Aventures Fiction #42
Aventures Fiction #42 (2e série, Arédit, April 1975) is a historically significant artifact of how Silver Age American superhero comics reached French readers during the 1970s, packaged in Arédit's long-running Comics Pocket digest format. Its lead story reprints a Challengers of the Unknown adventure drawn and written by Jack Kirby — material that had originally helped establish the template for ensemble-adventurer teams at DC Comics, predating the Fantastic Four by several years. Beyond Kirby, the issue bundles a Metal Men story and a Wonder Woman story that reflect DC's experimental late-Silver Age creative period, offering French readers a cross-section of the publisher's genre diversity in a single affordable pocket volume. As one of 57 issues published under the second Aventures Fiction series banner between 1966 and 1978, this issue represents the sustained, decade-long effort by Arédit to introduce francophone audiences to DC's superhero universe before dedicated branded imprints took over.
In "Ultivac est libre," Diana returns to a Paradise Island under siege, its queen Hippolyta felled in battle and trapped in a coma. With Ares hunting the secret of inter-dimensional travel and her people on the brink, Diana must rise to lead despite being outnumbered and broken. Written and drawn by Mike Sekowsky, with inks by Dick Giordano, this 1975 issue captures a pivotal moment of defiance and resolve. The cover, a dynamic collaboration by George Tuska and Jack Kirby, mirrors the tension within.
In "Retour à Paradise Island," Diana returns to her homeland only to find it ravaged by Ares, who demands the secret of inter-dimensional travel from Hippolyta. With her mother unconscious and the island's defenses crumbling, Diana must rally what remains and devise a new strategy before it's too late.
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We Buy Collections ▸History
Aventures Fiction (2e série) was published by Arédit — a Tourcoing-based house founded by Émile Keirsbilk — within its Comics Pocket line, running 57 issues from July 1966 through July 1978. Artima, the imprint's predecessor, had been acquired by Les Presses de la Cité in 1962 and renamed Arédit, though the Artima name continued to appear on back covers, creating the dual branding (Arédit/Artima) collectors recognise today. The series published DC and Marvel material in a reformatted, panel-recropped small-format digest (roughly 13×18 cm, 164 pages in the earlier run), translating stories into French without consistent creator credits on the covers. Issue #42, released in the second quarter of 1975, was also paired with issue #43 into a bound recueil album (Album #3500) later that same year.
Trivia · 8 facts
- Published by Arédit under the Comics Pocket imprint, cover-dated 2nd quarter (April) 1975, as part of the 57-issue second series of Aventures Fiction (1966–1978).
- Lead story: 'Les Challengers de l'inconnu : Ultivac est libre' — a French translation of a Challengers of the Unknown story written and drawn by Jack Kirby, running 31 pages.
- The Challengers of the Unknown were a DC Comics team created by Jack Kirby (and Dave Wood), first appearing in Showcase #6–7 (1957), making this a reprint of early Silver Age DC material.
- Second major story: 'Les Métalliens : Requiem pour Doc Magnus' (Metal Men) — scripted and drawn by Mike Sekowsky with inks by George Roussos, running 59 pages.
- Third major story: 'Wonder Woman : Retour à Paradise Island' — scripted by Denny O'Neil and Mike Sekowsky, drawn by Sekowsky with Dick Giordano inks, running 59 pages; this story belongs to the influential O'Neil/Sekowsky era that stripped Wonder Woman of her powers.
- A short filler piece titled 'La voix d'outre-tombe' (4 pages) also appears in the issue.
- The issue was subsequently paired with Aventures Fiction #43 in the bound recueil Album #3500, released in July 1975.
- Manga Sanctuary credits Steve Skeates as writer, but this conflicts with Bedetheque's attribution of the Challengers story to Kirby alone as both writer and artist — the Skeates credit may refer to another story in the issue (Skeates was the regular writer of Aquaman and other DC titles in this era) and remains unresolved across sources.
Full credits
Reprints
↩ Reprints Wonder Woman #183 (1969), Wonder Woman #184 (1969), Metal Men #40 (1969), Metal Men #41 (1969), Challengers of the Unknown #75 (1970)
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