Grandville Mon Amour HC

This second installment of Grandville is just as good as the first and picks up right where the last one left off, weaving in important plot elements from the first as well. The narrative pace is quick and exciting with lots of action and humor. The best description is a steampunk crime thriller fantasy with antropomorphic characters set in an alternate present in which France won the Napoleonic Wars. Grandville's strong point is its amazing art: clean and meticulously descriptive drawing in deep, rich colors, featuring interesting effects such as airbrushed(?) blood sprays. Beautifully bound in pictoral cloth over boards. Watch for comic cameos such as Donald Duck as a criminal pervert (or Tintin's dog Snowy as an alcoholic in the first installment). A little too sexy and sweary for the youngest readers, but the violence lacks gore.

I loved reading this book and purchased all 3 stories. I wish there were more like this.... Storyline is great and so is the art.

Bryan Talbot's a gifted-as-hell writer, and, like Gaiman or McCloud, an historian on storytelling and comics. I've enjoyed everything I've read from Talbot so far, including this, but this is the first book where the flaws really took away from the experience.Grandville Mon Amour is the first sequel to 2009's Grandville: An intentionally pulpy steampunk tale that thrives (intentionally, I presume) on cliches to tell gripping, silly yarns. It's a huge departure from Talbot's earlier, often abstruse trademark in that it's all sex and thrilling shots of testosterone set in a steampunk Europe populated by anthropomorphic animals.I enjoyed the first one well enough, but GMA quickly fell apart for me. For being about a Holmes-ian badger detective hunting down a serial killer and a conspiracy, it's a little painful to have the mystery's solution bash the reader over the head a full 80 pages (in a 90-page story!) before our heroes figure out what should have been plainly obvious. It's never fun for the characters to intentionally slip into sudden, out-of-character ignorance for the sake of maintaining tension.Not only that, but GMA tends to beat the cliches its living in a little too strongly: Sarah, the prequel's love interest, is replaced too quickly by a doppleganger who serves the exact same role, down to her personality and voice; LeBrock, word-for-word, has that 'I'm-a-rebel-cop-with-nothing-to-lose!' shouting match culminating in his quitting the force; the solution to the serial killer story is so full of holes (right down to how he escapes custody and his motivations) that the entire plot just falls to pieces, which, again, ruins the intended tension.It was still a fun, quick read, as it was intended, and Talbot's still a talented enough dude that I recommend checking his work out--just don't start by looking here. Pick up the Tale of One Bad Rat, or Alice in Sunderland.

A psychotic murderer is condemned to hang for his crimes but he somehow escapes and makes his way from Blighty to Grandville where he begins to wreak a furious vengeance on a series of prostitutes. But what do these women have in common? Inspector LeBrock returns to Grandville hot on the heels of "Mad Dog" Mastock to stop his killing spree and bring him to justice. But what he finds as he begins to investigate the murders takes him back to the past when Britain was fighting for independence against the French, to an event called the Brick Lane Massacre, his own father, and a terrible conspiracy reaching to the highest echelons of power...Bryan Talbot follows up his hit comic book "Grandville" from last year with "Grandville Mon Amour", the sequel. For those not familiar with the series, the characters are mostly animals in human-ish form, in a steampunk reimagining of the Victorian era with robots and flying machines thrown into the mix.Talbot's art is nothing short of masterful. Each page contains a stunning array of illustrations, from detailed crowd scenes to richly coloured interiors. Talbot's writing is also of a very high standard with the plot hurtling forwards at all times making for a terrifically exciting read."Mon Amour" is a welcome return to the wonderfully realised world of "Grandville". It's a crime thriller but with darker overtones to the first book. Fantastic art, fantastic story, a great comic book from a true artist and storyteller, and a great read.

If you've not heard of Grandville by now, you HAVE to get into this series (and yes, since we're at No. 2 it is a series now). Mon Amour takes place three weeks after the first, and DI Archie LeBrock (no relation to Kelly, as far as I know) is mourning the loss of his beloved Sarah. A dangerous dog (remember, this is an anthropomorphized world where humans are slaves) escapes the guillotine and escapes to Paris where he murders a bunch of hookers. LeBrock is suspended from Scotland Yard after his outburst at not being given the case, though he follows the trail to Paris and investigates anyway.Even if you took away the great artwork, the retro-futuristic/steampunk atmosphere, and the Holmes/Watson twist Grandville: Mon Amour would still be winner thanks to the innovative historic/contemporary political issues that contain the plot. Add it all together (including some sly pop-culture jokes) and you have one truly unique graphic novel/experience. A must buy, for anyone and everyone.I don't want this series to end, and impatiently await the next.

Amazing artwork, fantastic ideas and storyline. The man is a genius. I have the Kindle version which works well on an iPad mini. I did get the chance recently to see the paperback version - the quality of the artwork is exceptional. I have all the books in the series and would make the same comments about all - a fantastic set of books. Highly recommended.

I really enjoyed the first book and to say this this second instalment brings more of the same is no criticism. The artwork and pace of the story are equally stunning and I was personally pleased to find less of the unsubtle (and unnecessary) political allegory.The hero and his sidekick rise far enough above the clichéd cop kicked out the force to act on his own plot device to be engaging. He also has a soft spot for hookers, but while that might be a very familiar idea, few detectives are barrel chested badgers with a rat for a side kick.The artwork is frequently stunning but never intrusive. In fact, the story goes at such a pace I found myself going back to take in the drawings and give them the time they deserved. The attention to detail is both admirable and engaging with many panels having the power to linger in the memory like classic movie scenes that would be minutes long to achieve the same resonance.I could not escape the notion that Grandville will end up as a movie and that would be a fair reward for the author and artist, but do yourself a favour and read the books first. I gather there are to be further adventures for Inspector LeBrock and personally I can't wait.

Grandville Mon Amour takes up the story 3 weeks after Grandville's explosive finale. The artwork is superb and the overall presentation in hardback definitely adds to the package. Personally I think the storyline is the equal of Grandville and if you enjoyed the first instalment you will definitely enjoy the second. This time Inspector LeBrock is on the trail of a psychotic ex-guerilla-fighter mass murderering escaped prisoner with shady links to the political elite - so just another ordinary case for him....thoroughly enjoyable and highly recommended

After reading and falling in love with the amazing original book I could not wait to get my sweaty hands on the follow up. I was not in any way disappointed. Maybe the story is a bit more obvious than it's predecessor but that is nit picking to a ludicrous degree. The art work is better and the book somehow more lush. You just have to love a hulking badger as the hero. Someone get Peter Jackson to make a film of these books.

I first came across Talbot around thirty odd years ago and his artwork is as good now as it was then. Lots of puns and digs at the French in the nicest possible way. However, the story is too compact and maybe this is a constraint due to the format. The drawings are detailed and fresh with great accuracy but there seems to be something lacking. I am a fan of comic books but was left wanting more.

My son who is 15, loves this series of comic books. He just can not put them down & says they are really exciting.

Wonderful illustrations - Great present for my other half who loves the artwork of this writer!All at a fantastic price.

Great service and item. Cheers

Exceptional storytelling and beautiful drawing/ink work. Would recommend this amazing book for anyone wanting to experience tip top fantasy. Amazing !

A good buy reasonably priced and I hope a collectors item in the future.I bought it for my son who is a comic buff.

I love this book however this was not the book that arrived, I am waiting for this to be sorted out, I now have two copies of the original Grandville, I could not bring myself to put one star on MrTalbot's exceptional work.

great book, great service

Nice retro cartoon, for mature teens and grown-ups. Not for prudes (!).

Supérieur au premier

I would not have bought this book if I had seen it first. It was inspired by a local landmark but less enjoyable than other books by the same author.