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The Extraordinary Adventures of Adèle Blanc by Jacques Tardi

A Dazzling Dive Into Art, Intrigue & Absurdity

Jacques Tardi’s The Extraordinary Adventures of Adèle Blanc-Sec isn’t just a comic—it’s a stylistic masterclass wrapped in a whirlwind of mystery, sarcasm, and vintage Parisian splendor. From the first panel, readers are hurled into a pre-WWI France where pterodactyls soar over the Eiffel Tower, mummies saunter through museums, and our heroine, Adèle, matches wit with oddball scientists, bumbling bureaucrats, and deadly conspirators.

Adèle Is a Force of Nature

Forget your average adventurer—Adèle Blanc-Sec is sharp-tongued, gloriously cynical, and constantly two steps ahead. She’s the kind of protagonist who lights a cigarette while dodging bullets, rolls her eyes at mayhem, and treats supernatural chaos like a minor inconvenience. Her refusal to play by anyone’s rules is the comic’s beating heart. And, yes, she sleeps and takes showers just like any other person.

A Visual Feast

Tardi’s artwork is intricate and atmospheric. Paris feels grimy, decadent, alive. Every alley, newspaper clipping, and expression is laced with meticulous detail, all soaked in the noir-meets-surreal mood that makes each volume feel like a fever dream captured in ink.

Wit as Sharp as a Guillotine

The comic is deliciously dry in its humor. Bureaucracy is lampooned. Authority is ridiculed. The absurdity of the plot is intentional—and irresistible. It’s like Kafka, Hitchcock, and Tintin got drunk together and decided to rewrite history with tentacles and prehistoric beasts.

Verdict: Must-Read for the Bold and the Curious

If you crave the elegance of historical fiction but with a dash of anarchy and the bite of a sarcastic genius, Adèle Blanc-Sec delivers. It’s an unapologetically eccentric ride that respects its readers enough to challenge them while making them laugh along the way.

The Inventor’s Son by S.B. James

The first book in a series set in a world that could have been. A steampunk setting with a paranormal twist where vampires, witches, and other characters roam the streets of London and Paris.

The story revolves around a teenage boy named Ethan, whose father is a reclusive inventor. When Ethan’s father goes missing, he finds out that his father has kept a few secrets from him. On a quest to find his missing father, he also discovers that he has paranormal powers.

The narrative is pretty good, but the language comes through as rather blunt.

A Darkling’s Plain by Philip Reeve

The last book in the Predator Cities series is a good as the last three books in this quadrilogy. The end is a bit disappointing for those who seek conclusions.

Infernal Devices by Philip Reeve

The third book in this series introduces Tom’s and Hester’s daughter. Their new peaceful (static) life is interrupted by ghosts of the past. Another great novel by Reeve, who finds new, exciting angles to the story.

Predator’s Gold by Philip Reeve

The second book in the Hungry City Chronicles is almost as good as the first novel. The setting is the cold, Arctic snow plains of the North, where the moving cities hunt each other. An explorer comes along, telling tales of a Green America. Could the stories about a green continent really be true?

Mortal Engines by Philip Reeve

A great steampunkish science fiction novel. This is the first book in a quadrilogy, and it is offers a very good start. I look forward to watching the upcoming movie based on this book. The movie is due for 2018.