Reading Wednesday, 2016 edition (part 1)

[dhampyresa]

My wrist really hurts lately and idk why. I'm hoping it's only temporary and not linked to the back pain. Anyway, going to go easy on posting, I suppose.

And so, I'm cancelling the giant post of all the books I read in 2016 and didn't talk about. Have part of it instead.


What did you finish reading

Cixi de Troy, by Christophe Arleston (scenario) et Olivier Vatine (art): This is a spin-off from Lanfeust de Troy, telling the story of Cixi between volumes 5 and 6 of that series. Same writer as the main series, different artist. A lot happens in quite a short time! I like Cixi a lot and tbh I'd been wanting to know more about that period of time where she was exclusive mistress to omnipotent tyrant by day and DRAGON RIDING VIGILANTE fighting said tyrant by night, which this comics trilogy is at least partly about, so yay! Also, pirates. Also also it makes it canon that Cixi is bi. Way back when I reviewed Mike Carey's Lucifer, I mentionned "it feature[d] the longest roadtrip I have read for someone to get an abortion that they cannot get through other means" -- this book is the basis of comparaison for that. In both cases the fact that outside magical forces prevent these women from seeking an abortion is treated as a violation, fyi. Anyway. I quite enjoyed the friendship between Cixi and her maid, and Cixi and her dragon.


What are you currently reading

A satirical newspaper that comes out on Wednesdays. I'm reading Le Canard Enchainé, Journal satirique paraissant le mercredi, because it's Wednesday and if I'm going to buy a fucking newspaper, I'll be damned if it's a newspaper that isn't independant.


Stuff finished in 2016

Plogoff
Star Wars Shattered Empire
Star Wars Princess Leia
Year of Marvel: July
Lucifer v2 1-6
DC Comics Bomshells 1-36 (Year One)
Spider-Gwen v2 1-6
Toil and trouble 1-6
Captain Britain and the Mighty Defenders 1-2
The Spire 1-8
The Grass King's Concubine
Les Ogres-Dieux: Demi-Sang
Les Quatre de Baker Street 1-5
Les Quatre de Baker Street 7
Locke & Key, Master Edition, 1-3


Stuff finished in 2017
Paris fais nous peur
Sillage 17-19
Sillage 3-4


What are you reading next

In French: a book on Parisian folklore, a book of first-hand accounts of the Paris Commune (with an eye both to the general history and to writing a Rogue One AU) and a book on Brittany. Also, comics.

In English: fuck if I know, mate.

Comments

[sovay]

I like Cixi a lot and tbh I'd been wanting to know more about that period of time where she was exclusive mistress to omnipotent tyrant by day and DRAGON RIDING VIGILANTE fighting said tyrant by night, which this comics trilogy is at least partly about, so yay! Also, pirates. Also also it makes it canon that Cixi is bi.

I have never even read the title this is a spin-off of, but it sounds amazing.

French comic series tl;dr incoming

[dhampyresa]

The main series starts with the "Lanfeust de Troy" series (8 comics). On the planet Troy, everyone has a psychic power, from the powerful -- can teleport any where at will (Thanos) -- to the superficial -- changing the colour of things (the other Cixi) -- passing by everything in between. Lanfeust can melt metals at a glance. As it turns out, both Lanfeust and Thanos, can, under specific circumstances, become omnipotent. Thanos uses this to become an omnipotent tyrant and this series is basically a quest to put Lanfeust on equal footing with him so he can stop him.

Then you get "Lanfeust des Etoiles" (8 comics), in which it turns out that Troy is an experimental colony meant to create someone with omnipotent power and the people who set up the experiment show up and grab both Lanfeust and Thanos and take them TO SPACE! At the end of this series, Lanfeust travels into the past, then back to the present -- almost, he shows up 16 years later.

Then he returns to Troy and that's "Lanfeust Odyssey".

There are at least 3 spin-offs (Cixi de Troy, Trolls de Troy and Conquérants de Troy), maybe more. I kind of lost track of the whole thing halfway through Lanfeust des Etoiles, which would be about... ten years ago now, I think. /is old and should probably see if the library has them and do a reread

ANYWAY. Cixi's one of the main characters of the main series and I like her a lot. At the end of Lanfeust of des Etoiles she's ruling an interplanetary trading empire. She has an interesting life, is what I'm saying.

But the whole vigilante thing isn't really explored in the main series, happening on the other side of the world from the main action, so I'm glad it was explored here. I like Cixi a lot.