Jimmy Beaulieu

When my wife and I took a vacation to Montreal a few years back, one of my favorite things we did in the city was stopping by a comic shop called Fichtre! one afternoon. It wasn't a big shop, but it was packed to the gills with great stuff, including a world of amazing French-Canadian and European stuff I'd never seen or heard of before. I picked up a bunch of stuff that looked interesting, dropping fifty bucks like it was nothing. All of it was good...I tried to pick stuff with little to no words, as my French is far from the best. I got a book by David B., an issue of Spoutnik, a random assortment of mini-comics...but by far, my absolute favorite find was -22° C by Jimmy Beaulieu. It's a beautiful little digest-sized book, with four lush brush-inked panels on each page, and tells a simple story of a pretty girl waking up and going about her business on a freezing cold day.

I was absolutely in love with it. Jimmy's drawings of women are just fantastic, deceptively simple and full of life and energy. I had to have more. I spent a bunch of cash on Jimmy's books via mail-order from the Fichtre! website, dovoured them, and sent an embarrassingly fannish email, leading to a little correspondence (and a couple traded books!). He's kindly commented on my work here from time to time as well, which is always a thrill.

Anyway, as Jimmy Beaulieu's profile here in the US comics market seems to be kinda small, I wanted to use whatever voice I have here to promote his stuff and encourage people to check him out...if you like the stuff on Atom-Bomb Bikini, I can't imagine you'd find it anything short of amazing. So first, drop by his blog (if you're fluent in francais you're really in for a treat!), and then, take a look at the Fichtre! website and consider placing an order. I'd recommend -22° and Appalaches to anyone, and if you're feeling a little more adventurous and want to bust out that French dictionary from high school, pick up Ma Voisine en Maillot and Le Moral des Tropes as well. Hell, pick up any of 'em...they're all great, and you'll be glad you did.

Here are a couple examples from Jimmy's site, posted without permission. Hope that's cool!