Page 45 Review by Stephen
Grande Odalisque - Page 45 Comicbook Of The Month April 2022.
In this graphic novel, two women art thieves bring in a third wheel for their biggest caper yet. Alex and Carole, friends since childhood, are now (literal) partners in crime. But the heist - to steal the Ingres painting The Grande Odalisque from the Louvre in Paris - is too much for the duo to handle, so they bring in Clarence, a bureaucrat's son with a price on his head by a Mexican drug cartel and, more importantly, an arms dealer. Next is Sam, a stunt motorcyclist and boxer by trade, who proves trigger happy with tranquilizer darts.
Using soda can smoke bombs, rocket launchers, and hang gliders, Alex, Carole, and Sam set off a set of circumstances that results in a battle with the French Special Forces - and their partnership, which was on the rocks, will never be the same again. Ruppert and Mulot, two of the most innovative comic creators in the world, team up with multiple Angouleme prize winner Bastien Vives to bring you this impossibly funny, violent, and sexy action-packed thriller.
Olympia
Meet Alex, Carole, and Sam: the most notorious trio of cat burglars of the 21st century, starring in this graphic novel sequel. Alex, Carole, and Sam use technology, know-how, and some serious chutzpah bordering on hubris to reinvent a profession that has lost much of its fun and insolence since the early 20th century. After successfully stealing La Grande Odalisque by Ingrés from the Louvre (in Fantagraphics' acclaimed 2021 graphic novel of the same name), the art thieves have a new mission: nab Édouard Manet's Olympia - plus two other masterpieces - from the Petit Palais in Paris. Naturally, complications ensue, and not just from the fact that Carole is nine months pregnant at the time of the heist! Forming a trio as formidable as their protagonists, Bastien Vivès, Jérôme Mulot, and Florent Ruppert deliver an explosive, grand symphony of adventure, as well as a very touching and funny character study in this eagerly anticipated sequel to The Grande Odalisque.
