First frame of first page (the third page, which I’d usually select, is a bit graphic):

I have been hugely impressed by the previous graphic novels of Brecht Evens, but I was not quite sure about this one, which is the first part of a promised two-part series. Our protagonist, 10 year old Arthur, lives on the Breton coast with his father. (Yep, Arthur of Brittany, though it’s not clear what to read into that.) His father brings him up in the knowledge that they are fighting a peculiar battle at the front line of the war between Good and Evil, and then he disappears, leaving Arthur to navigate a world where the neighbours are presumptively all spies for the dark side.

Arthur’s father is clearly clinically paranoid, and it’s not yet clear how Evens is going to resolve the plot; it could go well or badly, to be honest. But as usual, what makes the book is Evens’ fantastic art, drawing perhaps on James Ensor but with very much his own twist on it, often conveying a great deal with just a few lines, capturing character traits and settings with complete conviction. It’s a gorgeous run of 288 pages, and I hope it all makes sense when the next volume comes out.

The Dutch title means “The Allies”, but the French title, Le Roi Méduse, means “The Jellyfish King”. Heaven knows how they will translate it into English. Meanwhile you can get it in the original Dutch here and in French here.

This was my top unread comic which is not in English. Next on that pile is Métal Hurlant Vol. 1: Le Futur c’est déjà demain, by Mathieu Bablet et al.