Jour J - French AH Comics collection

"Jour J" (D Day) is a collection of french comics.
Every album does tell a different history (with an exception).

Just a little presentation.

1. Russians on the Moon!
September 19th 1969 : USSR is winning the race against USA that began 10 years ago.

Appollo mission is a disaster and Soviets are walking on the Moon.
Soon, two spatial bases are built there : one american, the other sovietic and tension rises on Earth, while the two expeditions tries to live peacefully.
It wouldn't prevent the Cold War to became hot right there.

2. Paris, Soviet sector.
December 1951 : In Paris' heart a serial killer threaten Cold War balance

In 1944, storm ravage the Allied armada in Normandy's shores. Overlord Operation is a complete disaster.
Depsite the arrival of Allied in Provence some month later, Nazi Germany is still resisting until their capitulation when Soviet forces reach Paris.

1951 : Film Noir, Serial Killer, Spy network. The twisted sequel of Casablanca.

3/4. Red September / Black October

September 1917. After french capitulation, Clémenceau is preparing revenge on German occupier.

German invaded Paris in 1914 as they planned. Clémenceau flee to Algeria where he organise French Resistence.

In 1917, Nicolas II is going to surrender Russia to Germany. Clémenceau decide to help Bolsheviks to kill him : former Brigades du Tigre member is send on this mission after he helped the famous Anarchist terrorist Bonnot to evade.

October 1917 : French Anarchist at the heart of Russian Revolution

Sendng an anarchist in Revolutionary Russia to kill the tsar. What could have turned wrong?
Helping Stalin to kill the tsar, Bonnot decides then to help the Anarchist to overthrow the government, in order to make them continue the war against the Kaiser and save French Republic.

5. Who killed the President?

November 22 1973 : America under shock after Dallas Assassination

America knew hard times, and maybe he wasn't the best president for this era of troubles. In the car that stopped because of strikers and political opponants, lies the body of the 35th POTUS : Richard Nixon.

(And yes, his presidency goes as well as you can imagine)

6. Power to imagination?

1973 : 5 years after Mai 68 and the civil war, Paris lives anew

De Gaulle died in 1968, and the political crisis became a real war.
5 years later, nobody know what happened to 200 millions of francs that were robbed at this time. Except the guilties, now close of power.


7. Vive l'Empereur!
December 2nd 1925 : Rumors of assassination during the sacre of Napoléon V

What If the Paix d'Amiens never broke?
England develop and international dominion built on steam, and France is running his electricity feld-Empire, using the latest discoveries of Telsa, up to the borders of the powerful China whom the shadow hand reach as far than the soon-to-be emperor by the grace of Mithra.

8. Paris is still burning

1976 : After 5 years of civil war, UN reinforce his presence in France.

De Gaulle died suspiciously in 1968 (yes AGAIN) and civil war broke, transforming France in a ravaged country whereas UN troops carry with them a strange photograph...

9. Apocalypse on Texas

1967 : 4 years after the collapse of USSR, a new nuclear menace upon USA

Cuban Missiles crise was the beggining of the WWIII. USA and USSR are devastated. The remaining nuclear powers, France and Britain, try to preserve american territorial integrity against Mexican imperialism...

10. The Kennedy Gang

1947 : Welcome in New Orleans, French capital of Americas, and rear base of Prohibition

At the eve of Presidential election, Joe Kennedy's sons are sent to carry alchool from New Orleans, France's Capital, chased by Mafia, police and pin-up.

11. Tuileries' Night
1795 : 4 years after king's death, armies of Marie-Antoinette are coming to Paris.

Civil war (yes AGAIN, it's apparently one of our worst nightmares) broke in France since Louis XVI fled Paris. While royal army is going to take back Paris, Danton's plan is setting up in place.

12. The Lion of Egypt

1503 : War machines invented by Leonardo Da Vinci are revolutionarizing art of war in Mediterranea.

Smyrne, mighty strongold of Ottomans fall into Mameluk hands, that are using most strange devices. And while Borgia wonder if da Vinci didn't have sold his secret to infidels, a wild Machiavelli is on the loose.

13. Colomb Pacha

1492 : Abd al Colomb discovers Americas in the name of Allah the Merciful

Without support from christian rulers, Cristofo Colombo convert himself to Islam and is sent by Muslims, Jewish and Christian merchants to explore western Seas. There he found a most dangerous paradise.

13. Omega

1942 : The suspicious death of Aérospatiale hero make the flames of Hundered Years War burning again.

Since 1934, France turned to an autoritarian state. Only one democracy is standing against : Great Britain, whilst the death of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry could lead to war.

14. Steppe Empire

1242 : after the burning of Rome by Mongols, Christian armies unite themselves to save the West

-Not published yet-
 

Stonewall

Banned
Wow, these seem great, though on mobile at airport and cant read atm. Will certainly check these out!

Are these all in French though?
 
Are these all in French though?

As far as I know they weren't translated, as virtually any french AH whatever comic or novel.
Now, it's less the language bareer that would be hard, it's clearly the extensive use of historical, political and cultural references. (I'm not sure the reference to the Service d'Action Civique in "Imagination at Power" could be easily understood by exemple)
 
Damn ! i stopped going to the bookstore for a few months and there are 6 of them that i don't have.

Anyway, while the AH is not always good (thinking about the 7th one, were the technology, if not the history between the POD and the book, is ASB), the stories are always good. My favorite one is l'imagination au pouvoir.
 
Damn ! i stopped going to the bookstore for a few months and there are 6 of them that i don't have.
The fact the authors use different illustrators for different stories really helps the parution rate.

Anyway, while the AH is not always good (thinking about the 7th one, were the technology, if not the history between the POD and the book, is ASB)
Admittedly, a lot of french AH, comics or novel is pretty much ASB.
One of my favourite novel is Héliot "La Lune n'est pas pour nous" with Jules Verne going on the Moon's french space base to contact the jailed Communard Louise Michel that revolted against a bio-cybord Napoleon III that allied himself for the conquest of Europe with a race of hive mind aliens.

That's litteraly ASB, and yet good AH. That said, I don't think anyone of them being slightly plausible (apart Russians on the Moon, Imagination to Power and maybe -I didn't read it yet- Colomb Pacha)

the stories are always good. My favorite one is l'imagination au pouvoir.
Such visions of horrors tough : Chirac in flared trousers...
 
I very much like the Jour J series, they are usually quite enjoyable, but I feel that they lack depth – and, as LSCatilina said, they very often involve a fair amount of ASB material.

Also, even for somebody with a decent knowledge in history, it's a bit hard to see where the POD is and how it's truly different from OTL. I wish the series had a companion web site with some reference material.

L'imagination au pouvoir and its counterpoint Paris brûle encore? are my favorites so far.
 
Also, even for somebody with a decent knowledge in history, it's a bit hard to see where the POD is and how it's truly different from OTL. I wish the series had a companion web site with some reference material.

Don't some editions have that? And even in classical ones, at the end of each comic book you have a page with "Sources of the Story" that explains where they did get the ideas, whatever POD or details as well a short bibliography.
 
Don't some editions have that? And even in classical ones, at the end of each comic book you have a page with "Sources of the Story" that explains where they did get the ideas, whatever POD or details as well a short bibliography.

I haven't seen any such edition. I wish there were.

Sources, yes, a couple usually; POD is most of the times explained in the storyline, but not always clear (it took me a while to figure out the reversed Reconquista in Colomb Pacha).
 

John Farson

Banned
Today I read Omega. Or rather browsed through, as my French is unfortunately non-existent. Apparently, the POD is the 6 February 1934 crisis, which in the story leads to a coup and France becoming a fascist dictatorship, with its own version of the Gestapo and the like.

At one point, the characters reminisce about the brief war against Hitler's Germany that started when the Germans attempted to remilitarize the Rhineland in 1936. Instead of backing down as in OTL, here the French conducted a massive air raid against Stuttgart that killed 25,000 people, as well as destroying the feeble Luftwaffe fighters that tried to intercept them. Because of the language barrier, I didn't quite get what happened to Germany after that, but it seems they were utterly curbstomped, as France seems to be the biggest enemy of the UK and USA in the story. Oh, and the French are constructing a huge, Statue of Liberty -type statue of Joan of Arc.:D
 
LSCatilina said:
That said, I don't think anyone of them being slightly plausible (apart Russians on the Moon, Imagination to Power and maybe -I didn't read it yet- Colomb Pacha)
If you ask me, none of them are really plausible.

I also don't find them very good. That said, I think I'm a bit too harsh as I've never had the occasions to fully read those comics in depths. To complicate things: a lot of these comics tend to use PODs in time-periods I'm not much interested in, so it has a tendency of turning me away from them. It doesn't help that I have hard a time buying the setting in some cases... which is a bit odd considering that I was a huge fan of Code Geass.

The worst offender for me was Vive l'Empereur!: I couldn't get into it because it had a Napoleonic France where the main religion is Mithraism... something I found completely ridiculous. Ever since I read that tome, I've had more or less a negative opinion on Jour J...
 
The worst offender for me was Vive l'Empereur!: I couldn't get into it because it had a Napoleonic France where the main religion is Mithraism... something I found completely ridiculous. Ever since I read that tome, I've had more or less a negative opinion on Jour J...

This is your main problem with Vive l'Empereur! ? And here i thought that Tesla electrical rayguns, warhammer40k-esque Paris, Zeppelins (Zeppelins everywhere !) and electrical motors being conspicuous without the need for any battery would be the main problems :D.
 
Imladrik said:
This is your main problem with Vive l'Empereur! ? And here i thought that Tesla electrical rayguns, warhammer40k-esque Paris, Zeppelins (Zeppelins everywhere !) and electrical motors being conspicuous without the need for any battery would be the main problems :D.
Well, Alternate History has a tendency to developp Alternate Science so that's something I'm sort of used to. Plus, I've seen the 52 episodes of Code Geass where every factions fights using giant robots, so a Teslapunk (more or less what it is) Paris is hardly surprising by comparison :p

The problem with Mithraic France was that it was something I didn't see Napoleon doing ever. I'll admit it's a bit silly considering what you've mentionned, but that still bugged me.
 
Well, Alternate History has a tendency to developp Alternate Science so that's something I'm sort of used to. Plus, I've seen the 52 episodes of Code Geass where every factions fights using giant robots, so a Teslapunk (more or less what it is) Paris is hardly surprising by comparison :p

The problem with Mithraic France was that it was something I didn't see Napoleon doing ever. I'll admit it's a bit silly considering what you've mentionned, but that still bugged me.

given that a few medium sized religions were founded in the 19th century (mormonism, Baha'i) and that in a few regions therewas a religious craze during the 19th century (Great awakening in the US, the creation of various extremist Muslim sects like the Wahhabites and salafists, the taiping rebellion), i may be little bit too open about religious PoD. And wasn't Mithraism being introduced latter than Napoléon ? Like by Napoléon III or something and being more or less limited to the army with most people being atheists ?
 
Today I read Omega. Or rather browsed through, as my French is unfortunately non-existent. Apparently, the POD is the 6 February 1934 crisis, which in the story leads to a coup and France becoming a fascist dictatorship, with its own version of the Gestapo and the like.

At one point, the characters reminisce about the brief war against Hitler's Germany that started when the Germans attempted to remilitarize the Rhineland in 1936. Instead of backing down as in OTL, here the French conducted a massive air raid against Stuttgart that killed 25,000 people, as well as destroying the feeble Luftwaffe fighters that tried to intercept them. Because of the language barrier, I didn't quite get what happened to Germany after that, but it seems they were utterly curbstomped, as France seems to be the biggest enemy of the UK and USA in the story. Oh, and the French are constructing a huge, Statue of Liberty -type statue of Joan of Arc.:D

For somebody with non-existent French, you pretty much grabbed a fair amount of it. ;)

As for Germany, Hitler is said to have fled to a German colony in the Amazon ("eaten by crocodiles and piranhas, sad end for a vegetarian") and it seems that the role of Big Bad German Type is now played by Chancellor Dolfuss of Austria, who's agreeing with France to carve up Germany and annexes Bavaria and other bits.
 

John Farson

Banned
For somebody with non-existent French, you pretty much grabbed a fair amount of it. ;)

As for Germany, Hitler is said to have fled to a German colony in the Amazon ("eaten by crocodiles and piranhas, sad end for a vegetarian") and it seems that the role of Big Bad German Type is now played by Chancellor Dolfuss of Austria, who's agreeing with France to carve up Germany and annexes Bavaria and other bits.

Thanks, you're too kind.:eek:

Aha, so Germany is back in a pre-1870 situation then? Or else it's a rump state, having lost the Rhineland to France and Bavaria and other southern parts to Austria. Perhaps Poland too would ask for dibs in such a situation.
 
Pretty much pre-1870, I'd say. We don't see any maps, but a character says something about returning to the "Confédération du Rhin".
 
Imladrik said:
given that a few medium sized religions were founded in the 19th century (mormonism, Baha'i) and that in a few regions therewas a religious craze during the 19th century (Great awakening in the US, the creation of various extremist Muslim sects like the Wahhabites and salafists, the taiping rebellion), i may be little bit too open about religious PoD. And wasn't Mithraism being introduced latter than Napoléon ? Like by Napoléon III or something and being more or less limited to the army with most people being atheists ?
Can't remember: I would have to reread the tome, which is probably something I'm going to do if I have the chance. It's been some time since I read Jour J and the fact I have a rather negative impression turns me away.
 
Today I read Omega. Or rather browsed through, as my French is unfortunately non-existent. Apparently, the POD is the 6 February 1934 crisis, which in the story leads to a coup and France becoming a fascist dictatorship, with its own version of the Gestapo and the like.

At one point, the characters reminisce about the brief war against Hitler's Germany that started when the Germans attempted to remilitarize the Rhineland in 1936. Instead of backing down as in OTL, here the French conducted a massive air raid against Stuttgart that killed 25,000 people, as well as destroying the feeble Luftwaffe fighters that tried to intercept them. Because of the language barrier, I didn't quite get what happened to Germany after that, but it seems they were utterly curbstomped, as France seems to be the biggest enemy of the UK and USA in the story. Oh, and the French are constructing a huge, Statue of Liberty -type statue of Joan of Arc.:D

You can send me a link for it, that looks pretty interesting(even if french can be poorer that you,xd)

For me, taking some thing, this one looks pretty realistic, 6 Februare 34 Crisis was pretty close call and with enough radicalization and lucky break, A Action Francaise Facist France is Possible and more important, the butterflies were realistic.

The idea of a Extremist Right France will Kill the Nazis in their Cradle is pretty excellent, they will avoid those become a thread an Nazi become now a mere footnote in history, only to deal how political interesting will be thing in the 30's since that point.

I want to read it.
 
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