Murphy’s Miserable Space Adventures

Murphy is an anti-hero: an astronaut who continually has bad luck. He travels through space and there comes across the most bizarre beings who, to put it mildly, are not all equally friendly. In text-free gags, he repeatedly falls foul of the laws of outer space: his playful adventures inevitably end fatally. Murphy encounters his end in the most impossible and unexpected ways. This story is full of surprises in terms of both content and graphic art.

Because of the simple plot of ‘Murphy’s miserable space adventures’, which is a collection of stories that are variations on one theme, Charlotte Dumortier is able to experiment fully with colour, framing and page division. The young artist pulls out all the stops. She lets fly with lay-out, rhythm and colouring. Her style is ‘poppy’ and fresh, with a stiff dose of absurd humour. ‘Murphy’s miserable space adventures’ is a refreshing introduction to young Flemish female drawing talent.