International Affairs: The Professor’s Daughter

The latest book to be featured in our global war on people who don’t know enough about comic books produced outside the United States is The Professor’s Daughter, a decidely quirkly story of love between a mummy and a daughter of an Egyptologist (and can I just diverge from anything relevant here to say that there simply is no job title cooler than “Egyptologist”). The creators are Joann Sfar and Emmanuel Guibert of France, who gained more fame with their later children’s books Sardine in Outer Space (reviews of that coming soon).

The Professor’s Daughter is a much more adult-oriented book, but it continues with publisher First Second’s theme of printing books that are shining examples of what all-ages books should be, mixing humor and excitement for everyone while not making dramatic concessions to coddle youngsters. It also boasts one of those classic premises that guarantees a solid work: A mummy has come alive (no explanation needed or given) and is traipsing across London with the daughter of the Egyptologist who located him. They come to be quite close when an unfortunate (and grim) turn of events starts them hurtling along in an adventure that seems somewhere between Jules Verne and Shakespeare (speaking to the tone, not literary quality).

Aside from a few splash pages, the book is designed with six square panels of equal size on every page. That conservative setup and the simple art style (not overly detailed pencilwork that looks to have been painted over with watercolor) works well to further set the work in the time period of the story. It’s a good example of using subtle touches to place a book.

The Professor’s Daughter is a very good book — with must-see moments like a mummy pitching the Queen into the British Channel — but, as a story, it does have a serious drawback. While I was glad to see Chris over at the Invincible Super Blog take a moment away from posting an image of Moon Knight backhanding a chimpanzee to review a “relatively serious comic” (his words), I have to completely disagree when he calls The Professor’s Daughter one of the most captivating love stories I’ve ever read. The only failing of The Professor’s Daughter is that it doesn’t work as a love story.

The mummy and the daughter have only three pages to build any chemistry before the big adventure begins. And while they certainly seem to get along well enough in those pages, it doesn’t come across that romance is budding. Then, much later, when the mummy suddenly professes his love, it feels very stark and empty. Other characters even acknowledge that point. But, in the end, the two find happy ever after. It just seems far too contrived for a book that succeeds in so many other ways.