This translates to "Dry Cleaning," and was published by Rue de Sèvres in 2022, a publisher I don't remember hearing about before.
https://www.bedetheque.com/serie-78913-BD-Nettoyage-a-sec.html
(zoom or right-click-open to expand these images)
Mertens is Flemish-Belgian, born in 1968, and seemingly worked in film most of his career, only turning to BD novels in 2019, doing this one and Béatrice so far, both as artist and writer.
As for the story, it's a classic slice-of-life look at François, an aging middle-aged man whose main ambition is to win the lottery, which would enable him to give his younger female friend and daughter the kind of life he feels they deserve. Meanwhile, he works a rather uncertain job as a delivery driver for a local dry cleaner. All in all, his is not *quite* a pathetic existence, but one can feel it inevitably slipping in that direction.
Perhaps the main theme here is actually "rain," and that's conveyed almost ceaselessly across almost every page. François is perpetually forgetting to bring his umbrella along, and therefore walks around across the entire story not unlike a drowned rat. Indeed, things take a turn for the tragic (amidst bitter irony) when it comes to his relationship with water.
But about the art-- I don't think I've ever seen rain in a city-scape portrayed with such lushness and power. Mertens very definitely takes some liberties with shading, lighting and coloring, and I'm pleased to say that he produces some of the most stunning BD art I've ever seen. Truly, this work can be thoroughly enjoyed in either the Dutch or French versions without needing to understand a single word. It really is that kind of wonderful.
If there's a weakness with this one, at ~140pp I feel that it probably could have been edited down a bit to tell the story a bit more efficiently and dramatically. But it's hard to care too much when the art is this incredible, and to be fair-- it's a strong story that feels reminiscent of classic Euro film.
This is the kind of book I thought I would only see in my wildest dreams. I need a new word for how gorgeous this is. It's kind of weird that I found this post right now, now that two books from Rue de Sèvres takes pride of place in my flat at the moment.
Oh, what are the books?
Aquarica, tome 2 by Benoît Sokal and François Schuiten
La Brute et le Divin by Léonard Chemineau
https://www.babelio.com/livres/Sokal-Aquarica-tome-2--La-baleine-geante/1418249/extraits
https://www.babelio.com/livres/Chemineau-La-Brute-et-le-Divin/1530753/extraits
I really like your posts, by the way. You make an old (I was born in 1977) BD enthusiast feel right at home. :)
Woaw... La Brute et le Divin looks incredible...!
Thank you! :-)
(either way, it's almost always a classic with the name "Schuiten," non?)
To be clear, I'm just an English-speaking person with terrible French.
As I learn French, I naturally like to use little bits of it, here and there. But I don't want any help. -- I like to figure things out for myself.
In any case, I hate to disappoint you about the idea that you're older than me... lol. Thank you for the compliments, in any case!
I'm also terrible att French, but I love BD art so much that I learn a lot just from reading books that haven't been translated to English, Swedish or Danish. I understand most Danish so when only tome 1 of Cyann by Bourgeon was translated to Swedish I bought the rest of the series in Danish.
Yes, true, you know you're in for a treat with Schuiten. Have you read The Tower? It's sooo good.
Oh I see. But I often feel old when I talk about books released in the late seventies in Sweden that were handed down to me by my older sister. We both adored Derib's Buddy Longway and I was obsessed with Johan and Peewit and read the same books over and over. When I mention and rave about those books now my younger friends don't know what I'm on about! :)