Aventures Fiction #44
Aventures Fiction (2e série) #44 — titled 'L'Empereur du cosmos' — is a representative milestone of how French publisher Arédit-Artima served as one of the primary conduits for DC Comics Silver Age material reaching French-speaking readers during the 1970s, a role it performed exclusively for characters and titles that were not already licensed to competitors such as Sagédition or Lug. The issue is particularly notable for its Doom Patrol lead story (written by Arnold Drake and drawn by Bruno Premiani, the team's original co-creators), giving French audiences one of their few poche-format encounters with that team before the title ever received a dedicated French series. It also bundles a Jack Kirby-drawn Challengers of the Unknown story alongside Mike Sekowsky's Wonder Woman material, making the issue a miniature survey of DC's late Silver Age talent working in multiple genres simultaneously. As part of the 57-issue run of the 2e série (1966–1978), it documents the specific editorial strategy by which Arédit packaged cropped and resequenced American pages into the compact Comics Pocket digest format for an adult-labeled French market.
In "L'Empereur du cosmos," the Challengers race to recover a stolen mirror and chart linked to ancient cosmic secrets, pursued by the cunning Hillary Mycroft and his gang. With the mirror revealing three perilous destinations—the sea bottom, a stone needle, and Sinbad's Island—the team splits up, each facing unknown dangers. Written by Dave Wood and Jack Kirby, with Kirby handling both art and inks, this 1975 adventure blends mystery and myth, all under Bob Brown’s striking cover.
In "L'Empereur du cosmos," the Doom Patrol and the Brotherhood of Evil are forced into an uneasy alliance to repel an alien invasion threatening Earth. As the Chief uncovers the tragic truth behind Madame Rouge’s transformation—tied to the Brain’s cruel experiments—he begins to believe there may be a way to undo the damage, setting the stage for a mission that tests loyalty, memory, and the fragile line between villainy and redemption.
In "Le miroir du sorcier," the Challengers race to recover a stolen mirror and chart linked to ancient secrets, pursued by the cunning Hillary Mycroft and his gang. When the mirror reveals three perilous locations—the sea bottom, a stone needle, and Sinbad's Island—the team splits up, each facing deadly trials in their quest. As Mycroft closes in on assembling the fabled globes to summon a genie, a hidden betrayal may yet turn the tide.
ComicBooks.com Value
Find on ebay
Sell my copy
Have this issue — or a whole collection? Get a fair offer from us, skip the marketplace fees and the hassle.
We Buy Collections ▸History
Arédit-Artima began as Artima, a Tourcoing-based publisher founded during the World War II occupation and incorporated under the name 'ARTisans en IMAgerie' — a deliberately artisanal label chosen because German occupation rules restricted the founding of non-artisanal businesses. After financial difficulties led to its acquisition by Presses de la Cité in 1962 and a gradual rename to Arédit (officially on covers by 1965), the company built its Comics Pocket line by licensing DC and Marvel material that had been passed over by larger French licensees. The 2e série of Aventures Fiction ran from July 1966 through July 1978 under the Comics Pocket imprint, publishing content in black-and-white on interior pages with a color cover, typically in a 13×18 cm or 13×19 cm poche format. Issue #44 carried a dépôt légal date of June 1975 and was subsequently bound together with issue #45 in the collected Album N°3524, released a month later in July 1975.
Trivia · 8 facts
- Published June 1975 by Arédit under the Comics Pocket imprint; 130–160 pages (sources list slightly different page counts), black-and-white interior, color cover, measuring approximately 13×19 cm.
- Lead story: 'La Patrouille Z: L'Empereur du cosmos' — a French-translated Doom Patrol story scripted by Arnold Drake and drawn by Bruno Premiani, the same creative team that co-created the Doom Patrol in My Greatest Adventure #80 (June 1963).
- Also reprints 'Wonder Woman: L'incroyable Ching' — written and drawn by Mike Sekowsky with Dick Giordano inks, representing the era when Sekowsky was reinventing Wonder Woman as a non-powered adventurer.
- Also reprints 'Les Challengers de l'inconnu: Le miroir du sorcier' — drawn by Jack Kirby, one of several Kirby-drawn DC features that appeared in the Aventures Fiction 2e série run during the mid-1970s.
- Additional contents include a Faucons Noirs (Black Hawks) story by Ed Herron, Dick Dillin, and Chuck Cuidera; an 'Ultra' story by Lee Elias; and shorter horror/mystery fillers by Bob Haney/Howard Purcell and Rico Rival.
- Cover credit: Bob Brown, whose painted or illustrated covers Arédit regularly used for its Comics Pocket line during this period.
- The issue was collected in Recueil (bound album) N°3524, pairing it with Aventures Fiction #45 ('La Guerre des Dieux,' featuring New Gods by Jack Kirby); the recueil carried a dépôt légal of July 1975.
- The Aventures Fiction 2e série ran 57 issues from July 1966 to July 1978 and published DC (and occasionally Marvel) comics in repackaged, cropped form — operating under an 'adultes' label that exempted Arédit from the restrictive provisions of France's loi 49-956 on youth publications, but also barred the magazine from front-of-kiosk display.
Full credits
Reprints
↩ Reprints Challengers of the Unknown #3 (1958), Mystery in Space #108 (1966), Strange Adventures #191 (1966), Blackhawk #224 (1966), The Doom Patrol #111 (1967), The Doom Patrol #112 (1967), Wonder Woman #186 (1970), Ghosts #15 (1973)
Key issues in Aventures Fiction
Reviews
Reader reviews
No reader reviews yet.