“
– I can give you the blouse back tomorrow, if you’d like?
–No rush, it’s fine.
–I’ll call you.
–Yes. We’ll talk.”
A student of Classical Literature at the Sorbonne, Séverine is neither beautiful, ugly, brilliant, nor mediocre. The young woman lives a banal existence, without brilliance but without drama, alongside a companion who pays her less attention than a television series or video game.
After babysitting, she is given a silk blouse that will mysteriously change her life. From that day forward, men give her a different look, loaded with desire. Does the garment have a magic power? Séverine doesn’t know, but she finds that it gives her confidence. And it allows her to take destiny into her own hands...
With the grace and the sensuality which he has already demonstrated in A Sister, Bastien Vivès draws a new female portrait completely adult and contemporary in The Blouse.
MATURE (16 AND UP) WWW.ABLAZE.NET
“At 33 (Bastien Vives) is the new prince of intelligent, sensitive and funny Comics.”
—VANITY FAIR
the blouse
Story & Art Bastien Vivès
TRANSLATION FABRICE SAPOLSKY LETTERS NATHAN KEMPF
DIGITAL FONT CREATED BY JEAN-FRANÇOIS REY FROM THE AUTHOR’S HANDWRITING SPECIAL THANKS NOLWENN LEBRET
FOR ABLAZE MANAGING EDITOR RICH YOUNG EDITOR KEVIN KETNER DESIGNER CINTHIA TAKEDA CAETANO RODOLFO MURAGUCHI
Publisher’s Cataloging-in-Publication data
Names: Vivès, Bastien, author. Title: The blouse / Bastien Vivès. Description: Portland, OR: Ablaze, 2022. Identifiers:
Subjects: LCSH Université de Paris—Comic books, strips, etc. | Women—Comic books, strips, etc. | Paris (France)—Comic books,
GRAPHIC
/
ISBN: 978-1-950912-66-7
strips, etc. | Fantasy comic books, strips, etc. | Graphic novels. | BISAC COMICS & GRAPHIC NOVELS / Literary | COMICS &
NOVELS
Contemporary Women Classification: LCC PN6747.V58 B56 2022 | DDC 741.5—dc23 THE BLOUSE HC. First printing. Published by Ablaze Publishing, 11222 SE Main St. #22906 Portland, OR 97269. Bastien Vives’ The Blouse © Casterman 2018. All rights reserved. For the English edition: © 2022 ABLAZE, LLC. All Rights Reserved. Ablaze and its logo TM & © 2022 Ablaze, LLC. All Rights Reserved. All names, characters, events, and locales in this publication are entirely fictional. Any resemblance to actual persons (living or dead), events or places, without satiric intent is coincidental. No portion of this book may be reproduced by any means (digital or print) without the written permission of Ablaze Publishing except for review purposes. Printed in Mexico. For advertising and licensing email: info@ablazepublishing.com 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
One silly thing: teaching PHP in their first year knowing it’ll be obsolete in two years.
It’s useless. I walked by and they were all on their MacBook Pros.
5
Not to mention that 90% of companies still use Windows 7. This is two-tiered society at its peak.
There was this GAME JAM in Bordeaux and I was with Jeremy…
And in a tutorial, they were showing how to root your iPhone in three steps…
Oh, sorry, is the smoke bothering you?
6
It’s just that I have a very sensitive throat.
You don’t mind?
No, no.
No worries. I’m going to go smoke by the window.
You okay? Yeah, yeah.
I’m telling you, all hackers will soon be using iPhones.
7
Is Arnold celebrating his birthday at the same bar as last year?
Uhh… yeah.
Just wanted to be sure because I’m going to see my folks in Meaux this weekend.
Need some help?
Don’t worry, it’s just a couple of pizzas.
…I mean…I think so. He created an event on Facebook.
Yeah, yeah, it’s in two weeks.
Okay… cool.
8
Speaking of which, who can tell me which disease Flaubert was suffering from?
Epilepsy? Indeed. As
Louise Colet has described it in her “Mementos”…
“…His efforts, his wheeze, the foam coming out of his mouth…”
10
