EuroComics/IDW Publishing; $49.99

Perhaps best defined by Hugo Pratt’s Corto Maltese, there is a grand tradition of the adventurer in European graphic novels. Dieter Lumpen is certainly an adventurer, but unlike his fictional counterparts he doesn’t seek out adventure. Instead, while he desires only “a quiet life,” danger and intrigue almost relentlessly seek him out. The results make for some seriously compelling reading.

Created by the team of writer Jorge Zentner and artist Rubén Pellejero, the tales of Dieter Lumpen began in 1985 and ran through 1994. Combining a slice-of-life approach with traditional adventure comic storytelling, the tales of Lumpen’s globetrotting life throw the character into situations ranging from outright deadly danger to philosophical contemplation. Turkey, India, the Caribbean, China, and Venice are among the backdrops for the subtle figure.

The story and the art combine seamlessly to create an intriguing world and a character who is more often than not swept along with events rather than one who deliberately dives right in. Much like Ernest Hemingway in prose, Zentner and Pellejero consistently keep things deceptively simple. One doesn’t have to consume all that much of the book before it becomes clear how layered and complex the efforts truly are.

Spanning 11 stories – some of them short, others much longer – the complete adventures are collected in this beautiful new omnibus from EuroComics. As usual, they’ve done a terrific job with the presentation of the material. Tim Sale’s introduction is only a brief one, but it does the job in setting a level of expectation for those of us previously unfamiliar with the work. For either newcomers or experienced fans, this is simply an awesome book.

–J.C. Vaughn