Staff Picks (Jul13): The Fantastic Voyage Of Lady Rozenbilt

Publisher: Humanoids

If a fantasy world's built right, it will support the weight of the most outrageous characters without once straining the reader's credulity. Pierre Gabus and Romuald Reutimann take a familiar setting like 1930’s New York City and give it a radical new spin along with some subtle, humanizing details, and out the other side pops one of the most well-built worlds I’ve had the pleasure of exploring.  In their first book, District 14 [NOV121225], horse gangs ran protection rackets, elephant immigrants carried international secrets, and haunting human ex-girlfriends plagued their old lovers.  Set in a city as fantastic as its inhabitants, the graphic novel spun through nail-biting suspense and drama reminiscent of the Blacksad books, but with more surprising science fiction.

You cannot imagine my delight to find that authors Gabus and Reutimann are returning to the world they built around District 14.  This time, the story follows the family of a previously introduced but highly mysterious cat-man out to a tropical island beyond the walls of the City itself.  There's submarines, wealth to rival Gatsby, crawling cthuloids in tanks, mind control, and murder — and it all dovetails perfectly with the beautiful world that Gabus & Reutimann built! 

~ Sarah Martinez