Le Donjon de Naheulbeuk: Volume 1 (Naheulbeuk’s Dungeon)

European Comics
Le Donjon de Naheulbeuk: Volume 1 (Naheulbeuk’s Dungeon)
By Hervé St-Louis
June 16, 2005 - 10:24

Clair de Lune
Writer(s): John Lang
Penciller(s): Marion Poinsot
Inker(s): Marion Poinsot

Naheulbeuk started as an audio serial at writer Lang’s Web site. The story, set in a fantasy land is about seven adventurers who banded to steal the twelfth statue of Gladeulfeurha from Naheulbeuk’s Dungeon so they can enact an old prophecy. As the audio serial proved popular, the writer created a graphic novel adaptation. In this story, the ranger, the crook, the magician, the dwarf, the elf, the barbarian and the ogre explore the dungeon.

This series is of course hilarious and not too serious. Each character has his set of qualities and imperfections. For example, the dwarf is an egocentric, the elf, too sensitive, the crook, a coward, the ranger, given to tantrums and so on. There are a few fights but most of the story centers on the groups’ interaction as they explore the Naheulbeuk. There are so incompetent that they succeed nevertheless.

Visually, the series is a spoof of traditional fantasy work. Each character is shrunken and has big head, bulging eyes, large feet and small bodies. As for the dungeon, no effort was spared to make it as lively as possible. The one problem with this series is the lack of inking. The lines seem to have been scanned and cleaned up digitally, but the effect is not as clean as real inking. The colouring was moody and beautiful.

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