The Ancient Roman symbol of life’s precariousness was a butterfly balanced on a skull balanced on a wheel and the story of Peplum thoroughly proves it. Acclaimed French graphic novelist Blutch freely adapts Petronius Arbiter’s Satyricon (one of the first “novels” in recorded history) into a story full of stoicism and sloth, sex and death, whimsy and tragedy, all gorgeously rendered. A cold, starving youth takes a dead nobleman’s name and travels across the Empire encountering all manner of misadventures. Is it all a cosmic joke or an outcome entirely of his own making? You decide.
The first volume in a new collected series, The World of Edena, collects several short stories by the comic legend Moebius. When Stel and Atan stumble upon a strange ship in a remote part of the galaxy they begin a journey across time and space to the legendary paradise planet Edena. Once they arrive they start to transform, losing their high-tech, future-designed, bodies, Stel and Atan become their true selves only to lose each other. Through dreams and nightmares, strange cultures and adventure, Moebius unpacks this new world in gorgeous pages. Stel and Atan must be reunited, and their journey takes them across this fully realized world of beauty, death, and fear. Moebius's artwork and self-exploratory narrative will draw you in and, if you're lucky, never let you out. Moebius is one of the most important comics artists, and this is a perfect introduction to his work.
