report about a stranger who died in this village. These books tell a philosophical tale. What is important? What is the meaning of life? The drawings are perfectly controlled, it seems as though one can see snow storms. These stories will be finished in two books time, only the first one has been published so far.

And don’t forget to read “Donjon” an heroic fantasy series. Donjon has been created by Lewis

Trondheim and Joan Sfar and comprises of 36 books. Sfar and Trondheim ask different authors to write or draw for this series. Manu Larcenet has collaborated with them for 5 books. Talking about Donjon is quite difficult, but we can say it's the story of Herbert a very cowardly duck who has no heart and must fight against monsters without any weapons to recover his heart. He goes on these quests with Marvin, a red dragon, who beats everything or everybody that moves.

What can I say more? Larcenet is an absolute genius. If you have to read only one French comics author in your life, it must be him!

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