The Extraordinary Adventures of Adele Blanc-Sec

Jacques Tardi’s beloved French adventure series follows the fearless, resourceful Adele Blanc-Sec through a delightfully bizarre early-20th-century Paris, where pterodactyls soar over the city and ancient Egyptian curses come to life. First serialized in France from the 1970s onward, this English-language collection from Fantagraphics, launched in 2010, presents Tardi’s singular blend of historical detail, deadpan humor, and pulp thrills. With translations by Kim Thompson, the series captures Tardi’s clean ligne claire art and his wry, feminist-tinged storytelling—a cornerstone of European comics that has influenced generations of cartoonists.