The Arctic Marauder

Book excerpt: In its ongoing quest to showcase Jacques Tardi's wide range,Fantagraphics is publishing one of his earliest and most distinctive graphicnovels: a satirical, Jules Vernes-esque "retro-sci-fi" yarn. In1899, a ship navigating the Arctic Ocean comes across a stunning sight: aghostly, abandoned vessel perched high atop an iceberg. Soon, the sailors'own ship is dispatched via a mysterious explosion. Enter JérômePlumier, whose search for his missing uncle, the inventor Louis-FerdinandChapoutier, brings him into contact with the sinister, frigid forces behind this-- and soon he, too, is headed towards the North Pole, where he willcontend with mad scientists, monsters of the deep, and futuristic submarines andflying machines. Told with brio in hilarious slabs of vintage purple prose,The Arctic Marauder finds Tardi in fantastical mode and is a keystone of hisoeuvre.