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Urbicande is a series of BD graphic novels published by Casterman

Illustrated by Belgians Francois Schuiten and written by Benoit Peeters, the 22 volumes in the series have built up an imaginary mysterious world since the first book’s appearance in 1982.

(Click the thumbnails to enlarge the images)

Because the series constructs an enigma wrapped up in a mystery surrounded by a puzzle cloaked in a conundrum hidden by an intrigue, it’s a little difficult to be precise in describing the type of universe these volumes portray.

So I’ll leave it to the author of one of the many fan sites to introduce the strange world of The Obscure Cities.

Les Cités Obscures is one of the best BD ever made. Franà §ois Schuiten and Benoà ®t Peeters describe an incredibly rich world, striking by its diversity, coherence and organization. And beauty.

Their books can be read in several degrees of depth.

We can read just one or two books by themselves, we can just follow the stories and the nice drawings, or we can start making connections between the different books and between the books and our world. One of the most interesting things is the way the authors mix invention and reality.

As an example there are many passages between the two worlds (the ones known to date are listed in the official site of the series).

There are also many symbols and literary references present in the books, whose study gives some hints to understand the meaning of the obscure world…

I get strong resonances of Winsor McKay’s Little Nemo, Max Ernst’s Semaine De Bonte, and another famous Belgian: Rene Magritte.

Amazing draughtsmanship on display here. You can actually download several issues of the ficticious The City Echo. (I’ve lost the link in the wilderness of mirrors that surrounds Urbicande!)

Here are the creators of Urbicande, who have known each other snce their early schooldays.

There are some beautiful visual ideas frolicking in the univers of Urbicande.

There’s even a map to help you orient yourself through the series.

UPDATE: You can find updates on Schuiten & Peeters work here.