The Lost Works of Georges Melies – Film 1: The Twins
Hooray, another comic where I don’t understand the context. Georges Melies is, according to the always reliable Wikipedia, one of the earliest French filmmakers who innovated in all sorts of revolutionary directing techniques. You probably need more of an understanding of the guy than I have to fully enjoy this comic, or maybe it’s just me. This is the story of two women who are both trying to become queens. The women are related (hence “The Twins”) and the younger one seems to have her father (who seems to be the king) on her side. The other woman seems to be locked away, and she escapes through a trick between the panels. Either that or I just missed it completely, and frankly I’d bet on that second option if I was you. Oh, and the one who was trying to become queen also made a deal with the devil of some kind, although it sure seemed to be an especially lopsided deal, as she didn’t get a damned thing out of it. I enjoyed the way that Charles played around with the panels, leading to some interesting movie-like effects. As for the rest of it, I clearly haven’t watched enough old French films to really know what the hell I just read. So if you fit in that microscopic sub-group that enjoys mini comics AND the films of Georges Melies, you’re in luck! For the rest of us philistines, it’s possible to enjoy the technical aspects of this and some of the imagery, but as a whole I just didn’t get it. Are reviewers supposed to admit that? Oh crap. I mean that of course I did get it, but that I chose to keep an ironic distance so that I could berate the comic. Sure, that must be it. But hey, at least it’s only $1, right?
