https://www.cinebook.co.uk/bank-waterloo-insider-p-4582.html
Authors: by Pierre Boisserie and Philippe Guillaume; Illustrated by Julien Maffre
Age: 12 years and up
Size: 21.7 x 28.7 cm
Number of pages: 56 colour pages
ISBN: 9781800441668
£10.99 inc. VAT
1815. In London, everyone awaits with baited breath news from the continent, where Napoleon has returned and is about to engage Britain’s army. Among the anxious populace are Nathan Rothschild, a banker of growing reputation among the mighty, and his brother Jacob, who is in love with Charlotte – a French aristocrat in exile forced to make a living as a courtesan. As the battle soon to be joined at Waterloo will determine the fate of the kingdom, fortunes will be made – or unmade …
Authors: by Pierre Boisserie and Philippe Guillaume; Illustrated by Julien Maffre
Age: 12 years and up
Size: 21.7 x 28.7 cm
Number of pages: 56 colour page
ISBN: 9781800441675
£10.99 inc. VAT
https://www.cinebook.co.uk/bank-emigrss-billion-p-4583.html
1825. Charlotte, now living in Paris and ruined by Jacob Rothschild’s schemes, is once again forced to sell her body, until news comes that gives her hope again: King Charles X has decided to compensate the ‘Émigrés’ – the nobles who had fled the French Revolution and lost everything. A chance for her to get part of her family’s fortune back … but her London past still haunts her: the murder of a lord, and a brother she abandoned to British justice …
Cinebook is still my favourite company due to the range of genres it continues to publish with suitability for various age groups considered. Really, I consider it to be the biggest UK company and, before anyone shouts out or moans "What about Rebellion Studios -why do you hate them!?" Well, I have been in contact with Rebellion in the past but like any other company it is up to them whether they want books reviewed or not -there is no obligation for them to send me review copies.
I mention that only because privately (no one ever comments on CBO) people think it unfair that I review and praise Hexagon and Cinebook.
Now, with these two volumes I have to say that art-wise it has that semi-serious/cartoon art style but with backgrounds and buildings in nice clean detail. The colour by DELF gives the panels and thus pages, a lot of atmosphere. Again, the detail in architecture and scenery makes me slightly jealous (hands and eyes are not up to it any more!).
Each book has an illustrated text feature that is well worth reading to give you some background on the series though it is not essential. Seeing text features in comic albums gives me a warm fuzzy feeling. It's educating and interesting and there are no similar things in comics these days (they dropped text stories as back ups in comics decades ago).
We have seen a couple of series from Cinebook that are epic struggles from rags to riches and it could get boring which is why how the writer approaches the subject and the dialogue used are so important. You start to feel very sympathetic towards Charlotte and it will be interesting to see how this series develops -as with other series it goes by periods of time in the epic so here we have 1815-1848 and then we will see 1857-1871 and, finally, 1882-1914.
If you want some "empire building epic" like The Fortune of the Winczlavs along with all the ups and downs and scandal and treachery....you should enjoy this!
No comments:
Post a Comment