Characters and backgrounds are well defined but appear a bit static. Colours and finish have the look of computer rendering and are very smooth.

I’ve been a long term fan of Talbot’s art since his Luther Arkwright days but with Grandville he takes a different approach. It’s gets a bit too violent at times but that’s almost a requirement for a thriller today. LeBrock is an action Sherlock Holmes with a faithful sidekick in tow. The steampunk angle fits as well but I can’t say the characters all being animals did anything for me, other than to say this medium allows for it. The background story of England as a French territory and it’s Victorian sense made for interesting plot twists and were a big plus. Lots of action, intrigue, and excellent dialogue. The story is fast paced and well written: I didn’t intend to read all 108 pages at once but I was compelled to keep turning the pages. Grandville, which I’m guessing was the inspiration for the name. This is a steampunk Victorian drama and thriller with humanized animals in the style of J.J. LeBrock’s relentless quest can lead only to death, truth. When a British diplomat’s murder is made to look like suicide, ferocious Detective-Inspector LeBrock of Scotland Yard stalks a ruthless murder squad through the heart of a Belle Epoque Paris, the center of the greatest empire in a world of steam-driven hansom cabs, automatons, and flying machines. Gaining independence after decades of civil disobedience and anarchist bombings, the Socialist Republic of Britain is now a small, unimportant backwater connected by a railway bridge, steam-powered dirigible, and mutual suspicion to France.

Two hundred years ago, Britain lost the Napoleonic War and fell under the thumb of French domination. Got home and read it through and have to say Bryan Talbot has created another excellent read. At my local comic shop they had one copy of Grandville: after a quick perusal I decided to purchase. Heard some rumblings on the internet about a new animal graphic novel lots of interest but most wanted to flip through the book before committing.

Grandville by Bryan Talbot