Le Fils du Roi

A guest post by Bill Kartalopoulos on Le Fils du Roi by Eric Lambé Wordless, drawn entirely in ball-point pen, and composed of images that dissolve the mystical into the everyday, Eric Lambé’s Le Fils du Roi (Frémok, 2012), is the most astonishing work to date in an already distinguished career. Eric Lambé is a pioneering figure in the modern Franco-Belgian movement towards a more poetic expression of the comics form, drawing from broader traditions of drawing, painting and printmaking. Active since the 1990s, Lambé has produced a number of books, both alone and in collaboration, for publishers large and small. His masterpiece Le Fils du Roi (“The King’s Son”) was published by Frémok last year. The book refers to pieces by Balthus, Picasso, and other high art touchstones, but their inclusion here seems to be as personal to Lambé as the highly specific objects, gestures and dreamlike images that constitute this jaw-dropping and mesmerizing work. The original artwork for this book was exhibited at Paris’s Galerie Martel this past winter, and Lambé will make a rare North American tour this spring. Lambé will appear at the following events, where copies of the book will also be available: Friday, May 3: Eric Lambé in conversation with Bart Beaty at the Center for Book Arts, New York City Sunday, May 5: SUNY Purchase Zinefeast, Purchase, NY Monday, May 6: The New York Comics & Picture-Story Symposium, New York City Saturday and Sunday, May 11-12: TCAF: The Toronto Comic Arts Festival, Toronto, Ontario, Canada Images from Joue Avec Moi (Frémok, 2011): Bill Kartalopoulos is a Brooklyn-based comics educator, curator and critic. He is a co-founder of the Brooklyn Comics and Graphics Festival, the publisher of Rebus Books, and the Series Editor for the Best American Comics from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt beginning with the 2014 volume.