Celebrated French comics artists
Florent Ruppert and Jérôme Mulot draw intensely collaborative, mesmerizing comics that play with optical illusions and systems of perception to mine the dark crevices of human interaction. In
Barrel of Monkeys, they deftly stitch together several bizarre story-lines, including a late-night break-in to the zoo to investigate a potential elephant molestation situation, and the escapades of two portrait photographers who find themselves in stranger and stranger scenarios with their various customers.
Barrel of Monkeys, which won the
Prix Révélation at the Festival International de la Bande Dessinée d'Angoulême, is Ruppert and Mulot's first book to be published in English. It also constitutes the launch of Bill Kartalopoulous'
Rebus Books!
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| Startled by an ostrich in the night |
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| One of the book's intricate Eadweard Muybridge-esque sequences, involving a guide dog race |
These are two of many
phenakistoscopes in
Barrel of Monkeys. As indicated in the book, if you want to see some of the phenakistoscopes in motion,
click through - and click on each of the phenakistoscopes to see them in motion! Seriously, do it. It's pret-ty cool.
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| Jérôme Mulot did all the hand-lettering in this English language edition, for aesthetic fidelity |
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| The dialogue is often laid out in this confusing, yet appealing vertical fashion |
There is also
this great review by Dustin Harbin at Drawn Blog, and
this mention at the always excellent 50 Watts! Everyone's hoping for some more Ruppert & Mulot English language editions soon!
