#french comics

Female Pristi

A seemingly sinister street tough hiding his face behind a mask to make the committing of crimes easier, is really a crime-fighting British diplomat, Lord Horace Neighbor, assigned to the United States.

Lord Horace, wishing to fight crime, takes on the disguise of Fantax so he can move among criminals and take them down one-on-one.

He is assisted in this by Barbara, his fiancée and later wife, who eventually takes to wearing a costume as well; Murph, his butler; P'tit Louis, a muscular assistant; and, in time, his children, Barbara and Horace Junior, who both become masked crime fighters when adults called Blackboy and Barbara Tiger.

Fantax has no superpowers, but is a good hand-to-hand combatant, an expert with the knife, a skilled detective, an expert proponent in the use of torture, which he used regularly against opponents, and a black belt in French cigarette fu.

To really understand Michel Rabagliati, you almost have to be from Quebec. His books are packed tighter than a rush-hour Orange Line métro with little homegrown references, neighborhood memories, dépanneur moments, and that unmistakable Montreal state of mind. If you grew up around here, especially hearing the mix of joual, old family stories, hockey chatter, and Sunday walks through Plateau…