Comicology: Papyrus

Well it's long since we reviewed the last batch of CineBook editions released in India this year, as back-issue sale from the UK based CineBook. Since we have a lot more issues to cover, I have gathered all the Children titles they released in this batch as a single post. They are a bunch of unknown comic characters, we have never read or heard in India before. The popularity of these titles also doesn't make them to be covered separately. All the batch of comics are created in Belgium, and many of them are still being published with new titles every year.

First-up, is Ducoboo, famously termed as the 'King of Dunces', created by Zidrou and Godi in 1992. The series follows the adventures of Ducoboo, and his mischief making acts. It typically consists of assortment of small acts, which generally spans one or two pages. The stories are hilariously portrayed, and Cinebook have come up with 2 volumes of Ducoboo. Each volume depicts a full year in School with the last gag always ending up as portrayed in Summer Holidays.

When you browse through these books, you can identify that the header of each storyline will eventually be based on the plot of that particular act, depicted in few simple pictures. That's the amount of detail Zidrou and Godi have concentrated on while making these comics.

Ducaboo 1: King of the Dunces
ISBN: 978-1-905460-15-1

Ducoboo 2: In the Corner
ISBN: 978-1-905460-26-7

Melusine is a story of kind-hearted young witch. She is touted to be 119 years old, as explained in the first album. The character and the plot was created by Clarke and Gilson in 1995. The stories typically features short, and humorous comic strips based on the life of Melusine. The plot sometimes seems heavily derived upon the Harry Potter series, as Melusine also studies at a Witches school. Cinebook have released two volumes of Melusine with this batch.
Melusine 1: Hocus Pocus ISBN: 978-1-905460-20-5	Melusine 2: Halloween ISBN: 978-1-905460-34-2

Papyrus is a comic book series, written and illustrated by Lucien de Gieter. It's about a young peasant in Ancient Egypt, called as Papyrus. It was originally published in 1974 in the famous Spirou Magazine. As the story takes place in Ancient Egypt, the users are taken down back in the history with the plots revolving around the famous landmarks, temples and monuments found from the original Egyptian Era. Ramases Temple, Saqqara, the ancient Egyptian funeral complex, are all breathtakingly drawn with detailed structural explanations, while closely tying them to the storyline of each album. As could be construed, the Papyrus stories involves its fair share of Magics and Miracles. Overall, a good historical comic series for children. Again we have two volumes of Papyrus with this batch.
Papyrus 1: The Ramases' Revenge ISBN: 978-1-905460-35-9	Papyrus 2: Imhotep's Transformation ISBN: 978-1-905460-50-2

Yoko Tsuno is a comic book series created by Belgian writer Roger Leloup, an arden follower of Ligne Claire. It was originally published in 1970, making it the oldest children comic series in this batch. The story follows the adventures of Yoko Tsuno, a female electrical engineer of Japanese origin, accompanied by her friends. They travel across the globe and even reach the outer space in this 24 volume series. The highlight of the story is that they are based on technological concepts, with Robo Dragons, Time Travel and others; which were a thought way ahead during its initial years. We have two volumes of Tsuno with this batch.
Yoko Tsuno 1: On the Edge of Life ISBN: 978-1-905460-32-8	Yoko Tsuno 2: The Time Spiral ISBN: 978-1-905460-43-4

Yakari is the most famous Children magazine character in this batch of Cinebook editions. It is a series which was created in 1973 by Job and illustrated by Derib. Yakari is a young Sioux Native American who has an unique ability to understand and speak animal language. With this unique ability he meets many North American animals in his albums, by which the readers are introduced to the life and customs of these animals. Yakari is so popular that it has so far been translated to 17 languages, from French. Cinebook have brought 3 volumes of Yakari with this batch. But they are not released in an order in India. There are 5 volumes which were published by Cinebook, when these titles were available in India, but we have received only Issues 3, 4 and 5. So, the collection is incomplete. The series is translated in English by Erica Jeffrey for Cinebook. She is known to Comicologists as a surprise visitor during our first Cinebook post's discussion thread.
Yakari 3: Yakari and the Beavers ISBN: 978-1-905460-09-0	Yakari 4: Yakari and the Grizzly ISBN: 978-1-905460-16-8

We also have an One volume release in this Children's batch, called Scared to Death, which is a new series created in 2000 by Mauricet & Vanholme. The cover-art is spooky enough to foretell that the series revolves around the strange adventures of two adolescent friends, Robin and Max. It touches upon all the fantasies, like Sorcery, Werewolves, Ghosts, etc. but somehow the storylines aren't gripping enough. Maybe because the target audience is Children's again :).
Yakari 5: Yakari and the Stranger ISBN: 978-1-905460-27-4	Scared to Death 1: The Vampire from the Marshes ISBN: 978-1-905460-47-2

Well these titles may not be of the interest to many of us, but as a fan to the Franco-Belgian comics era, I wouldn't leave them up from my collection, when they are available right at our doorstep. As always, do post your comments and let me know what you think of this different post category. Next up on the Cinebook reviews, we would jump to the serious titles aimed for grown up audience. Well, now we are talking.