Posted in: Comics | Tagged: Bryan Talbot, grandville

Bryan Talbot's Grandville Prequel, The Casebook Of Stamford Hawksmoor

Bryan Talbot tells me "BTW, as a fan of Grandville [I am], you might be interested to know [I am] that the book I'm planning to draw after Mary [Talbot]'s next is a Grandville prequel, set 23 years before the first book, at the time of the French withdrawal from Britain – "The Casebook of Stamford Hawksmoor". Already scripted!"

Grandville is – or was – an anthropomorphic steampunk, alternative history and thriller series of graphic novels, set in a world in which France won the Napoleonic Wars, invaded Britain and now rules the country. The lead character is Detective Inspector Archibald "Archie" LeBrock of Scotland Yard, a humanoid badger, fulfilling the role of police detective, Lestrade and Sherlock Holmes combined as one. Originally published in 2009, the first book saw LeBrock visit Grandville, the series' name for Paris, tracking down a murder, which sees him to uncover a political conspiracy to harm Britain. A second, third and volume followed with Grandville Mon Amour in 2010, Grandville Bête Noire in 2012 amd Grandville: Nöel published in 2014. The fifth final volume, Grandville: Force Majeure, was released in 2017. But it turns out that it might not have been as final as we thought. In that last volume, we got flashbacks to look at the origin of LeBrock, to discover what – and who – made him the man he is today.

And that included meeting LeBrock's old boss, Stamford Hawksmoor, the man who dragged LeBrock up from being a general plod with a chip on his shoulder over the old school tie network, and made him the feared detective he is in Grandville. It looks like we are going to learn a lot more about his old boss in the new graphic novel.

Bryan Talbot's final Luther Arkwright graphic novel, The Legend Of Luther Arkwright, is published later this month. Look for Grandville: The Casebook Of Stamford Hawksmoor at… some point.

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