Le Croquemitaine #1

Two young figures sprint urgently across rain-slicked Parisian rooftops, the warm amber glow of the city streets below casting long shadows behind them — it's an immediately gripping opening image for this French-language album. Lebeault and Filippi set a tense, atmospheric tone right from this first tome, evoking the cobblestones and vintage automobiles of a bygone Paris with real visual flair. Published by Dupuis under their Aire Libre imprint in 2004, Le Croquemitaine announces itself as a thriller with plenty of breathless energy to spare.