The Extraordinary Adventures of Adéle Blanc-Sec Vol. 1

Both a rip-roaring adventure series set in pre-World War I Paris and a parody of the same, Adéle has been enchanting, thrilling, and puzzling readers worldwide through four decades. With various American attempts to publish Adéle having dribbled into nothing decades ago, Fantagraphics Books, fresh from its triumphs with Tardi’s West Coast Blues and You Are There, launches a spectacular, newly retranslated, hardcover series ¬— The Extraordinary Adventures of Adéle Blanc-Sec — that intends to collect every one of its nine (soon ten) volumes.

In this premiere installment which features two tales, “Pterror Over Paris” and “The Eiffel Tower Demon,” Adéle becomes involved in a series of mysteries that involve a revived pterodactyl, a frightful on-stage murder, a looming execution by guillotine, and a demon from the depths of hell — plus of course moronic gendarmes, loyal (or perhaps traitorous?) henchmen, and a climax atop the Eiffel Tower.