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Bryan Talbot's New Graphic Novel Uses Anti-Spoiler Technology
Grandville: Force Majeure is Bryan Talbot's new graphic novel, the final volume in his Grandville series of steampunk anthropomorphic detective fiction.
In the middle of a gang war, wanted for murder, truly alone and outside the law, Detective Inspector LeBrock is on the run from both the police and gangster assassins, the victim of a diabolical scheme to annihilate himself and everyone he holds dear, engineered by mastermind crime lord Tiberius Koenig, one of the most despicable villains in the history of detective fiction.
A fiendishly ingenious story of love, tenacity, treachery and tragedy, this fifth, final and longest stand-alone volume of the Eisner and Hugo Award-nominated Grandville series by master storyteller and graphic novel pioneer Bryan Talbot is a veritable rollercoaster of a detective thriller, featuring Grandville's trademark high-octane excitement, humour and deduction on a Holmesian scale as we finally meet LeBrock's mentor, Stamford Hawksmoor, and discover LeBrock's untold backstory. Fan-favourite characters Detective Sergeant Roderick Ratzi and LeBrock's vivacious fiancée, Parisian prostitute Billie are joined by a new badger in town! Enter Tasso, an Italian badger who's bigger, meaner and uglier than LeBrock – but is he a force for good or evil? A battle royale ensues as LeBrock fights against truly outrageous odds. How can he possibly survive?
Published by Jonathan Cape in bookstores in the UK on the 16th November, and by Dark Horse Comics in bookstores in the USA and Canada on the 14th November, and in comic stores on the 1st November, the series finale has some pretty bold plot twists to wrap the entire series up.
But what is to prevent someone flicking through the final pages in error in the store as they try and judge up whether Grandville is for them?
Well, Bryan Talbot has utilised the latest anti-spoiler technology by taking those final pages and… putting some black plastic around them.
Good luck with that patent, Bryan!