fantasy and science fiction book reviewsfantasy and science fiction book reviewsGrandville, Bete Noire by Bryan Talbot

Grandville, Bete Noire, Bryan Talbot’s third steam-punk themed graphic novel, has the same lavish detail and striking use of color as the first two. English Badger D.I. Archie LeBrock is back, as rough-and-tumble as ever, and in this book we spend a bit more time with Quayle or “Q,” a brilliant inventor adept at stealth weapons, like a smoking pipe that is really a bomb. It’s a nice wink in the direction of Ian Fleming.

The plot is slimmer and more predictable than the first two, and a large part of the story is taken up with the exploration of LeBrock’s relationship with the beautiful prostitute Billie, who he met in Grandville, Mon Amor. We find out a bit more about Billie, especially, in one hilarious and naughty frame, what her particular work “specialty” is. Archie’s backstory is fleshed out, with some well-planted clues about future books.

grandvillebette noirWhat makes this book fun is the volume of in-jokes about art and artists, especially French artists. The murder victim is Gustave Corbeau (a crow), and the person who stands to benefit from his death is a gopher sculptor named Auguste Rodent. There are lots of comments about watercolors and oils, and representational art versus abstracts. The murder weapon that kills Corbeau is steampunk-ingenious, and the humor and puns keep coming through the book. (The villain’s cunning plan is to destroy representational art and replace it with meaningless abstractions – and that’s not a spoiler.)

As always, the images are wildly imaginative. There is a thrilling motorcycle chase on pages 76-77, that takes place under the admiring gaze of a gang of French street-apache meerkats.

I enjoyed the other two Grandville books more, but Bryan Talbot’s visual imagination is a treasure. Talbot’s world holds together, provides a fun escapist story and gives us eye candy galore.

Author

  • Marion Deeds

    Marion Deeds, with us since March, 2011, is the author of the fantasy novella ALUMINUM LEAVES. Her short fiction has appeared in the anthologies BEYOND THE STARS, THE WAND THAT ROCKS THE CRADLE, STRANGE CALIFORNIA, and in Podcastle, The Noyo River Review, Daily Science Fiction and Flash Fiction Online. She’s retired from 35 years in county government, and spends some of her free time volunteering at a second-hand bookstore in her home town.