Les Cités Obscures

I really enjoy well-constructed stories about different worlds and peoples, filled with visionary charisma, that exist only in the mind of some. Magnetic places that only a few “enlightened” and inventive people are able to create, describe and share. And more than that… translate it into all sorts of documents (visual and literary) that represent that same reality. I especially love the graphic novel as a storytelling medium, as it joins the forces of astonishing images with the strength of powerful words (when it’s successful, at least).

Not that I go after them, generally I don’t look for good science or fantasy fiction… maybe I should. But last year I borrowed a book (graphic novel) by two authors, Schuiten and Peeters, called “L’Enfant Penchée” (The Leaning Child). It’s a very bizarre but stunning story about a girl, Mary, who lives in a parallel world and is attracted to a gravitational force that’s not from her own planet, therefore making her lean towards one side, literally. It’s also about an eccentric artist that paints globes (this part is a photographic story) and the way his existence influences hers. Obviously more complex than that, but that’s enough for now.

Recently I was trying to find more books by those authors (because The Leaning Child is really fascinating), and I found one called “L’Archiviste” (The Archivist). It’s not so much a graphic novel as we know it, but a half written, half drawn story, told by an archivist/historian. His last job is to study and conclude whether the evidences of the existence of some extraordinary cities (from a different planet, occult to us) are authentic.

I learnt that both books are part of a bigger, huge I might say, collection of information about a parallel world that has secret passages to ours, and about its cities and peoples, its history and stories. And this whole enigmatic creation is called “Les Cités Obscures” (or Cities of the Fantastic).

What had such a big impact on me, at least at some primary level, were the amazing drawings of spectacular, and architecturally exquisite, cities. Because each one seems to have its own personality, a style, that is reflected not only in the buildings and its disposition, but also among the people that live there.

For me, graphic novels must have a group of characteristics in order to be called brilliant. Not only the plot must be exceptional, but it needs to be visually beautiful (or at least very appealing), the characters have to be solid, and there has to be an immense feeling of originality and uniqueness about it. In these Cities everything speaks for itself… and it’s all pretty excellent.

Isabel
Friday, April 27, 2007