From Tombstone, from OK Corral, the legend has retained only a famous collective duel which saw, one morning of 1881, four famous thugs, the Clanton and McLaury clan, fall under the bullets of the no less illustrious Earp brothers supported by Doc Holliday. But it was far from being the only settling of scores that took place that day in the mythical lost town of Arizona, located a few miles from the Mexican border.
At least to believe the latest adventures of Blueberry, definitely still around when history is being written. Not that one can reproach this eternal lard head for having gone to face danger and trouble. Once is not customary, it is rather the glitches and the scrambles that came to him.
The originals of Jean Giraud scanned in very high definition, and the ultimate feeling of touch the plates such as the undisputed master of design delivered them. This large-format edition is an absolute treat for all bande dessinée lovers, a masterful lesson in beauty.
- Dargaud, December 02, 2016
- ISBN/EAN: 978-2-20507-630-1
- 12″ x 16″, 56 pages
- 19,99 €
- Order Online: Amazon.fr, Amazon.ca, Libairie Pantoute, BDfugue
As with all AE format material (Artist’s Editions, Artifact Editions, Gallery Editions, Art Editions, Studio Editions, etc.), this is a collection of classic comic material and I’ll be reviewing the book and not the story. For a complete list of all current and announced editions, with review links, please visit our Index. Also, see What is an Artist’s Edition and our Artist Index. This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.
This is the fourth Édition Noir Et Blanc of Giraud’s Blueberry work from Dargaud. This presents Blueberry Volume 27, OK Corral, in its entirety via the artist’s original art.
The publication notes the following on its colophon page; as with all translations shown here, my limited French and Google Translate are poor substitutes.
This black and white edition of OK Corral uses the original boards of Jean Giraud. These were completely rescanned so that the maximum details – fineness of the features, grays, densities of the hues of black, the precision of the backgrounds, and the few corrections of the author – could be seen. The 30 * 40 format, larger than the classic publication format, will help you find some of the incredible feeling that comes from viewing the origins of one of the greatest artists of bande dessinée.
As well, the back of the book presents another note indicating Giraud redrew the first four pages. And courtesy of Isabelle Giraud these pages are provided.
The scan quality is excellent: every page is sharp. Blacks show some gradients. Correction fluid appears throughout. Some pencils are visible. No margin notes as it appears Dargaud cropped the artwork at the page border and added their own white border. Two paste-ups: one panel replaced and a tree was replaced in one background.
A clean and straightforward design, following the previous volumes in the series. No internal colour, only the brown on the cover title, spine and back cover. Three divider pages with enlarged art and black borders. A simple title page, text only colophon and the presented artwork.
That simplicity carries to the production. A glued binding of heavy matte paper stock. The middle pages lay flat when the center is smoothed but the front and back flap a bit.
I hope Dargaud can continue its Édition Noir Et Blanc line far into the future. And perhaps we’ll see an English version.
