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Monday, October 1, 2018

Canardo Private Eye: Blue Angel (Graphic Novel)

by Sokal 

Publisher: NBM Publishing Co. (June 1, 1991)

Softcover, 46 pages


Another bleak anthropomorphic world from our European cousins. The Inspector Canardo series has spawned over twenty two volumes over the years in Belgium, but only two were published in English. This is the second one (I seem to only be reviewing second volumes lately). Both are listed on Amazon- for those who are interested.
Drawn in a somewhat classic funny animal style, with a dark pallet underlying the entire scene, the main character Canardo (named after the French word “canard”, meaning “duck”) stumbles drunkenly through his life. And considering his world is filled with broken down buildings, grimy landscapes, iron-grey seas, and ruined old forts, who the blame the duck for not wanting to stay sober.

The story is a topsy-turvy one that seems as if it’s rambling in the middle, but eventually all plot points tie in together. Canardo can barely be called a protagonist in this story as he does little but observe the violent and bizarre events, in between bouts of drinking. It is an almost evil tale, with almost no redeeming characters. The action revolves around a gentle bear, easily picked on, who turns into a raging psychopath whenever he hears a particular song. It is a wonderfully sleazy tale with a very violent ending.
Just for information, the creator of this series, BenoĆ®t Sokal, was also the director for one of my favorite video games back in the day, Siberia. It’s a point-and-click narrative puzzle game in the style of Broken Sword about a woman’s journey to a mythical island. It’s beautifully rendered, or it was for 2005. It might be a bit dated now, but I enjoyed the game and its sequel immensely. Here is the wikipedia link for the game. It is available on Steam.
For more readings, try books by Rex Hurst. 
For more readings, try books by Rex Hurst. 

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