Franka #1

Henk Kuijpers launches his spirited adventurer Franka into the French-language market with this 1987 album from Les Humanoïdes Associés. The cover, fully rendered by Kuijpers, places the confident, red-haired Franka center stage in a bustling harbor scene — a massive cargo ship looming behind her, traditional sailing vessels crowding the docks, and a lively marketplace spilling across the foreground with vendors, tourists, and signs hawking electronics and silk at discount prices. With a dragon motif curling at the bottom of her skirt and the promise of "Les dents du dragon" overhead, this first tome sets an irresistible tone of globe-trotting intrigue wrapped in Kuijpers' clean, expressive ligne claire style.