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Here's the BD that I brought back from France. This is all I could fit in my suitcase.
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Le mystère de la Zone ''Z''. Written by Henri Vernes. Art by Gerald Forton. 1970. (Below)
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This is my favorite book that I scored. Just for the colors alone. They are so bright and vibrant. I like the drawing also. Forton is a "Caniffer." Meaning he has a visible Milton Caniff influence.
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Les Aventures de Ben Barry. Story and art by Gerald Forton. 1961. (Below)
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Another Forton book. I also bought this one for the colors. So simple and elegant. It's just orange and blue. This is a 2011 reprint of material from a serialized run in a 1961 magazine.
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Pelote dans la Fumée. Story and art by Miroslav Sekulic-Struja. 2013. (Below)
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This book just blew me away. The artist, Miroslav Sekulic-Struja, was set up across from me at the Actes Sud booth in Angoulême. So I got to see him doing dedications. Quite a sight. Below is the dedication he made for me. Yes, that is drawn in the book--not printed. 
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I saw these originals. They were on display at the store Super Heros in Paris. The originals were about 12 x 18 inches or so. I think it's all done in tempera, gouache and some watercolor as well as ink. I like the way he handles the paint in a graphic way. Reminds me a little of Ben Shahn.
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Pompéi. Story and art by Frank Santoro. 2013/14. Now a major motion picture. (Below)
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Hardcover Pompéi! Even though I said in an interview that I didn't ever consider doing a hardcover for the PictureBox edition, I'm glad there is a hardcover edition now in print. Serge Ewenczyk, the publisher of Éditions çà et là, convinced me. What's interesting is that they added a blank page at the front for dedications. We don't do that really in the States. Or at least I never considered having a blank page in my books for dedications.
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Lune l'envers. Story and art by Blutch. Colors by Isabelle Merlet. 2014. (Below)
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I really like the way this book is colored by Isabelle Merlet. I feel like she gets some really nice harmonies between the colors. The muted tones also give the drawings room to breathe. Beautiful stuff.
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Great use of white also--as a color.
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Hotel Koral. Story and art by Anthony Pastor. 2008. (Below)
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I bought this book for my friend Jim Rugg. It's all done in ballpoint pen. Jim does ballpoint pen drawings also and I know he'll love this.
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Wait. Did you hear that? That was the sound of Jim Rugg falling out of his chair. Don't worry, Jim. I'll keep this book safe for you.
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Richard Corben Vol. 1. All art by Richard Corben. 1970-78 material. (Below)
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This is that collection of Corben stuff from the '70s that Dark Horse put out last year. The French editions broke it up into two books and I think there is more material. I love Corben's color work. Even if you don't like the drawing--you gotta admit the colors are pretty sweet.
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Le Garage Hermétique. Story and art by Moebius. 1976-79 material. (Below)
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This book is, of course, out of print in the States. (I saw a bootleg of it at shows here in the States. Just xeroxes of the story from the Heavy Metal issues.) The Airtight Garage was famously reprinted in color by Epic back in the '80s to the dismay of purists like myself. This is a work that must be devoured in black and white.
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There's no way to color a spread like this (below). I remember reading the Epic version for the first time back in the day and I actually remember this spread being "hard to read" because there was too much color--the black double-printed over the color looked wrong somehow. To me, anyways.
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I miss Paris so much that I have been watching French movies and leaving the TV on when I go to sleep so that I might somehow dream in French. It sort of works. I dreamed there was a Jerry Lewis comic drawn by Blutch that looked like those old Neal Adams Jerry Lewis comics. Weird.
Over and out. Thanks!
