When Bryan Talbot Pretended To Be A French/Japanese Comics Creator

Posted in: Comics, Current News | Tagged: about comics, Bryan Talbot

When Bryan Talbot Pretended To Be A French/Japanese Comics Creator

In 2008, Bryan Talbot, published a graphic novel Metronome, under the pseudonym of French/Japanese female comic creator Véronique Tanaka.

Published Wed, 25 Sep 2024 11:57:08 -0500
by Rich Johnston
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Article Summary

• In 2008, Bryan Talbot published Metronome as a French/Japanese creator, Véronique Tanaka.
• Metronome, a silent, erotic graphic novel, was praised for its geometric and rhythmic art.
• About Comics has reprinted Metronome, now featuring Talbot's real name and bonus interviews.
• Metronome is available on Amazon, not through direct market distributors.

In 2008, Bryan Talbot, the graphic novelist behind Luther Arkwright, the Grandville series, The Tale of One Bad Rat, did his own impression of C.B. Cebulski's Akira Yoshida by publishing a graphic novel by a non-existent French/Japanese female comic creator; Metronome by Véronique Tanaka.

A silent, geometric, rhythmic, and erotic graphic novel, it had sixteen square panels on each square page, and those pages turned not to the left but to the top. The work was also attributed to half French, half Japanese creator Véronique Tanaka. The book, published by NBM and carrying an introduction by Jeff Smith, received positive reviews, as New York magazine called it an "elegant, wordless work of art" but sales did not follow, and it only received one printing

Now About Comics has brought Metronome back into print with a new paperback edition that, for the first time, bears Talbot's name. In addition to that, the book includes not only the original Jeff Smith introduction but also a 2008 interview that "Véronique" gave an Italian comics website and a somewhat more recent interview in which Talbot explains the subterfuge.

Add that to the more than a thousand panels of the story itself, and it makes a 8.5" square package for a $12.

"When Bryan offered me this book, I was flabbergasted," explains Nat Gertler, the man behind About Comics. "I hadn't even heard of it, because it wasn't a 'Bryan Talbot' book, and it seems like something that much larger publishers would have jumped at. I sure did." The deal was struck at the same time as the one for BrainStorm!, a collection of Talbot's underground work that was released to comic shops last month.

Metronome is not being offered through a direct market distributor, but is being sold through Amazon outlets worldwide.

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