Diacétylmorphine

A singular, self-contained graphic novel from Futuropolis, Diacétylmorphine (1984) is a stark, black-and-white French comic that uses its title—the chemical name for heroin—to frame a harrowing, non-linear narrative of addiction and urban decay. The book is most associated with its creators, writer/artist Jacques Tardi and co-writer Jean-Patrick Manchette, who bring a cold, clinical precision to the story's brutal realism. Though only one issue was published, it stands as a landmark in European crime comics, a potent fusion of Tardi's detailed ligne claire style and Manchette's hardboiled, existential noir.