{"id":14783,"date":"2016-05-12T13:18:10","date_gmt":"2016-05-12T13:18:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/?p=14783"},"modified":"2016-05-12T13:18:10","modified_gmt":"2016-05-12T13:18:10","slug":"melusine-volume-5-tales-of-the-full-moon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/2016\/05\/12\/melusine-volume-5-tales-of-the-full-moon\/","title":{"rendered":"Melusine volume 5: Tales of the Full Moon"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"\"\"
\nBy <\/strong>Clarke<\/strong> & <\/strong>Gilson<\/strong>, coloured by <\/strong>Cerise<\/strong>; translated by <\/strong>Jerome<\/strong> <\/strong>Saincantin<\/strong> (Cinebook)
\nISBN: 978-1-84918-212-6<\/p>\n

Witches – especially cute, sassy and\/or teenaged ones – have a splendidly long pedigree in all branches of fiction, and one of the most seductively engaging first appeared in venerable Belgian comics-magazine Spirou<\/strong><\/em><\/strong> in 1992.<\/p>\n

M\u00c3\u00a9lusine<\/em> is actually a sprightly 119-year-old neophyte sorceress diligently studying to perfect her craft at Witches’ School. To make ends meet she spends her off-duty moments days working as au pair and general dogsbody to a most shockingly disreputable family of haunts and horrors inhabiting and infesting a vast, monster-packed, ghost-afflicted chateau at some chronologically adrift, anachronistically awry time in the Middle-ish Ages\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<\/p>\n

Episodes of the long-running, much-loved feature are presented in every format from one-page gag strips to full-length comedy tales; all riffing wickedly on supernatural themes and detailing M\u00c3\u00a9lusine’s rather fraught existence. Our magic maid’s life is filled with the daily indignities of skivvying, studying, catering to the appalling and outrageous domestic demands of the master and mistress of the castle and – far too occasionally – schmoozing with a large and ever-growing circle of exceedingly peculiar family and friends.<\/p>\n

The strip was devised by writer Fran\u00c3\u00a7ois Gilson (Rebecca<\/em>, Cactus Club<\/em>, Garage Isidore<\/em>) and cartoon humorist Fr\u00c3\u00a9d\u00c3\u00a9ric Seron, AKA Clarke whose numerous features for all-ages Spirou<\/strong><\/em><\/strong> and acerbic adult humour publication Fluide Glacial<\/strong><\/em><\/strong> include Rebecca<\/em>, Les Cambrioleurs<\/em>, Durant les Travaux<\/em>, l’Exposition Continue\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<\/em> and Le Miracle de la Vie<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Under the pseudonym Valda, Seron also created Les Babysitters<\/em> and as \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Bluttwurst\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Les Enqu\u00c3\u00aates de l’Inspecteur Archibaldo Massicotti<\/em>, Ch\u00c3\u00a2teau Montrachet<\/em>, Mister President<\/strong><\/em><\/strong> and P.38 et Bas Nylo<\/em>.<\/p>\n

A former fashion illustrator and nephew of comics veteran Pierre Seron, Clarke is one of those insufferable guys who just draws non-stop and is unremittingly funny. He also doubles up as a creator of historical and genre pieces such as Cosa Nostra<\/em>, Les Histoires de France<\/strong><\/em><\/strong>, Luna Almaden<\/em> and Nocturnes<\/em>. He has obviously been cursed by some sorceress and can no longer enjoy the surcease of sleep\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<\/p>\n

Collected M\u00c3\u00a9lusine editions began appearing annually or better from 1995 onwards, with the 24th<\/sup> published in 2015 and another due this year. Thus far five of those have shape-shifted into English translations\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<\/p>\n

Originally released in October 2002, Contes de la pleine lune<\/strong><\/em><\/strong> was Continentally the tenth groovy grimoire of mystic mirth and is again most welcoming: primarily comprised of single and 2-page gags starring the sassy sorceress which delightfully eschew continuity for the sake of new readers’ instant approbation\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<\/p>\n

When brittle, moody, over-stressed Melusine isn’t being bullied for her inept cleaning skills by the matriarchal ghost-duchess who runs the castle, ducking cat-eating monster Winston<\/em>, dodging frisky vampire The Count<\/em> or avoiding the unwelcome and often hostile attentions of horny peasants and over-zealous witch-hunting priests, our saucy sorceress can usually be found practising her spells or consoling and coaching inept, un-improvable and lethally unskilled classmate Cancrelune<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Unlike Mel, this sorry enchantress-in-training is a real basket case: her transformation spells go awfully awry, she can’t remember incantations and her broomstick-riding makes her a menace to herself, any unfortunate observers and even the terrain and buildings around her\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<\/p>\n

As the translated title of this (fifth) Cinebook offering suggests, <\/strong>Tales of the Full Moon<\/strong> dwells on demolishing fairy fables and bedevilling bedtime stories but also gives a proper introduction to Mel’s best friend Krapella<\/em>: a rowdy, roistering, mischievous and disruptive classmate who is the very image of what boys want in a \u00e2\u20ac\u0153bad\u00e2\u20ac\u009d witch\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<\/p>\n

This tantalising tome is filled with narrative nostrums featuring the usual melange of slick sight gags and pun-ishing pranks; highlighting how our legerdemainic lass finds a little heart’s ease by picturing how one day she’ll have her very own Prince Charming.<\/p>\n

Sadly, every dream ends – usually because there’s a mess that needs cleaning up – but Melusine absolutely draws the line when Cancrelune and even her own sweetness-&-light Fairy cousin Melisande<\/em> start hijacking her daydreams\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<\/p>\n

This fusillade of fanciful forays concludes with eponymously titled, extended episode Tales of the Full Moon<\/em> wherein Melusine is ordered to read a bedtime story to the Count’s cousin’s son: an obnoxiously rambunctious junior vampire named Globule<\/em> who insists on twisting her lovely lines about princesses and princes into something warped and Gothic\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 and that’s before Cancrelune starts chipping in with her own weird, wild suggestions and interjections \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<\/p>\n

Wacky, wry, sly, infinitely inventive and uproariously funny, this compendium of arcane antics is a terrific taste of European comics wonderment: a beguiling delight for all lovers of the cartoonist’s art. Read well before bedtime – or you’ll be up laughing all night \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6
\nOriginal edition \u00c2\u00a9 Dupuis, 2002 by Clarke & Gilson. All rights reserved. English translation 2014 \u00c2\u00a9 Cinebook Ltd.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Clarke & Gilson, coloured by Cerise; translated by Jerome Saincantin (Cinebook) ISBN: 978-1-84918-212-6 Witches – especially cute, sassy and\/or teenaged ones – have a splendidly long pedigree in all branches of fiction, and one of the most seductively engaging first appeared in venerable Belgian comics-magazine Spirou in 1992. M\u00c3\u00a9lusine is actually a sprightly 119-year-old … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “Melusine volume 5: Tales of the Full Moon”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[113,63,102,132],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14783","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-comedy","category-european-classics","category-fantasy","category-older-kids"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4AFj-3Qr","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14783","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14783"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14783\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14783"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14783"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14783"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}