Lucy, a hypothetical primate

The butler[0] told me that yesterday at Düsseldorf he also saw Transplant[1] by Otto Dix. The print reminded me of Italian comic artist Liberatore‘s Frankensteinesque[2] vision RanXerox[3], [4], [5], one of the most neglected comic book series of the 21st century.

Lucy by Liberatore, cover by you.

Lucy, l’espoir (2007) illustrated by Liberatore and written by Patrick Norbert.

To my surprise — I know that Liberatore has not made an album since 1996, not counting Femmes[6] which has no story — I stumbled on Lucy, l’espoir a 2007 graphic novel illustrated by Liberatore, many times called the Michelangelo of comic art, but probably more kin to Goltzius (compare the depiction of exaggerated muscle mass in[7], [8] and [9])

On the cover[10] of Lucy, l’espoir’ (En: Lucy, the hope) is an ape mother holding a baby and looking skywards to the moon on a clear night. On a second plate[11], one ape fights another and they both seem to fall off a cliff. The ape on the cover is Lucy, an Australopithecus afarensis specimen discovered 1974, at one time considered the missing link.

4 thoughts on “Lucy, a hypothetical primate

  1. lichanos

    This image brings to mind a bizarre TV ad I recall seeing years ago: To the sounds of Madame Butterfly, the camera pans in on a small monkey wearing headphones, listening…

    I’ve searched and searched but not found it on YouTube or anywhere. Much obliged if anyone knows where to see it again!

  2. donny

    I was going through some old Dix prints from the MOMA DADA thing from a few years back… its funny how much of his work has an apelike quality to it. I guess its the primateivism.

  3. scott

    The last days of 08 and still too damn hip!

    RanXerox is without a doubt, one of the most neglected comic series of the 21st century.

    Thank god that Stallone or Arnie have not sought to resurrect their careers with this gem.

    09 beckons with a deluge of Watchmen miasma.

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