View source for The Extraordinary Adventures of Adèle Blanc-Sec

{{Short description|Comic book series by Jaques Tardi}}
{{About |the comic|the 2010 film adaptation | The Extraordinary Adventures of Adèle Blanc-Sec (film)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2020}}
{{Infobox comics meta series <!--Wikipedia:WikiProject Comics-->

|image               = Adele et la Bete.jpg
|imagesize           = <!-- default 250 -->
|caption             = The front cover of the original, 1976 edition of the first [[Franco-Belgian comics#Formats|album]], ''Adèle et la Bête''. It shows Adèle, the eponymous heroine, and the [[Pterodactylus|pterodactyl]] on the rooftops of Paris.
|alt                 = 
|schedule            = Varied
|format              = Original material for the series has been published in the newspaper ''[[Sud-Ouest (newspaper)|Sud-Ouest]]'' in 1976, the [[Comics anthology|comics anthologies]] ''BD'' #28–39 and ''[[À Suivre|(À suivre)]]'' #29–33, 76–81, 199–201<ref name =oubliées>{{cite web|title= Adèle Blanc–Sec | work = À Suivre |url= http://www.bdoubliees.com/asuivre/series1/adeleblancsec.htm |publisher=BD oubliées | accessdate =18 June 2011}}</ref> and the magazine ''[[Télérama]]'' #2998–3006.<ref>{{Citation | contribution = Aventures extraordinaires d'Adèle Blanc-Sec, Les | title = BD | publisher = Scénario | contribution-url = http://www.sceneario.com/bd_8207_AVENTURES%20EXTRAORDINAIRES%20D%27ADELE%20BLANC-SEC%20%28LES%29.html}}.</ref>
|titles              = 
|lang                = fr
|multigenre          = y
|Adventure           = first
|Mystery             = y
|Fantasy             = y
|Historical          = y
|SciFi               = y
|publisher           = [[Casterman]]
|startmo             = <!-- optional in lieu of date-->
|startyr             = 1976
|endmo               = <!-- optional in lieu of date-->
|endyr               = present
|issues              = 
|main_char_team      = 
|writers             = [[Jacques Tardi]]<ref name =Cool>{{cite web| last= L’officier | first = Jean-Marc |title= Les Aventures extraordinaires d'Adèle Blanc-Sec |url = http://www.coolfrenchcomics.com/adeleblancsec.htm | publisher =Cool French Comics | accessdate = 18 June 2011 | authorlink = Jean-Marc Lofficier}}</ref>
|pencillers          = Jacques Tardi
|inkers              = Anne Delobel (1976–78)<br />Jacques Tardi (1980–98)<br />Jean-Luc Ruault (2007)
|letterers           = 
|colorists           = Anne Delobel (1976–78)<br />Jacques Tardi (1980–98)<ref name =Ghostbreakers>{{cite web|last=Thomas | first =GW | work = Occult detective | title = ''Adèle Blanc-Sec'' (1976–1998) by Jacques Tardi |url = http://occultdetective.tripod.com/sec.htm | publisher = The Ghostbreakers|accessdate=18 June 2011}}</ref><br />Jean-Luc Ruault (2007)
|editors             = 
|creative_team_month = 
|creative_team_year  = 
|creators            = 
|reprint             = 
|relang              = en
|relang#             = 
|TPB1                = "Pterror Over Paris" and "The Eiffel Tower Demon"
|ISBN1               = 978-1-60699-382-8
|TPB2                = "The Mad Scientist" and "Mummies on Parade"
|ISBN2               = 978-1-60699-493-1
|TPB3                = 
|ISBN3               = 
|TPB4                = 
|ISBN4               = 
|TPB5                = 
|ISBN5               = 
|subcat              = 
|altcat              = 
|alttop              = 
|sort                = Extraordinary Adventures of Adele Blanc-Sec, The
|addpubcat1          = Dark Horse Comics titles
|addpubcat2          = NBM Publishing titles
|addpubcat3          = Fantagraphics titles
}}'''''The Extraordinary Adventures of Adèle Blanc-Sec''''' ({{langx|fr|link=no|'''Les Aventures extraordinaires d'Adèle Blanc-Sec'''}}) is a [[gaslamp fantasy]] comic book series first appearing in 1976 written and illustrated by French [[comics artist]] [[Jacques Tardi]] and published in [[Franco-Belgian comics#Formats|''album'' format]] by [[Belgium|Belgian]] publisher [[Casterman]], sometimes preceded by serialisation in various [[Periodical literature|periodical]]s, intermittently since then. The comic portrays the titular far-fetched [[Adventure fiction|adventures]] and [[Mystery fiction|mystery]]-solving of its eponymous heroine, herself a writer of [[Genre fiction|popular fiction]], in a secret history-infused, [[gaslamp fantasy]] version of the early 20th century, set primarily in Paris and prominently incorporating [[Real life|real-life]] locations and events. Initially a light-hearted [[parody]] of such fiction of the period, it takes on a darker tone as it moves into the post–[[World War I]] years and the 1920s.

One of Tardi's most popular works<ref>{{cite web|last=Fitzsimons|first=Kate|title=Fantagraphics to publish new editions of Tardi's ''Adèle Blanc-Sec''|url=http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/book-news/comics/article/43814-fantagraphics-to-publish-new-editions-of-tardi-s-adele-blanc-sec-.html|work=Publishers Weekly|publisher=PWxyz|accessdate=20 June 2011|date=13 July 2010}}</ref> and his first to span multiple ''albums'', it has been reprinted [[#Translations|in English]] and other translations and has been [[#Adaptations into other media|adapted as a feature film]].

==History==
''Adèle Blanc-Sec'' takes place in the same [[fictional universe]] as three earlier Tardi comics: ''Adieu Brindavoine'' ("Farewell Brindavoine"), serialised in 1972 in the [[Franco-Belgian comics]] magazine ''[[Pilote]]'' #680–700, its direct sequel ''La Fleur au fusil'' ("The Flower in the Rifle"), a ten-page [[One-shot (comics)|one-shot]] first published in 1974 in ''Pilote'' No. 743 and included in ''albums'' of the former, and the 1974 original [[graphic novel]] ''The Arctic Marauder'' (''Le Démon des glaces'', "The Demon of the Ice"). It is, however, the more technology-focused, what might now be called [[steampunk]], ''Arctic Marauder'' that takes place first in the fictional continuity, being set in the 1890s,<ref name=Cool /> with Lucien Brindavoine's adventures, considered a less refined, early prototype for Adèle's,<ref>{{cite book|title=''Adieu Brindavoine''|url=http://www.sceneario.com/bd_4643_ADIEU%20BRINDAVOINE.html|publisher=Sceneario.com|accessdate=20 June 2011|author=FredGri|isbn=9782203305052|year=1979}}</ref> occurring during the World War I hiatus in ''Adèle'''s story line.

''Adèle'' itself came about as a consequence of a commission from Casterman for a multi-''album'' series, something Tardi had not been particularly interested in pursuing of his own accord at the time but took them up on the offer. A survey of popular series demonstrated an abundance of strong male [[protagonist]]s but women in the lead role represented only by, on the one hand, the ingenuous [[Bécassine]] and, on the other, the primarily sexual [[Barbarella (comics)|Barbarella]]; thus, he sought to differentiate his series by centring it on a heroine every bit the equal of these other comics' heroes. Contradictorily, however, and in particular contrast to [[Jean-Claude Forest|Forest]]'s ''Barbarella'', he was also to set the series in the 1910s of [[Maurice Leblanc]]'s [[Arsène Lupin]], when her independence would be even more extraordinary. And so he created... Edith Rabatjoie (meaning Killjoy) and, subsequently, Adèle Blanc-Sec (her family name coming from wine terminology, meaning "dry white") as an adversary for her. But upon the originally villainous Blanc-Sec coming into the comic he found he enjoyed drawing her far more than Rabatjoie and so she became the protagonist and title character, while ever since retaining something of a Lupin-esque moral dubiousness and disregard for the law. Her green coat, as well as complementing her [[red hair]], is in ironic reference to the green dress of Bécassine, whom she is partly conceived as an antithesis of.<ref name=Press>{{cite press release|title=The Extraordinary Adventures of Adèle Blanc-Sec|publisher=EuropaCorp|url=http://medias.unifrance.org/medias/144/188/48272/presse/adele-blanc-sec-presskit.pdf|accessdate=15 June 2011}}</ref> The comic first appeared in the daily newspaper ''[[Sud-Ouest (newspaper)|Sud-Ouest]]'' in 1976, with the pages in colour on Sundays and black and white on others, prior to ''album'' publication in colour throughout by Casterman and later in their ''[[À Suivre|(À suivre)]]''.<ref name=Cool />

==Plot==
The adventures, set in Paris in the years before and after World War I, revolve around the protagonist Adèle Blanc-Sec. A cynical heroine, she is initially a novelist of popular fiction, who turns to investigative journalism as her research and subsequent adventures reveal further details of the mystical world of crime. Themes of the [[occult]], corruption, official incompetence, and the dangers of patriotism suffuse the series.

One interesting feature is the hiatus which separates Adèle's first exploits, taking place in 1910s Paris, from later ones, instead set in the [[Interwar period|interwar]] milieu. The separation is explained with her having been [[Cryopreservation|cryogenically]] [[hibernation|hibernated]] following a grave injury. The expedient was deemed necessary by Tardi to avoid her entanglement in World War I. In an interview he declared: "Her feisty nature made it impossible to provide her with a place in the war. She would not have been allowed to fight, and could no more have settled for being a nurse, than she could have remained home rolling bandages."

==Albums==
As of November 2022, all ten of the projected ten albums have been published in French<ref name =Press /> and two different English translations have been published, the first covering only the first five and the latter currently ongoing, with the aim of releasing all ten in omnibus editions of two albums each.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! #
! French title
! Serialised
! ''Album'' published
! Dark Horse/NBM title
! Fantagraphics title
|-
| 01
| "Adèle et la bête"
| 1976 in ''[[Sud-Ouest (newspaper)|Sud-Ouest]]''
| 1976	
| "Adèle and the Beast"
| rowspan="2" | "Pterror Over Paris" and "The Eiffel Tower Demon"
|-
| 02
| "Le Démon de la [[Eiffel Tower|tour Eiffel]]"
| Not serialised
| 1976	
| "The Demon of the Eiffel Tower"
|-
| 03
| "Le Savant fou"
| Not serialised
| April 1977
| rowspan="2" | "The Mad Scientist" and "Mummies on Parade"
| rowspan="2" | "The Mad Scientist" and "Mummies on Parade"<ref>{{cite web | work = The Extraordinary Adventures of Adèle Blanc-Sec | title = Vol. 2: 'The Mad Scientist' and 'Mummies on Parade' |url= http://www.fantagraphics.com/browse-shop/the-extraordinary-adventures-of-ad-le-blanc-sec-vol.-2-the-mad-scientist-and-a-dusting-of-mummies-pre-order-8.html |publisher = Fantagraphics Books| accessdate= 8 October 2011 | year= 2011}}</ref> 
|-
| 04
| "Momies en folie"
| April–June 1978 in ''BD'' #28–39
| September 1978
|-
| 05
| "Le Secret de la salamandre"
| June–October 1980 in ''[[À Suivre|(À suivre)]]'' #29–33<ref>{{cite web| work = (À suivre) | title = 1980|url= http://www.bdoubliees.com/asuivre/annees/1980.htm | publisher =BD oubliées|accessdate=19 June 2011}}</ref>
| April 1981
| "The Secret of the Salamander"
| rowspan="2" | "The Secret of the Salamander" and "The Two-headed Dwarf"
|-
| 06
| "Le Noyé à deux têtes"
| May–October 1984 in ''(À suivre)'' #76–81<ref>{{cite web| work = (À suivre) | title = 1984|url= http://www.bdoubliees.com/asuivre/annees/1984.htm |publisher= BD oubliées | accessdate=19 June 2011}}</ref>
| September 1985
| 
|-
| 07
| "Tous des monstres !"
| August–October 1994 in ''(À suivre)'' #199–201<ref>{{cite web| work = (À suivre) | title = 1994|url= http://www.bdoubliees.com/asuivre/annees/1994.htm |publisher= BD oubliées | accessdate=19 June 2011}}</ref>
| October 1994
| 
| rowspan="2" | TBA
|-
| 08
| "Le Mystère des profondeurs"
| Not serialised
| October 1998
| 
|-
| 09
| "Le Labyrinthe infernal"
| June–August 2007 in ''[[Télérama]]'' #2998–3006<ref>{{cite web|title=Vous avez recherché "''Télérama''"|url= http://www.journaux-collection.com/recherche.php?av=1&ti=TELERAMA&num=&da=2007&de=&go=Recherche |publisher=Journaux collection}}</ref> 
| October 2007
| 
| rowspan="2" | TBA
|-
| 10
| "Le Bébé des [[Parc des Buttes Chaumont|Buttes-Chaumont]]"<ref>{{cite book|last = Tardi | series = Les Aventures extraordinaires d'Adèle Blanc-Sec | title =Le Labyrinthe infernal |year=2007|publisher=Casterman | location =Brussels|isbn = 978-2-203-00736-9}}</ref>
| TBA
| October 2022
| 
|}

===Translations===
{{anchor |Collected editions}}
The first five stories were translated by Randy and [[Jean-Marc Lofficier]]. They were published, as ''The Most Extraordinary Adventures of Adèle Blanc-Sec'', first by [[Dark Horse Comics]] in their ''[[Cheval Noir (comics)|Cheval Noir]]'' title and then released in book form by [[NBM Publishing]] (1990–92).<ref name = Cool /><ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.lofficier.com/adele.htm |title= Adèle Blanc-Sec |website=L'officier |access-date=2 October 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Cheval noir |url=http://www.comics-db.com/Dark_Horse_Comics/C/Cheval_Noir/ |website=Dark Horse Comics |publisher=Comics DB |access-date=2 October 2010}}{{dead link|date=March 2021}}</ref>
# ''Adèle and the Beast'' (June 1990, {{ISBN|0-918348-85-4}})
# ''The Demon of the Eiffel Tower'' (1990, {{ISBN|1-56163-001-2}})
# ''The Mad Scientist'' and ''Mummies on Parade'' (1996, {{ISBN|1-56163-156-6}})
# ''The Secret of the Salamander'' (1992)
[[Fantagraphics Books]] have signed a deal with Tardi to translate and release his work and series editor and translator [[Kim Thompson]] stated, before his demise, that the Adèle Blanc-Sec books will be translated but it is not his highest priority:
{{bquote |First, I wanted to start out with something fresh and previously unseen in the US (which is why I put [''It Was the''] ''War of the Trenches'' third instead of first), and the first couple of Adele books have been published here. You can still find them on Amazon. Second, there is what I call the popularity paradox, which is that sometimes the most popular French work is the hardest to sell as compared to the "art" comics because the more mainstream work loses some of its "alternative" audience without replacing it with a "mainstream" audience. So Adele, with its playful Euro adventure tropes, is in some ways less accessible to American readers than, say, ''Trenches''. […] That said, Adele is on my long-term list, but I've got at least three or four more books beyond the first three I'd like to do first.<ref>{{cite web |first = Tom | last =Spurgeon |authorlink=Tom Spurgeon | url = http://www.comicsreporter.com/index.php/cr_newsmaker_kim_thompson_on_fantagraphics_publishing_jacques_tardi/ |title=CR Newsmaker: Kim Thompson on Fantagraphics Publishing Jacques Tardi |website=[[The Comics Reporter]] |date=9 March 2009 |access-date = 15 March 2010}}</ref>}}
The Fantagraphics titles are:
#''Pterror Over Paris'' and ''The Eiffel Tower Demon'' (96 pp., hardcover, 2010, {{ISBN|1-60699-382-8}})
#''The Mad Scientist'' and ''Mummies on Parade'' (96 pp., hardcover, 2011, {{ISBN|1-60699-493-X}})
#''The Secret of the Salamander'' and ''The Two-headed Dwarf'' (96 pp., hardcover, TBP 2014<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.fantagraphics.com/browse-shop/the-astonishing-exploits-of-lucien-brindavoine-june-2013-2.html |title= The Astonishing Exploits of Lucien Brindavoine |website=[[Fantagraphics]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130526115451/http://www.fantagraphics.com/browse-shop/the-astonishing-exploits-of-lucien-brindavoine-june-2013-2.html |archive-date= 26 May 2013}}</ref>)

==Adaptations into other media==
A [[live action]] feature film adapted and directed by [[Luc Besson]], [[The Extraordinary Adventures of Adèle Blanc-Sec (film)|''The Extraordinary Adventures of Adèle Blanc-Sec'']] was released in France on 14 April 2010 and latterly in numerous other markets, including the United Kingdom.<ref name=IMDb>{{IMDb title|1179025|Les Aventures extraordinaires d'Adèle Blanc-Sec|qid=Q380349}}</ref>

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

==References==
{{refbegin}}
* [http://bdoubliees.com/asuivre/series1/adeleblancsec.htm ''Adèle Blanc-Sec'' publications in ''(A SUIVRE)''] at BDoubliées {{in lang|fr}}
* [http://www.bedetheque.com/serie-177-BD-Adele-Blanc-Sec.html ''Adèle Blanc-Sec albums''] at Bedetheque {{in lang|fr}}
* {{comicbookdb|type=character|id=30660|title=Adèle Blanc-Sec}}
* {{gcdb|type=character|search=blanc-Sec|title=Adèle Blanc-Sec}}
* [http://www.internationalhero.co.uk/a/adele.htm Adèle Blanc-Sec] at the International Catalogue of Superheroes
{{refend}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Extraordinary Adventures of Adele Blanc-Sec, The}}
[[Category:French comic strips]]
[[Category:Bandes dessinées]]
[[Category:Feminist comics]]
[[Category:French fantasy]]
[[Category:Mystery comics]]
[[Category:Fantasy comics]]
[[Category:Fantasy parodies]]
[[Category:Science fantasy comics]]
[[Category:Secret histories]]
[[Category:Unfinished comics]]
[[Category:Comics set in the 1910s]]
[[Category:Comics set in the 1920s]]
[[Category:1976 comics debuts]]
[[Category:French comics adapted into films]]
[[Category:Occult detective fiction]]
[[Category:Comics about women|Adele Blanc-Sec]]
[[Category:Comics by Jacques Tardi]]
[[Category:Comics set in Paris]]