Here’s a write up of Giraud’s volume of XIII from Cinebook, which is now available(in the states as well, as I believe Diamond is now carrying them). Cinebook graciously sent me a copy, and it’s nice to finally see a new English translation of Giraud’s work. It’s beautiful(and cheap), and so fun to see him play around in the spy genre.

[via The Comics Reporter]

RELEASE NEWS

My pal Joe Keatinge let me know that Cinebook, who’ve been working wonders publishing a multitude of Franco-Belgian comics in English, are releasing XIII Volume 18: The Irish Version in January. XIII is a fantastic French espionage series created by writer Jean Van Hamme and artist William Vance in 1984 that was inspired by Robert Ludlum’s Bourne books. For Volume 18, they switched things up and asked Giraud to illustrate it. And Cinebook, who’ve been translating and releasing 2-3 volumes a year, have caught up to Giraud’s album, originally released in 2007.

This book is interesting to me for a few reasons. Most important is that it’s the first new album-length English translation of Giraud’s work in the 21st century. Humanoids, who’ve been doing great work, have only released the Jodorowsky collaborations which have seen English print before. So that’s exciting. I also like his XIII because it’s a rare example of Giraud working in a modern day setting. And seeing him get down on some spy genre makes me real happy.

Diamond is now distributing Cinebook in the states, so it should be easier to find than before, and I can’t wait. As a sidenote, Cinebook have also been releasing English translations of Jean-Claude Mézières’ landmark Valerian series, which I can’t possibly recommend enough.

Panel detail from XIII, Volume 18: The Irish Version

(Source: mister-jacq.blogspot.com)

(Source: mister-jacq.blogspot.com)

A new cover for XIII: The Irish Version done in 2009 for the 25th anniversary of XIII.

(Source: mister-jacq.blogspot.com)

Giraud’s cover to his contribution to the XIII series, Volume 18: The Irish Version(this time in Dutch)

A panel from XIII, Volume 18: La Version irlandaise (The Irish Version). XII is a long running espionage series created by Jean Van Hamme and William Vance. In 1997, Giraud was hired to illustrate this one volume, and it’s one of the few comics that Giraud has drawn that’s set in a contemporary, non-fantastical setting.

XIII: La Version Irlandaise(The Irish Version)

In 2007, Moebius illustrated the 18th volume of XIII, a French espionage comic that’s loosely based on Robert Ludlum’s Bourne books. I haven’t been able to find much of it anywhere online, and it was never translated to English(only the first 3 volumes ever were). Sad, because I think that this is a unique example of his work. It’s pretty straight forward, reminiscent of his Blueberry work in style, but set in modern day and in a modern urban city. I Aside from a few short comics, I’ve never really seen that before. In everything I’ve ever seen, Moebius has drawn very few modern buildings, which I find sort of fascinating. And this is straight up spy genre stuff! I really want to get my hands on this someday soon.