{"id":27774,"date":"2023-04-02T09:00:41","date_gmt":"2023-04-02T09:00:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/?p=27774"},"modified":"2023-03-31T17:31:46","modified_gmt":"2023-03-31T17:31:46","slug":"yakari-volume-20-the-cloud-maker","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/2023\/04\/02\/yakari-volume-20-the-cloud-maker\/","title":{"rendered":"Yakari volume 20: The Cloud Maker"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\nBy Derib<\/strong> & Job<\/strong>, coloured by Dominique<\/strong> and translated by Jerome Saincantin<\/strong> (Cinebook)
\nISBN: 978-1-80044-074-6 (Album PB\/Digital edition)<\/p>\n

In 1964 children\u2019s magazine Le Crapaud \u00e0 lunettes<\/em><\/strong> was founded by Swiss journalist Andr\u00e9 Jobin, who then wrote for it under the pseudonym Job. Three years later he hired fellow French-Swiss artist Claude de Ribaupierre AKA \u201cDerib\u201d. The illustrator had launched his own career as an assistant at Studio Peyo (home of Les Schtroumpfs<\/em><\/strong>): working on The Smurfs<\/strong> strips for venerable weekly Le Journal de<\/em><\/strong> Spirou<\/em><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Thereafter, together they created the splendid Adventures of the Owl Pythagore<\/em> before striking pure comics gold a few years later with their next collaboration. Derib – equally au fait with enticing, comically dynamic \u201cMarcinelle\u201d cartoon style yarns and devastatingly compelling meta-realistic action illustrated action epics – went on to become one of the Continent\u2019s most prolific and revered creators. It\u2019s a crime that groundbreaking strips such as Buddy Longway<\/em><\/strong>, Celui-qui-est-n<\/em>\u00e0<\/em>-deux-fois,<\/em> Jo<\/strong> (first comic to deal with AIDS), Pour toi, Sandra<\/em> and La Grande Saga Indienne<\/strong><\/em>) haven\u2019t been translated into English yet, but we still patiently wait in hope and anticipation\u2026<\/p>\n

Over the decades, much of Derib\u2019s stunning works have featured his beloved Western themes: magnificent geographical backdrops and epic landscapes. Yakari<\/strong> is considered by fans and critics to be the strip which led him to his deserved mega-stardom.<\/p>\n

Debuting in 1969, it traces the eventful, nomadic life of a young Oglala Lakota<\/em> boy on the Great Plains – according to this tale, in the vicinity of the Great Lakes Basin. The stories are set sometime after the introduction of horses by the Conquistadores, but before the coming of modern Europeans.<\/p>\n

The series – which also generated two separate animated TV series and a movie – is up to 42 albums thus far: a testament to its evergreen vitality and brilliance of its creators, even though originator Job moved on and Frenchman Joris Chamblain took on the writing in 2016.<\/p>\n

Overflowing with gentle whimsy and heady compassion, little Yakari<\/strong> enjoys a largely bucolic existence: at one with nature and generally free from privation or strife. For the sake of our delectation, however, the ever-changing seasons are punctuated with the odd crisis, generally resolved without fuss, fame or fanfare by a little lad who is smart and brave – and can, thanks to a boon of his totem guide the Great Eagle<\/em>,<\/em> converse with all animals\u2026<\/p>\n

In 1995, Le souffleur de nuages <\/em><\/strong>was the 21st<\/sup> European album, but – as always with the best books – the content and set-up are both stunningly simple and sublimely accessible, affording new readers total enjoyment with a minimum of familiarity or foreknowledge required\u2026<\/p>\n

Here and now it is painfully topical as Yakari\u2019s wandering people are stranded as springtime rains inundate the entire region. When the downpour finally stops, the land is devasted by flooding and the little wonder and his valiant pony decide to check on all their animal pals. Happily, Little Thunder<\/em> is an excellent swimmer\u2026<\/p>\n

They don\u2019t go far before meeting beaver patriarch Thousand-Mouths<\/em>, whose frantic efforts to rally the clan for a major repair job to the lodge and dams is being hampered by bone idle slacker Wooden Bed<\/em>. Just like any teenager, he just wants to sleep\u2026<\/p>\n

Water is everywhere, and the landscape is a sea broken by tiny islands. The prairie dog colony are marooned on one, waiting until it all recedes so they can clear out their great burrow. They are also nervously contemplating the ominously cloud-filled sky\u2026<\/p>\n

Pressing on, the horse and his boy reach a flooded forest and find raccoon Black Mask<\/em> and his kin fractiously sharing a tree with grumpy owl. Nobody is happy, but all are resigned to waiting out the weather…<\/p>\n

That night, back in camp and very much appreciating being warm and dry, Yakari has one of his special, prophetic dreams. It shows him more rains washing away his tipi (tent) until it is washed up onto a big white cloud\u2026<\/p>\n

Happily, morning brings better news. The waters have clearly receded, but – still perplexed by his vision – Yakari rides Little Thunder back along yesterday\u2019s route just to check. Everywhere, industrious animals are clearing up and making good, and with so much to see and beasts to check on, the pair are far from home when the sun sets.<\/p>\n

Bedding down under a large rock, they are later awakened by an odd cry coming from the river. Closer examination in the morning reveals the disturbance came from a pond linked to the swiftly flowing waters. Oddly, a small cloud is escaping from the turbulence. When Yakari dives in for a closer look, he is abruptly raised up into the air by a giant white fish surfacing under him!<\/p>\n

The incredible snow-white monster turns out to be a chatty and gregarious beast calling itself a \u201cwhite whale\u201d. The curious Beluga had travelled along the swollen river from the \u201cGreat Water\u201d Yakari had seen when travelling with spirit creature Nanabozho<\/em>. Soon they are all trading life stories\u2026<\/p>\n

The boy names his new chum Peeleepee<\/em> because of the cry it constantly utters, and discovers that despite living in the ocean, the newcomer needs air to live, water to support his weight and makes clouds from the top of his head\u2026<\/p>\n

In a remarkably short time they are all great friends and have learned lots of each other\u2019s worlds. The boy and the beluga even trade tricks and acrobatic games, but the idyl is rudely shattered when a passing toad points out that, while they\u2019ve been romping, the waters have further evaporated. The great white wonder is now trapped in an isolated pond far from the river it needs to live or get home by\u2026<\/p>\n

Snotty but smart, the amphibian then suggests a possible solution, but it takes all of Yakari\u2019s friends working together, sheer luck, applied physics and the boy\u2019s considerable negotiating skills to ensure the safety of the stranded newcomer before this ending turns out happy\u2026<\/p>\n

Yakari <\/strong>is one of the most unfailingly absorbing all-ages strips ever conceived and should be in every home, right beside Tintin<\/strong>, Uncle Scrooge<\/strong>, Asterix <\/strong>and The Moomins<\/strong>. It\u2019s never too late to start reading something wonderful, so why not get back to nature as soon as you can?
\nOriginal edition \u00a9 Derib + Job – Editions du Lombard (Dargaud – Lombard s. a.) – 2000. All rights reserved. English translation 2022 \u00a9 Cinebook Ltd.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Derib & Job, coloured by Dominique and translated by Jerome Saincantin (Cinebook) ISBN: 978-1-80044-074-6 (Album PB\/Digital edition) In 1964 children\u2019s magazine Le Crapaud \u00e0 lunettes was founded by Swiss journalist Andr\u00e9 Jobin, who then wrote for it under the pseudonym Job. Three years later he hired fellow French-Swiss artist Claude de Ribaupierre AKA \u201cDerib\u201d. … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “Yakari volume 20: The Cloud Maker”<\/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":[191,63,102,125,97,99,252],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-27774","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-adventure","category-european-classics","category-fantasy","category-humour","category-kids-all-ages","category-westerns","category-yakari"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4AFj-7dY","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27774","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=27774"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27774\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27777,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27774\/revisions\/27777"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27774"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27774"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27774"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}