Written by: François Dermaut
Illustrations: François Dermaut
Coloring: François Dermaut
Publisher: Glénat
Rosa 1/2 De Weddenschap – Comic Book Review
Tonight there will be no adventurous tales but we’ll simple talk about sex, and lots of it apparently. Even though sex is no taboo anymore, in the 1800’s it was something else, especially seeing this story is all about extramarital sex, that came to fruition all because of a pissing contest between several of the local pub visitors. If this hasn’t tickled your funny bone, we don’t know what will.
Rosa runs a bar in her house, to make ends meet and tend to her husband Mathieu, who has tuberculosis. Whilst Rosa was forced to marry Mathieu, a man who became a widower at a fairly young age who abused Rosa at the beginning of her marriage, he learned to fight his inner demons and Rosa and Mathieu actually became very close, albeit in a more friend-like fashion. Sadly Rosa does not have the money to pay for a proper treatment, she still does her best to tend to Mathieu’s needs. Life scurries along, and as usual the regulars of the pub are quite loud, until the topic of ‘who is the best lover’ comes into play. This unusual topic, for the time period, causes a fight between two visitors and they decide to start a wager, namely one to determine who the best lover might be. Both men make a bet, that has a very high cash prize attached to it but things seem to cool down when Rosa calls it closing time. She imagines nothing will come of it and goes to bed, after tending to Mathieu.
When the next day the argument is once again brought to life and more of the local visitors join in, it seems that this silly plan will actually go through. That being said, it seems that there are a few issues at hand, namely finding a girl who will be fair when judging the different male competitors and keeping it a secret from all of the men’s wives. Nonetheless, Rosa starts thinking about the money and how it could help Mathieu and thus it seems she’ll have to make some choices of her own.
Overall the story has a rather slow pace, as it’s all about the wager and how everything can be arranged. The story itself is rather heavy but very interesting, given the fairly unusual topic. There is a lot of text to plow through and it’s quite interesting to see the behavioral patterns of the different men, as well as Rosa’s. On the other hand it’s also amusing to see how everyone tries to keep things a secret, but as expected from the beginning, things will get spilled.
François Dermaut adapted the tale he was given by Bernard Ollivier to make for a very interesting tale of men who let their egos reign supreme. It’s actually a very coherent story and all things fall into place very nicely. The writing itself is nicely done, as each character has a very different personality, making all of the competitors interesting in their own way.
Illustrations were also handled by François Dermaut, who aims for a very detailed experience, with a shaded and dark look surrounding everything. The backgrounds are very detailed and especially the characters’ faces are amazingly done. The drawing style also feels like a trip down memory lane, as it reminds you of the style of many 50’s commercials and so on.
Conclusion
Rosa 1/2 De Weddenschap is a very interesting album that has a rather unusual topic to spice things up. As this book might be seen as a tribute to male pissing contests, it’s actually very nicely put together. You’ll have to wade through a decent amount of text, but it will be worth it. Keep things safe when reading this album though.
Rosa 1/2 De Weddenschap - Comic Book Review,
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