Arsene Lupin, Gentleman Thief
Maurice Leblanc
In 1907, Author Maurice Leblanc released the first collection of stories recounting the adventures of Arsene Lupin, a charming thief and master of disguises. The character became quite popular, featured in 17 novels and 39 novellas, inspiring generations of charming anti-heroes to follow. This brand new edition of the first Arsene Lupin novel is beautifully illustrated by artist Vincent Mallie, capturing the joyful style of an animated feature as if created by renowned director Hayao Miyazaki (whose first directorial release was LUPIN THE 3rd: The Castle of Cagliostro, which is filled with nods to Leblanc's classic character). Collecting the first 9 novellas, this illustrated edition features dozens of black-and-white and full-color illustrations and plates including numerous two-page spreads that evoke the beauty and charm of a Studio Ghibli production.
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**I was provided an electronic ARC from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for honest review.**
Actual Rating: 3.5
Maurice Leblanc's classic stories of Arsene Lupin Gentleman Thief are refreshed in this new collection accompanied by illustrations from Vincent Mallie. Editor Mike Kennedy compiled the collection.
I was already familiar with Maurice Leblanc's stories involving Lupin, and enjoy them. The NetGalley listing unfortunately had this collection advertised under comics and graphic novels, which this was not. This was a true collection of novellas accompanied by illustrations. I was very much looking forward to a graphic novel and hope to see one in the future. I did not allow this misadvertisement to affect my rating.
The collection of stories is a solid one, all very entertaining exploits of Lupin. The true addition, then, is the illustrations which were lovely. Mallie's artwork seemed to be of a time with Lupin and evoked some of the line work seen in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. The color palette chosen was of lovely saturation and seemed consistent with historical availability as best I could tell with my past experiences. I really do think that Mallie's artwork added to the experience of reading the stories and that the stories included provided a nice overview of Lupin as a character.
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