Louvre Collection

Fabian is supervisor at the Louvre. He loves his job. He also loves Mathilde. When it comes time, she presents him to her family in their vast country house and not without some apprehension, as the Benion clan is a bit special. There’s her father, Louis, who heads since 1975 the family furniture company founded in 1947, and two brothers, Maxime and Joseph. They’re not bad guys, just rather clumsy and with a decidedly unsubtle sense of humor. The fact that Fabian works in the Louvre is a welcome coincidence, since they just found in the attic a painting by an ancestor in the nineteenth century. It’s a sorry representation of a cross-eyed mutt. What is the value? ask the Benion. Is this an eyesore or a masterpiece? Fabian, pretty embarrassed, punts on the question. So for the Benion, case closed, if it ain’t an eyesore then no doubt it has its place on the walls of the Louvre! Fabian is left hoping the whole delusion will just go away, until one day the two brothers show up at the Louvre and ask. Getting the Cross-Eyed Mutt into the Louvre would demonstrate his commitment to becoming a member of the Benion family! Fabian is now in a pickle when he meets Mr. André Balouchi, an oddball frequent visitor of the museum who turns out to have quite a bit of clout…A raucous satirical comedy that asks: Who decides what makes a work of art worthy of being in a major museum?

"Métal Hurlant" magazine was created in Paris in 1974 by Moebius, Druillet and Dionnet, the founding fathers of Les Humanoïdes Associés. This movement soon revolutionized the medium and inspired countless writers, artists and filmmakers the world over. Versions in various languages flourished everywhere, including in the States with "Heavy Metal." The French version was eventually shut down in 1987. But in 2002, Humanoids relaunched a limited publication of a 13-issue anthology, with one main goal: establishing a creative bridge between the US and Europe. Includes stories written and illustrated by comic book stars Geoff Johns, Kurt Busiek, Guy Davis, and Jerome Opena, among many others.