46 - Bonhomme

Bonhomme MATTHIEU BONHOMME CHARLOTTE IMPÉRATRICE Adios, Carlotta (Vol. 3), Dargaud 2023 Original artwork no. 16. Signed. India ink on paper 35 × 47 cm (13.78 × 18.5 in.) One of the narrative techniques Matthieu Bonhomme uses in *Charlotte Impératrice* is to contrast dialogue with the artwork. When the heroine writes to her father that everything is fine, the illustration shows us that everything is going wrong. Similarly, in this opening scene, an intriguing narrative tells of the unexpected birth of a child from an egg, while the illustration shows us something entirely different: Charlotte and Colonel Van Der Smissen facing each other on horseback. Two faces, a title, two riders sizing each other up, and a menacing Gila Monster at the bottom of the panel. This interweaving of seemingly unrelated narratives may come as a surprise. But upon closer inspection, it takes on a premonitory quality, since we later learn that the colonel accompanying the empress will be the illegitimate father of the child she will give birth to. “I designed this page in a very schematic way. A frontal portrait. Its reverse shot. The horizontal text and a side view of the horseman and the princess, observed by that large, poisonous lizard. She is fascinated by this man, whom I drew as an Attila—a tall, massive, and ultra-virile warrior. I wanted a lot of lyricism in these panels. That’s why there’s smoke, dust, and backlighting on the horseman.” M.B.