![\"solomons-thieves.jpg\"](\"http:\/\/beatrice.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/08\/solomons-thieves.jpg\")
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Although I’m not nearly as widely read in the genre as I would like to be, I’m a fan of the European graphic novel tradition known as bande dessinée<\/i>, which Clive James has described as “an upmarket comic book<\/a>,” which is an okay definition as far as it goes—I would specify that it’s a long-form narrative told in comics form and, generally speaking, outside of the superhero tradition. Rather than a series of comic book issues packaged together as “chapters” of a larger story, a BD commonly comprises a single, large-scale narrative, but that isn’t to say serialization never<\/i> occurs—or, more to the point since I’m talking about Solomon’s Thieves<\/i><\/a>, that stories can’t extend over several volumes.<\/p>\n Solomon’s Thieves<\/i> is the first volume of a trilogy, written by Jordan Mechner and illustrated by the husband-and-wife team of Alex Puvilland and LeUyen Pham, which uses the 14th-century persecution of the Knights Templar, and the legends surrounding their lost treasure, as the springboard for a classic adventure yarn. There’s no occult conspiracy here; the long-standing rumors about the Templars are touched upon, but in a context that underscores the political intrigues within the French court that led to the order’s suppression. Although it’s somewhat frustrating that this volume, being only the first third of a larger story, is almost entirely set-up, it does an effective job of setting up the major characters and hinting at the dynamics that will unfold in future installments—and, in the meantime, there’s plenty of action: fight scenes like the one above, wild chases through the streets of Paris, and a pull-out-the-stops battle just before the cliffhanger ending. The artwork does a fine job of telling the story without calling attention to itself, equally effective in conversation and action scenes.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n![\"prince-of-persia.jpg\"](\"http:\/\/beatrice.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/08\/prince-of-persia.jpg\")
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