DELABY

PHILIPPE DELABY MURENA The Thorns (T.9), Dargaud 2013 Original cover. India ink, colored ink, and graphite on paper 42.7 × 56.8 cm (16.81 × 22.36 in.) Formidable cover by Delaby, where the mystique of the Murena series is expressed in all its power. Rome was destroyed by fire: it will be rebuilt with even more munificence. But for the time being, a culprit is needed. As a good politician, Nero will designate these Christians who are more and more influential in the Hebrew community of Rome. This precise moment of the Christian gesture is perfectly symbolized here by the image of this crucified hand. The realism of Delaby's drawing has something of expressionism, carried by what some would call faith. The quality of the historical documentation is noteworthy: the nail is not driven into the hand, as in many representations of the torture in Christian imagery, but into the wrist, as it should be. It is this great attention to detail that earned the authors the Historical Comics Prize, awarded at the Rendez-vous de l'Histoire de Blois, in 2011.