Jean-Marc Lofficier

Who is the mysterious enitity who has transported the indomitable GUARDIAN OF THE REPUBLIC to Mexico in the 16th century? And for what obscure reasons? This historical epic by Jean-Marc Lofficier and Alfredo Macall starts on New Year's eve and spans three eras in a mad quest for the control of the future.

The French have always had a strong affinity for interplanetary fiction since Cyrano de Bergerac released his History of the States and Empires of the Moon in 1657. But none of the celewstial bodies have attracted more attention than the planet Mars.We have gathered in this thematic collection five remarkable stories, plus a full-length novel from 1908 by H. Gayar devoted to the exploration of Mars and its inhabitants. These range fromas early as 1766, when Marie-Anne de Roumier-Robert used a genie to take her heroes to Mars; to 1802, when Nicolas-Edm Restif de la Bretonne's superpowered hero Multipliandre stopped on the Red Planet during is exploration of the cosmos; and to 1889 when Georges Le Faure & Henri de Graffigny's ambitious Franco-Russian space travelers used a fragment of Mercury torn away by a comet, to reach our Fourth Planet.These stories are all unique and highly original and provide exemplars of the rich tradition of fantastic voyages, in the broad spectrum of French fantastic literature.TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction by J.-M. & Randy LofficierMarie-Anne de Roumier-Robert: The Voyages of Lord Seaton to the Seven Planets (1766) (excerpt)Nicolas-Edm Restif de la Bretonne: Posthumous Correspondence (1802) (excerpt)X.B. Saintine: Astronomical Journeys (1864)Guy de Maupassant: Martian Mankind (1887)Georges Le Faure & Henri de Graffigny: The Extraordinary Adventures of a Russian Scientist Across the Solar System (1889) (excerpt)H. Gayar: The Marvelous Adventures of Serge Myrandhal on Mars (1906)

HOMICRON is a NASA scientist whose body is inhabited by a mysterious alien from planet Alpha. STARCYB is a servant of the Towers, supremely powerful cosmic entities. FUTURA is a mysterious woman from a parallel dimension. JALEB is the secretive agent of a Galactic Federation of telepaths. JAYDEE is a teenage, alien metamorph, abandoned on Earth as a baby, and who may well be the deadliest killing machine in the universe... These characters, all "strangers" to Earth, are brought together by TANKA, a former jungle lord who has been recruited by entities from our planet's farthest future to be their "time agent" and is now empowered to protect our world from extra-terrestrial menaces. This thirteenth volume of Strangers concludes our fourth "season", in which our heroes face Jaydee's and Glory's "brother", the deadly Salamandrite No. 17 and work together to thwart his plan to bring its ancient masters, the alien Hemocrats, to Earth. This issue also includes four shorter stories starring The Weapon-Makers of Zade, Dick Spade: Revenant, Bathy-09: from the International Oceanic Force. and The Black Lys, French superheroine and founding member of the Hexagon Group.

Strange Xmas toys appearing out of nowhere by the millions are so extraordinary that they are forcing mankind into a state of dependence, while the universe is slowly grinding down. Finding who sent them, and why, is the job of New York journalist Sydney Gordon, his wife Margaret, and their friends Professor Archibald and Gloria Brent. That journey will take them to the strange and amazing world of the Borloks, alien toys which hide a secret older than time itself... At the start of the 21st century, when humanity has instant access to all forms of leisure in all its virtual worlds, our idealized, abstract and yet screamingly real creations may want to take our place. What a challenge for Sydney Gordon and his son Bud Could the Borloks have returned to spread chaos on Earth, and who is hiding behind their old enemies? Richard Bessi re (1923-2011) was one of the greatest authors of the silver age of French science fiction. One of his most endearing creations was journalist Sydney Gordon, whose tongue in cheek adventures blended the most outrageous sci-fi concepts with hilarious comedy. This book reprints the iconic 1968 novel by Bessi re, with a sequel penned in 2012 by the team of J.-M. Lofficier & J.-M. Archaimbault.

28. THE HOUSE OF THE GREEN PRIEST by Jean-Marc Lofficier; art by Nestor Vargas.29. THE HEART OF THE ELEPHANT story by Roy Thomas, dialogue by Jean-Marc Lofficier; art by Roberto Castro.30. THE CURSE story by Roy Thomas, based on Rudyard Kipling, dialogue by Jean-Marc Lofficier; art by Manuel Martin Peniche31. THE RING OF JHINJAEL by Jean-Marc Lofficier; art by Manuel Martin PenicheContinuing on his journey south, KABUR arrives in the merchant city of Mwizaruku where he join forces with his old allies, NEVLAK and SEBHO, to thwart a former foe thirsting for revenge... This soon leads the trio into a fierce battle against various hostile factions, all eager to acquire the otherworldly Heart of the Elephant...Kabur then crosses paths with a man who is the victim of a terrifying curse... Having resumed his journey, the Prince of Thule is then taken prisoner by the fearsome queen Jhinjael and finds himself fated to die in the deadly arena of the enchanted city of Komong... Four spectacular Kabur stories, including two by legendary Conan writer Roy Thomas, wonderfully illustrated by Roberto Castro, Manuel Martin Peniche and Nestor Vargas.

In the 1850s, when Paul F val wrote The Vampire Countess, no one in France knew for sure how tolerant the reading public might be of fictions which brought vampirism into the real world. All the French literary works in which vampires had previously been featured had been calculatedly fanciful romances drawn from foreign sources and set in faraway places. A tale of Paris in the final days of the Consulate, which pretended to be true to the facts of history and employed a cast mingling real and fictitious individuals, must have seemed a different matter.There were good reasons to doubt the propriety of placing a "real" vampire in such a setting. The victory of science over superstition, if not yet entirely secure, seemed inevitable. French readers had thrilled to the dark delights of German and English Gothic novels, but French novelists had not been nearly so willing to dabble in such absurdities. The Vampire Countess, was probably the sixth full-length vampire novel to be published, and the first time the word vampire appeared as a feminine rather than a masculine noun. It would be a long time before any other writer contrived a vampire as perversely charismatic as The Vampire Countess or any of the characters featured in this anthology.

Spring 1945. The end of the Second World War is near... Paris has just been liberated... The Germans are retreating everywhere... The Americans are coming... However, there is still time for some desperate missions, such as stopping a last train of Jewish children from being taken by the Nazis to the death camps The Guardian of the Republic and Marianne, Baroud and Princess Sadko of the Partisans, will each face incredible obstacles in order to halt this abominable project. And their success will only come at the price of the blood shed for some of them... But while one war is about to end, another, perhaps even more violent and merciless one, is already beginning... These two sagas from the last days of the Second World War have been created by Thierry Mornet & Luciano Bernasconi, and Jean-Marc Lofficier & Mario Guevara.

HOMICRON is a NASA scientist whose body is inhabited by a mysterious alien from planet Alpha. STARCYB is a servant of the Towers, supremely powerful cosmic entities. FUTURA is a mysterious woman from a parallel dimension. JALEB is the secretive agent of a Galactic Federation of telepaths. JAYDEE is a teenage, alien metamorph, abandoned on Earth as a baby, and who may well be the deadliest killing machine in the universe... These characters, all "strangers" to Earth, are brought together by TANKA, a former jungle lord who has been recruited by entities from our planet's farthest future to be their "time agent" and is now empowered to protect our world from extra-terrestrial menaces.In this twelfth volume, Tanka, Homicron and Starlock have traveled back in time to the era of King Kabur to try to learn how the legendary hero once defeated the alien Wan Lords. Meanwhile, in the present, the C.L.A.S.H. has its hands full with Mr. 17, whose secret identity is at last revealed, while Futura comes across a new threat... Special guest-stars: King Kabur Morgane

After avoiding the many traps of the city of Foralume, KABUR, now alone since Arianrod's departure, must cross the Purple Sea to reach the Southern Continent of Gondaxa, which he must also cross in order to rescue the beautiful LAGRID, kidnapped by SELINOR PSAH, the powerful sorcerer-sultan of the distant city of Arkhanal.But Psah creates a magic storm which causes Kabur to run aground near the citadel of Yaros, currently besieged by the formidable SHAIKORTIN pirates who seek to retake it from the TOADMEN OF NUNIA, who have seized it. In the midst of this savage battle, Kabur meets a traveler from the Future, TANKA, and finally unravels the mystery of his older brother's disappearance...After the siege of Yaros, KABUR finally arrives in Gondaxa in the port of Cing-Kor. But, without resources to continue his journey, he is forced to join forces with FERRANE. a young thief who plans to steal the treasure of the sinister magician NODON. But the wizard is not defenseless, and the enterprise quickly proves more perilous than expected, especially since Ferrane has not told Kabur the whole truth...

The fate of the mysterious criminal mastermind known as Dr. Cornelius was left uncertain at the end of Gustave Le Rouge's 1913 classic The Mysterious Doctor Cornelius. Now, Brian Gallagher reveals how the diabolical Doctor escaped justice, selling his surgical skills to whomever pays best.World War One has arrived, and the Great Powers of Europe are all eager to use the services of the infamous "Sculptor of flesh" to gain a decisive advantage in the upcoming conflict. But Dr. Cornelius will soon meet his most implacable enemy yet: Countess Irina Petrovska, a Polish patriot and loyal agent of the Habsburg Empire, who from Sarajevo to Vienna, will thwart his devilish schemes again and again.With alien artifacts, super-weapons, and strange inhuman powers at stake, the conflict between the Doctor and the Countess threatens to tear the Earth asunder and reshape the 20th century.A bonus story by Brian Stableford casts a new eye on Dr. Cornelius's sinister wartime activities.

HOMICRON, a NASA scientist whose body is possessed by a mysterious alien from planet Alpha. STARLOCK, a servant of the Towers, supremely powerful cosmic entities. FUTURA, a mysterious woman from a parallel dimension. JAYDEE, a teenage, alien metamorph, abandoned on Earth as a baby, and who may well be the deadliest killing machine in the universe... These characters, all "strangers" to Earth, are brought together by TANKA, a former jungle lord who has been recruited by entities from our planet's farthest future to be their "time agent" and is now empowered to protect our world from extra-terrestrial menaces.In this eleventh volume of Strangers, the heroes clash with the renegade Salamandrite known only as Mr. 17, to prevent the return of his alien masters, the Wan Lords, whom Kabur once defeated in the distant past...First, they travel to the African jungle of Karunda, and then to a secret research facility in the South of France, to stop Mr. 17 from using dimensional gateways to bring the space vampires to Earth.Special guest-stars: The Guardian of the Republic Zembla And the amazing Attaturkey

The SAGA OF KABUR continues After defeating the evil Ghool, Kabur and Arianrod suddenly find themselves pitted against the diabolical schemes of the witch SHANGA KHOUR and the mysterious TIME RIDER. To defeat them, Kabur will have to overcome the lethal traps of the ghostly town of N'THALEK...KABUR and ARIANROD then reach the great harbor city of FORALUME, where Lagrid was once sold as a slave. Still on the trail of SELINOR PSAH, the powerful sultan-sorcerer who kidnapped LAGRID, they find themselves caught up in a deadly plot hatched by the SHAIKORTIN Reavers who seek to take over FORALUME...In a third bonus story, the beautiful Fomore princess ARIANROD, after having left her home, unmasks a murderer and confronts the PLAGUE OF THE TSUNABI...

The mad scientist is a stereotypical, archetypal scientist who is often a clich or commonplace in popular fiction. He can be absent-minded and harmless, or wicked and dangerous. French science fiction, in particular, features a remarkable number of novels and stories on this theme, enough to justify the three volumes that we intend to devote to this topic. In this thematic collection we have gathered six remarkable stories by Andr Caroff, Georges Espitallier, Henri Falk, Arnould Galopin, Gustave Le Rouge and Jules Verne, published between 1874 and 1964, that encapsulate the basic archetypes of the mad scientist: he is obsessed with his research; he develops innovative technologies at the cutting edge of his era's knowledge, often out of sheer daring; he appears to be lacking in common sense; he likes to play God without realizing the consequences of his actions.Each of the authors featured in this volume were privileged witnesses to prodigious scientific advances that were at the root of profound social transformations. The fears aroused by some of these, particularly in biology and chemistry, combined with the stubborn positivism of seeing science as the ultimate solution to all ills, crystallized into the figure of the mad scientist. The rich tradition of the French roman scientifique provides a striking illustration of the archetype inspired by the myths of Prometheus and Faust.TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction by J.-M. & Randy LofficierJules Verne: Dr. Ox's Experiment Georges Espitallier: The Nickel Man Arnould Galopin: The Man With the Blue Face Gustave Le Rouge: The Sculptor of Human Flesh Henri Falk: The Master Of The Three States Andr Caroff: The Sinister Mme Atomos