Glacial Period

Found nothing interesting about it at all. Tried hard but nothing at all.

I've been googling reviews, as I usually do upon finishing a book ( though I shan't read the ones here before posting this), and have been surprised to find that relatively few reviewers have the almost unreserved admiration that I do for Glacial Period. Given that much of the criticism has been for what the book lacks--a story that can be classified as belonging to one or another genre, a less traditional use of panels, a light approach to works of art, a petrol-station setting, and so on--it's probably best read without expectations (and without delving deeply into those reviews because too much is given away in some of them) and with an open mind.The story is imaginative and fascinating, with some unexpected turns. And given the length of the book it's surprising that Crecy was able to move from adventure to satire to touching moments to humour to history to protest and it's admirable that he could do so smoothly. The main characters are distinct and the protagonist himself is quite endearing.Ah, but the pictures. I passed some several hours with this book simply because I spent so much time revelling in Crecy's artwork. He uses a subtle and superbly-chosen palette, his treatment of light is equally subtle and equally superb, and that boy is a dab hand with a wash. And imagine skittish but controlled pen and ink cloisonne lines against watercolour in quiet hues--leagues from anything that comes to mind upon hearing the words 'comic book'. To my 'comics' tag for this I've decided to add my 'art' tag (and to then do the same for Stray Toasters and Color Engineering). The image and the text are inextricably and wonderfully entwined: The tilt of the pigdog's head, for instance, reflects his enquiring nature and the viewpoint from which that enquiring posture is shown somehow reinforces the character's charm.Perhaps I'm a bit carried away because I've only just finished reading Glacial Period and I won't be so enthusiastic when I look at it again (Tomorrow. At length.), or because I've read too many sci-fi stories set in petrol stations that make Cycladic artifacts entertaining and have got blase about them. For the moment at least, I wholeheartedly recommend this.

A strange story from an ice-age future where a team of explorers are searching for signs of the lost history, and stumble into the louvre, where the artifacts come to life.

Interesting idea with a strong start but a very weak middle and ending.

Fascinating graphic novel about cultural anthropology and art. We are presented with an ice-age future, where a team of explorers uncovers the Louvre. That's when things get a bit metaphysical. You kind of have to just go with it. I did, and I really liked it.

De Crecy is a master and there is little more to be said apart from: In a world where the majority of comics and graphic novels are mainly American superheroes or Japanese anime style, to the point of overload, beyond mediocre and utterly predictable, the likes of De Crecy, and novels of his ilk, are shining diamonds glittering amidst heaps of cheap coal.

The story was iffy, but the art was fabulous. I somehow doubt the contents of the Louvre would be so well preserved after 2000 years, even if frozen under a glacier... Great pigdogs.

An archeological expedition heads out into the snow-covered wasteland in search of a lost relic of an ancient civilization... which turns out to be the Louvre. I loved the idea for this book, of how our culture would look to archaeologists of the future. I particularly liked the part where they're trying to tell the story of our civilizations based only on the paintings they find (which in turn made me wonder how much of our own archaeology would be equally ridiculous to members of the culture in question). The execution wasn't perfect; there were spots where the translation felt a little rough, some of the story elements didn't quite fit together, and the art style, while visually interesting, wasn't always clear. There was also a strong element of absurdism that didn't quite gel for me, and the ending happened before I felt like all of the story was told, and was just plain odd to boot. But overall, short and interesting enough to be worth a read. 3.5 out of 5 stars.

A simple idea that could have been much more - visually very beautiful.

The local university library just delivered up this wonderful new thing to me and I am deeply indebted to it. A not entirely unthinkable premise with just the most wonderfully bizarre storyline (What? A few thousand years is nothing that we'll ever see, and you never know man, The Louvre is pretty damn hardy. Just sayin'.). It is creative and interesting and while not entirely straightforward is easy to follow (which is handy as there are two and then three distinct groups to follow). Artwork in comics and graphic novels is not really my strong suit. Unless I don't like it. I did not feel my eyes go all /happy wide and drinking in more, please/ but it was lovely to look at, and the reproductions of the paintings were well done.I particularly enjoyed how the thinkers were wrong, not because of any cerebral tendencies, but because they were doing bad science. It is something echoed in the character who is the most physical as well. A nice balance and well treated.

This is a strange graphic novella, part future travelogue, part art & cultural critique, part ecological warning tract, and part absurdist narrative.The book basically breaks down into three acts. In the first, we are introduced to a group of archaeologist-anthropologist-explorers in a far future Earth ravaged by ecological catastrophe into a glacial wasteland. They are accompanied by talking hybrid pig-dogs who are for no discernible reason are named after American super-heroes like Hulk & Spider-Man. (One wonders if this was an unfortunate choice by the translator and that perhaps in the original French they were named after famous European comic characters--Tintin & Asterix perhaps?) We learn that the explorers are looking for artifacts from our earlier civilization, and perhaps a great city; also, that one of the pig-dogs, Hulk, has untoward feelings towards his human mistress.In the second act, Hulk and the humans separately stumble upon different parts of the Louvre, recently uncovered via a snow-slide from its icy entombment. The humans discover the various paintings hung in the museum and completely misinterpret what they represent.In the third act, the statures and various pieces of representational art come to life and begin to hound poor Hulk, impressing upon his the history of the Louvre and the downfall of the prior civilization. Hulk then mounts one of the large dog-like statues and rescues two of the humans who had become trapped in a mini-avalanche. They ride off into the sunset.The plot summary above doesn't even begin to describe the strangeness, so I don't feel that I'm giving much away. The best part is the satirical second act, as the explorers take the representations of their finds far too literally. It serves as a critique of the potential follies of anthropology as well as the times that produced the art in question. The other parts of the narrative don't fare as well; the introductory section establishes relationships that are not successfully followed through on, while the end defies logic and undercuts the earlier parts with its use of the fantastic and absurd that comes out of nowhere. My understanding is that this is De Crécy's style; he just needed to either curtail it here or set us up better for it.De Crécy, a graduate of the Angoulême comics art school, is a skilled storyteller and is able to work the reproductions of the various art works into his work with ease. This is partially an educational enterprise, done in conjunction with the Louvre to promote appreciation of the arts in general and their collections in particular. I'm not sure this is what they were expecting!Still, there's enough good stuff here to recommendthat you consider giving it a look.Rating: 3.5 (of 5)

Glacial Period is Crécy's contribution to a ComicsLit and Louvre Museum co-edition of four graphic novels about the French museum. A witty, futuristic exploration of the meaning of the museum in a post-apocalyptic world, the book re-frames cherished cultural icons as incomprehensible signs of a vanished civilization. Readers follow characters as they navigate a glacial world and eventually discover the ruined museum and its cargo of relics. Among the skewed (though always insightful) readings of our artistic legacy are the characters' interpretations of representations of women, the significance they ascribe to our devotion to images, their view of cultural tourists, and the role they ascribe to animals in our world. Like Marc-Antoine Mathieu's contribution to this series, The Museum Vaults: Excerpts from the Journal of an Expert, Crécy's Glacial Period is deeply skeptical of scientific or intellectual attempts to master the meaning of the museum. By the time Crécy's historian makes it to the Louvre, the relics have collectively fled. On the whole, this is a very funny book, satirizing our reverence for history, highlighting the pitfalls of scientific inquiry, and imagining the most preposterous consequences of genetic engineering. Occasionally, Crécy lost me, though. In particular, the pig-dog Hulk's historical sense of smell is oddly represented and not well integrated into the story, though the concept is brilliant. Nevertheless, a witty and entertaining read.

Very interesting concept, but strangely executed. I enjoyed the interpretations of the paintings, but the talking and moving artifacts was a bit much. I look forward to seeing the other titles in the series on the museum.

I read this book after Marc-Antoine Mathieu's Museum Vaults: Excerpts from the Journal of an Expert, which is out of order, given that De Crecy's Glacial Period is the first volume in this series co-published by the Musee du Louvre. In the end, that mis-sequence turned out to be a good thing, since De Crecy's is the better tale, and sets the stage for these graphic novel explorations of the great art museum so well. This is a sort of post-apocalyptic tale, set in future days after global warming has wreaked havoc on our planet, and the Louvre is long buried and forgotten. A group of explorers come upon the remains, and De Crecy then proceeds to take the reader through a simultaneous exploration of selected artworks from the Louvre, as well as some of the history behind the great institution. While the explorers spout spurious theories to explain what they have found, one of their genetically enhanced dogs communicates with the artworks themselves, and ultimately saves them from further neglect by convincing them to abandon their rigid forms and (literally) run away free from the shell of the museum buildings. Overall, Glacial Period is a quick and interesting read that mashes up science fiction, art, and the philosophy of art into a unique stew with a full and hearty flavor - well worth a taste!

I was first drawn to this book by the artwork. It was only after I picked it up that I realized it was produced by the Louvre. Once I discovered that fact, there was no way I wasn't going to read it. It's a fairly quick read and not difficult to follow. But by far the best part of the book is the middle section. The illustrator's amazing ability to integrate artwork from the museum itself into the storyline is quite impressive (and rather beautiful). I was pleasantly surprised with the science fiction/fantasy plot of the book (it takes place in a future where the characters are similar to humans, but don't quite understand humans) and how it mixed well with what we, in present day, understand. I hope that De Crecy will write more graphic novels such as this one (and that the translations will be made for those of us who don't speak French).

I really enjoyed the premise of this graphic novel. It takes place far in the future, and these explorers are looking for the Louvre, not knowing what it is because it has been lost to time. They find it, and have absurd theories about the artwork. It was funny, as well as interesting, when they were commenting on the art. I really liked that it listed the works featured in the back. I suspect that I would have gotten even more out of it if I had more knowledge of art history or had the energy to spend a good amount of time looking stuff up about the paintings. Nevertheless, my art knowledge was increased. My only criticism is that sometimes I thought it got a bit heavy handed. I'm not sure how I feel about the sentient dogs, especially the one that's in love with a human woman and wishes interspecies love was accepted. Also, the jab at fat American tourists who only care about the Mona Lisa wasn't strictly necessary, though probably truer that I'd like to think. Overall, though, this was an interesting read that didn't require much of a time investment.