Le Dernier Chant des Malaterre

My introduction to the works of Francois Bourgeon came during my childhood, when I found my father's old copy of the second volume in the French cartoonists comic Les Passagers du Vent (The Passangers of the Wind). This was the only comic by Bourgeon in my old man owned and so, for many years, it was the only one avaible to me as well. However, that single volume was enough to make me into an admirer of Bourgeon's work. That said, while Les Passagers du Vent is undeniably a great comic, its not the focus of this post. No, this post is all about Bourgeon's other historically themed comic: Les Compagnons de Crepuscule.

Les Compagnons de Crepuscule (The Companions of Dusk, or Twilight, depending on your preference) takes place in France during the 100 Year War and tells the story of an unnamed knight with a scarred face, who is on a quest to atone for his past misdeeds.

During this quest, the Knight is joined by two youths, the only survivors of a massacred village. They are Mariotte; the obligatary strong-willed heroine present in all Bourgeon's work and Anicet, a young man whose handsome countenance does little to conceal his selfish and craven personality.
The adventures of the Knight, Mariotte and Anicet takes place over the course of three volumes and while they are all worth reading, its the final volume that is the best one and deserving of special attention.

In the third volume, titled Le Dernier Chant des Malaterre (The Sirens' Last Song), the trio has arrived at the town of Montroil where they've decided to spend the winter. Overlooking Montroil is a castle ruled by Neyrelle a beautiful and mysterious widow, who is the oldest of three sisters said to have Siren blood flowing in their veins.
Gradually, our three main characters are drawn into Neyrelle's web of intrigue and a lot happens before the book reaches its apocalyptic conclusion.

One aspect in which Les Compagnons de Crepuscule differs from its predecessor is the way it is structured; Les Passagers du Vent was a serialized story with each of the five volumes leading into the next one. That is not the case here. Although, the Knight's quest is the thread that runs through Les Compagnons' narrative and the comic has both a definitive beginning and ending, each volume of Les Compagnons de Crepuscule tells its own complete story.

There's also the presence of the supernatural, something that was absent from Les Passagers du Vent, represented among others by three mysterious powers which created the World and is in constant battle with each other. One would perhaps think that these fantastic elements would clash with the otherwise realistic depiction of medieval Europe that Bourgeon presents, but that's not the case. Rather, I would say that the obvious research that the authenticity of the setting lends credibility to the strange and otherworldly aspects of the plot.

Meticulously researched and featuring an intricate story, covering more than a hundred pages (the length of the two previous volumes combined), Les Dernier Chant des Malaterre is, in my opinion, Bourgeon's finest work and one of my favorite comics.

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