stories from the dungeon txo!?
The latest instalment of Donjon (La Mazmorra in Spanish), a comic we mentioned in these very pages way back, has just been published. We at The Balde can do nothing less than recommend this great series by Lewis Trondheim and Joan Sfar.
They have split the series into three separate blocks that start with the beginning of the prison cell, the toughest part of being there and, finally, the decline into decadence. On top of all that, they tell us the parallel stories lived through by the different characters. Each different epoch is given its own special touch as regards both the contents of the story and the style of the drawing. They have asked several artists to collaborate with them in doing so. This variety in the drawing is the best thing about the collection. Each artist has made the characters their own and has afforded them their own insight without relinquishing the traits created by the original authors. The story is still very much in the masterful hands of Trondheim and Sfar.
Trondheim and Sfar, each after their own fashion, have looked after the drawing of the middle part (Zenith) and the end section (Crépuscule). They called in Cristophe Blain to draw the first epoch (Potron-mimet) and the parallel Monster series has been left in the capable hands of Jean Emanuel Vermot-Desroches and Bluch for the moment. Why do we mention all these artists’ names here? Because it’s really worth your while to search out, get your hands on and read their work.
In each episode of Donjon, the story starts and finishes, so have no fear of being lumbered with a incomprehensible mishmash of episodes and epochs – you’ll be able to sink your teeth into each delicious morsel with absolutely no confusion at all. If you get around to reading the whole lot on the other hand, you’ll love the special charm of the story created by its past/future and the way the different characters are linked together. We especially recommend the Monster stories.
They have split the series into three separate blocks that start with the beginning of the prison cell, the toughest part of being there and, finally, the decline into decadence. On top of all that, they tell us the parallel stories lived through by the different characters. Each different epoch is given its own special touch as regards both the contents of the story and the style of the drawing. They have asked several artists to collaborate with them in doing so. This variety in the drawing is the best thing about the collection. Each artist has made the characters their own and has afforded them their own insight without relinquishing the traits created by the original authors. The story is still very much in the masterful hands of Trondheim and Sfar.
Trondheim and Sfar, each after their own fashion, have looked after the drawing of the middle part (Zenith) and the end section (Crépuscule). They called in Cristophe Blain to draw the first epoch (Potron-mimet) and the parallel Monster series has been left in the capable hands of Jean Emanuel Vermot-Desroches and Bluch for the moment. Why do we mention all these artists’ names here? Because it’s really worth your while to search out, get your hands on and read their work.
In each episode of Donjon, the story starts and finishes, so have no fear of being lumbered with a incomprehensible mishmash of episodes and epochs – you’ll be able to sink your teeth into each delicious morsel with absolutely no confusion at all. If you get around to reading the whole lot on the other hand, you’ll love the special charm of the story created by its past/future and the way the different characters are linked together. We especially recommend the Monster stories.
