Glacial Period

Douglas Wolk

De Crécy's own artwork, all twitchy pen lines and blotches of watercolor, contrasts neatly with the creamy smoothness of the Old Masters. And the bulk of his story is a clever upending of the resilient myth that masterworks of art preserve the history and spirit of their era; the meaning of art, De Crécy suggests, belongs to the people who experience it.
— The Washington Post

Publishers Weekly

The first in a series of graphic novels created in collaboration with the Louvre, this is a charming novella that celebrates the collections within the famed Paris museum and allows a nice showcase for De Crecy's detailed, engaging drawing. The story opens with a team of archeologists exploring the earth thousands of years from now, after a long glacial period. Cut off from their history, the ragtag bunch wonder aloud about what the planet might have been like. Serendipitously, they stumble upon the edifice of the Louvre and begin to explore inside. As they stroll through art history, they speculate on what kind of civilization could have produced such images and objects. De Crecy makes this both informative and humorous, as he affectionately riffs on art and life. And then the works themselves begin to speak to each other, telling us and them about life as it passed through the Louvre. It's all quite charming. De Crecy is a gifted storyteller whose eye for body language and ear for a funny line never fails him. He deftly combines art history, science fiction and simple philosophizing in a short but very sweet tale. (Feb.) Copyright 2007 Reed Business Information.

VOYA

Originally published in France in cooperation with the Louvre Museum, De CrTcy's work takes a futuristic look at the museum's pieces. Set in the far future, where human history has long been erased by glacial ices and snow, a group of archeologists and genetically enhanced dogs rediscover the historic museum. The result is their search for meaning in these images-first as a religious temple, then as a place of lewd reputation, and then finally the images come to life explaining some of the history to Hulk, the dog with an incredible sense of smell. The images, with help from Hulk, become free once more in the world. De CrTcy uses muted tones with red highlights throughout this slim graphic novel, bringing a consistent cold feeling to the panels. Once the characters are underground in the Louvre, the panel art is warmer, especially when famous art pieces are reproduced in the panels. This amusing graphic novel looks at museum artifacts through futuristic but unknowledgeable eyes with entertaining results. De CrTcy includes a list of art works that he uses within the panels so that readers can learn more about the different pieces. Although the graphic novel is well done and tells an engaging story, it will be a hard sell to the average graphic novel reader. Once read, the story fades quickly from the mind. Libraries looking to beef up their more literary or adult graphic novel collections should consider it. Reviewer: Kristin Fletcher-Spear

School Library Journal

Gr 10 Up
Some centuries in the future, there is a deep freeze, and archaeologists, accompanied by genetically enhanced dogs, set out to seek places that once were. Such is the exploring party to which Gregor, Reynald, Juliette, the bespectacled pig-dog Hulk, and others belong. Trekking across the vast tundra, they literally fall into the ruins of the Louvre, which they misinterpret as the private home of an individual who belonged to a civilization lacking in alphabetic writing, a culture that communicated solely in images. Although the paintings in this vast house are mute, the statues, mummies, and objets anciens contain spiritual life, and Hulk is able to speak with them as readily as he can converse with his contemporary humans. In this first of four books to be coproduced with the Louvre, De Crecy's storytelling is agile, witty, and peppered with surprising twists. The beautiful and muted watercolor panels are tiny and luminous, dusted by windblown snow and lit by campfires. An appendix provides a guide to the works depicted within the tale. Graphic novel readers of a literary bent will find this fun, while art and history teachers will want to know about it as supplemental curriculum reading.
—Francisca GoldsmithCopyright 2006 Reed Business Information.