Wednesday Wyeth

Wednesday Wyeth

Standing in for NC Wyeth this week is Howard Pyle, the dean of pirate painters, with a marooned swab contemplating his fate.

Wednesday Wyeth

My five-hundredth post. A lot of bloggers take this milestone as a chance to reflect. I'm just going to enjoy the scenery instead.

Wednesday Wyeth

Wednesday Wyeth

Wednesday Wyeth

Wednesday Wyeth

I'll be honest - most of the artwork displayed at DeviantArt doesn't really appeal to me, which is why I was doubly surprised when I stumbled across this picture by SirJarva - a Finnish artist named Jari - while searching for something else. There's also a color version but it doesn't grab me as much as this one does, which is why SirJarva is standing in for NC Wyeth this week.

Wednesday Wyeth

Wednesday Wyeth

Wednesday Wyeth

Wednesday Wyeth

Sitting in for NC Wyeth this week is English illustrator W Heath Robinson.

Wednesday Wyeth

Wednesday Wyeth

Wednesday Wyeth

Wednesday Wyeth

Standing in for N.C. Wyeth this week is illustrator Frank C. Papé.

Wednesday Wyeth

Wednesday Wyeth

Wednesday Wyeth

Wednesday Wyeth

As with the Zorro stories, I have a real weakness for Ramona, because it's a tale of home - same with Island of the Blue Dolphins, which my daughter will be reading in school next year, just as I did. I'm looking forward to taking my kids to the Ramona Pageant when they get a little older.

Graphic Novels Challenge: Belladone

An assassin takes a shot at Louis XIV, but the ball is deflected by the iron fan of a nearby nun, who with a winsome smile leaps over the shoulders of a King's Musketeers to gain the balcony from which the assassin flees.

So opens Belladone, the creation of former Disney animator and comic artist Pierre Alary. Set in 1680 France, the story features a secret cabal of protectors of the Sun King, an Italian assassin, the Cour des Miracles, black maket 'Merchants of Death' dealing in poisons and other nastiness, and flirting between Marie, the disguised nun who is a member of the cabal, and Maxime, the captain of the King's Musketeers, who's been promised Marie's bed if he can defeat her in combat.

Ah, l'amour.

The story is simple, following the attempts of the Italian - no name is given, nor needed - on the life of Louis XIV, ostensibly for an affront to the Pope, and the efforts of Marie and Maxime - and Maxime's mother, who runs the secret cabal of guards of which Marie is a member - to protect the king. The action is beautifully illustrated, the story fast-paced and exciting, the characters engaging.

One of the amazing and wonderful aspects of the comic medium is that the stories transcend language. Belladone is written in French, but when I showed a few pages to my daughter and asked her to describe what was happening, the Cabin Girl could follow the action without recourse to the words. When she's a few years older, I look forward to sitting down with her and sharing the whole book together. Marie is a great example of a woman swashbuckler, as capable as the men without sacrificing her womanhood, and without being rendered as fanservice.

There are two more volumes of the Belladone saga, but because they are hardcover imports, they tend to be rather pricey, so I haven't - yet - picked up the sequels.