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WORK TITLE: Marie Antoinette, Phantom Queen
WORK NOTES: with Rodolphe
PSEUDONYM(S):
BIRTHDATE: 8/18/1951
WEBSITE:
CITY:
STATE:
COUNTRY:
NATIONALITY: French
http://www.nbmpub.com/comicslit/dior/diorhome.html * http://www.nbmpub.com/comicslit/dior/bio.html * http://www.europecomics.com/author/goetzinger-annie/
RESEARCHER NOTES:
PERSONAL
Born August 18, 1951, in France.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Author, costume designer, and illustrator.
WRITINGS
Contributor with Pierre Christin to “L’agence Hardy” series, Dargaud. Contributor to fashion magazines and other illustrated periodicals, including Charlie Menseul, Circus, Fluide Glacial, L’Echo des Savanes, Le Monde, Métal Hurlant, and Pilote.
SIDELIGHTS
“One of the few female French comic artists,” wrote the contributor of a biographical sketch to Lambiek, “Annie Goetzinger began making comics by accident, because her art school wouldn’t let her pass without making a comic.” “Her work,” said the Lambiek writer, “can be recognized by her Art Nouveau-influenced style.” Goetzinger “has had a long successful career as a comics artist in France, but she was largely unknown in the United States,” said Alex Dueben in the introduction to an interview with the artist published in Beat. That changed in 2015, when “NBM published Girl in Dior …, which was a success [in the United States] just as it was in France,” Dueben continued. “The publisher … [then] released another book co-written and illustrated by Goetzinger, Marie Antoinette, Phantom Queen.” “This work is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to Goetzinger’s long career as a cartoonist, illustrator and designer,” the Beat interviewer explained. “She’s been making comics since the early 1970s, contributing work to Pilote, Metal Hurlant and many other publications.” Her works include Casque d’or, Curriculum B.D., L’ogre du djebel, Barcelonight, Rayon dames, Ciné fripon, and Les apprentissages de Colette. Three of her works have been translated into English, and two of them were published in the United States: La sultane blanche, a collaboration with her longtime partner Pierre Christin, which was published by Europe Comics under the title The White Sultana; Jeune fille en Dior, which was published in New York under the title Girl in Dior; and Marie-Antoinette, la reine fantôme, which was also published in New York as Marie Antoinette, Phantom Queen.
Girl in Dior
Goetzinger’s Girl in Dior draws on the artist’s ongoing career as a stage and costume designer with experience illustrating haute couture. It is a work that retraces the beginning of the career of Christian Dior, who would become one of the most famous fashion designers in the world. The book relates “the journey of fictional journalist Clara,” declared Lisa Niven in Vogue, “as she is enlisted to report upon Christian Dior’s seminal 1947 show.” Dior’s signature look (a pinched-waist dress with a spreading skirt) set the tone for high style in the late 1940s and 1950s. “Goetzinger’s art and narrative cleverly weave a biography, delivered by a narrator whose naiveté rivals our own at the start of this book,” wrote Matthew Burbridge in Graphic Novel Reporter. “I can say I have a much greater respect for Dior, his brand, his art, and his unflinching genius.”
Critics celebrated Girl in Dior as a unique and fascinating look at one of the great fashion icons of the twentieth century. Girl in Dior “is like a perfect Dior creation: stunningly designed, lavishly beautiful, effortlessly elegant,” declared Liz French in School Library Journal. “Fashionistas and fashionistos of all ages will devour this book hungrily.” “The bottom line is simply this: if you are looking for an alternate way of reading about fashion then you better rush out and get yourself a copy,” concluded Jeffrey Felner in the New York Journal of Books. “If you want to get lost in fashion … this is surely a good way to do it.”
Marie Antoinette, Phantom Queen
Goetzinger once again drew on her experience with period costumes in Marie Antoinette, Phantom Queen. “While painting at Versailles in 1934,” declared Laura Perenic in Voice of Youth Advocates, “Maud, a widowed painter, finds her life coalescing with the history of the French Revolution.” Maud is visited by the spirit of the late queen of France, who claims that her body was not recovered and buried at Saint-Denis after her execution in 1793, as previously believed, but instead was buried in a mass grave elsewhere. The author and artist, asserted Laura McKinley in Xpress Reviews, “have created an elegantly illustrated biographical ghost story that transports readers between 1930s England and late 1700s France.” Goetzinger’s “finely detailed couture, interior decoration, and landscapes,” remarked a Publishers Weekly reviewer, “complement but never overwhelm the foreground characters.” “Heavy on the eye candy,” reported Annie Bostrom in Booklist, “Marie Antoinette, Phantom Queen combines history, biography, and fantasy for a rich, quick read.”
BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Booklist, April 15, 2014, review of Girl in Dior, p. 39; September 15, 2016, Annie Bostrom, review of Marie Antoinette, Phantom Queen, p. 43.
Internet Bookwatch, September, 2016, review of Marie Antoinette, Phantom Queen.
Publishers Weekly, August 1, 2016, review of Marie Antoinette, Phantom Queen, p. 55.
School Library Journal, March, 2015, Liz French, review of Girl in Dior, p. 179.
Vogue, April 23, 2015, Lisa Niven, “Dior: The Comic.”
Voice of Youth Advocates, October, 2016, Laura Perenic, review of Marie Antoinette, Phantom Queen, p. 75.
Xpress Reviews, October 7, 2016, Laura McKinley, review of Marie Antoinette, Phantom Queen.
ONLINE
Beat, http://www.comicsbeat.com/ (November 4, 2016), Alex Dueben, “Annie Goetzinger Reveals the Haunting Truths (and Fables) of Marie Antoinette.”
Graphic Novel Reporter, http://www.graphicnovelreporter.com/ (March 2, 2015), Matthew Burbridge, review of Girl in Dior.
Lambiek, https://www.lambiek.net/ (May 3, 2017), author profile.
New York Journal of Books, http://www.nyjournalofbooks.com/ (May 3, 2017), Jeffrey Felner, review of Girl in Dior.
One of the Grandes Dames of comics in France, Goetzinger has had a distinguished and award winning career not only in comics but also in theater costume design and illustration, most notably for the newspaper Le Monde.
Annie Goetzinger Share
Artist
Following her studies specialized in fashion drawing, Annie Goetzinger was soon published in Circus, L'Echo des savanes, Fluide Glacial, Métal Hurlant and, most of all, Pilote magazine. Her first full comic, "Casque d'or" (1976 Glénat), won her two prizes at Angoulême festival. After that she illustrated "Auroure, une vie de George Sand" (Éditions des femmes, 1978), scripted by Adela Turin, and "Felina" (1979 Glénat), for Victor Mora. She then started her activities in costume design for the theater, illustrations, short stories (for the Fripon collection at Humanoïdes associés) and press drawings, often for Le Monde. She started a highly fruitful collaboration with Pierre Christin in 1980, with "La Demoiselle de la Légion d'honneur" (Dargaud). The pair went on to produce "La Diva et le Kriegsspiel" (1981 Dargaud), "La Voyageuse de la petite ceinture" (1985 Dargaud), "Charlotte et Nancy" (1987 Dargaud), "Le Tango du disparu" (2008 Métaillé), "Le Message du simple" (1994 Le Seuil), "La Sultane blanche" (1996 Dargaud, "The White Sultana" 2016 Europe Comics) et "Paquebot" (1999 Dargaud). Goetzinger and Christin continued for many years to work together on the "L'agence Hardy" series (Dargaud). After releasing the last album of the "Portraits souvenirs" collection (1992 Les Humanoïdes associés, "L'Avenir perdu"), with Jon S. Jonsson and Andreas Knigge, Annie Goetzinger paired up with Rodolphe on the script for "Marie-Antoinette, la reine fantôme" (2011 Dargaud). In 2016 Goetzinger released another graphic novel based on a legendary life: "Jeune fille en Dior" (Dargaud), a work retracing the steps of the man who would one day be one of the world's most famous fashion designers.
Country of origin: France Europe Comics Publisher: Dargaud (France)
Annie Goetzinger
(b. 18 August 1951, France) France
Comic art by Annie Goetzinger
One of the few female French comic artists, Annie Goetzinger began making comics by accident, because her art school wouldn't let her pass without making a comic. Since then, she has been publishing various comics, and contributed to the magazines Pilote, Charlie Mensuel and Fluide Glacial. Her work can be recognized by her Art Nouveau-influenced style. Most of her stories have a feminine point of view, and have been published in book format by Hachette, Glénat, Dargaud and Éditions des Femmes.
Felina, by Annie Goetzinger
Féline
Goetzinger's earliest work appeared in Pilote in the early 1970s; mainly short stories with scripts by Jean-Pierre Dionnet, Jacques Lob and Truchaud. She was also present in Lisette with 'Fleur', in Le Canard Sauvage, and in Circus with 'Casque d'Or'. In 1978, she created 'Félina', her first major comic story, with Victor Mora in Circus. The series was later continued in Pilote and Charlie Mensuel. By this time, Goetzinger also contributed to magazines like Fluide Glacial and L'Écho des Savanes.
Casque d'Or, by Annie Goetzinger
Casque d'Or
Also in 1978, she made 'Aurore', a comics version of the life of George Sand, published by Éditions Des Femmes. With scriptwriter Pierre Christin, she made a series of "portraits souvenirs", including 'La Demoiselle à la Legion d'Honneur', 'La Diva et le Krigspiel', 'La Voyageuse de la Petite Ceinture' and 'Charlotte et Nancy', published by Dargaud and later Les Humanoïdes Associés. Also for Les Humanoïdes, she wrote and drew 'Barcelonight' in 1991, and cooperated with Jon S. Jonsson and Andreas Knigge on 'L'Avenir Perdu' in 1992.
La Demoiselle à la Légion d'Honneur
La Demoiselle à la Légion d'Honneur
In addition, she cooperated with Christin on 'Le Tango du Disparu' (Flammarion, 1989), 'Le Message du Simple' (Ed. du Seuil, 1994), 'La Sultane Blanche' and 'Paquebot' (in the collection Long Courrier of Dargaud, 1996 and 1999). With Montserrat Roig, she made 'Mémoires de Barcelone' at Ed. La Sirène in 1993. Goetzinger and Christin then started the retro 1950s series 'L'Agence Hardy', that is published by Dargaud since 2001. Her chronicle 'L'Humeur des Jours', written by Bruno Frappat, appeared in La Croix for several years, and was collected in the book 'Le Regard des Jours' by Dargaud in 2005. In 2011 she cooperated with Rodolphe on 'Marie-Antoinette, la Reine fantôme'.
Agence Hardy, by Annie Goetzinger
Agence Hardy
Artwork © 2017 Annie Goetzinger
Website © 1994-2017 Lambiek
Last updated: 2014-03-15
INTERVIEW: Annie Goetzinger Reveals the Haunting Truths (and Fables) of Marie Antoinette
INTERVIEW: Annie Goetzinger Reveals the Haunting Truths (and Fables) of Marie Antoinette
You are here: Home / Culture / Interviews / INTERVIEW: Annie Goetzinger Reveals the Haunting Truths (and Fables) of Marie Antoinette
11/04/2016 11:30 am by Beat Staff Leave a Comment
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by Alex Dueben
girl-in-dior-coverAnnie Goetzinger has had a long successful career as a comics artist in France, but she was largely unknown in the United States until NBM published Girl in Dior last year, which was a success here just as it was in France. The publisher just released another book co-written and illustrated by Goetzinger, Marie Antoinette, Phantom Queen. The book, co-written by Rodolphe, concerns Maud, an artist in 1924 Paris who is visited by Marie Antoinette, and moves back and forth between the 20th and 18th Centuries.
This work is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to Goetzinger long career as a cartoonist, illustrator and designer. She’s been making comics since the early 1970’s, contributing work to Pilote, Metal Hurlant and many other publications. She’s collaborated with Pierre Christin, Victor Mora and other writers on many books including La Demoiselle de la Légion d’Honneur, Félina, and L’Agence Hardy and has won two prizes at the Angouleme International Comics Festival over the years.
Alex Dueben: I’m curious, what did you learn in school in France about Marie Antoinette?
Annie Goetzinger: I learned about the French Revolution. Marie Antoinette was not a protagonist, but she was mentioned as more of a reactionary than her husband, King Louis XVI. She called her brother–The King of Austria–to make war against the revolutionaries, for example.
She liked to play a farmer in Trianon but she hated to face the populace!
Dueben: Rodolphe has a note at the beginning of the book about what prompted the initial idea. Could you talk a little about how you came up with the story of Maud and setting it in 1934?
Goetzinger: Rodolphe and I read a testimony of two English women, at the turn of 20th century, who met several ghosts at Versailles. It was a long story but not enough material to imagine a script. So we decided to invent another character, Maud.
We wanted more contrast between 18th and 20th centuries. In 1934, we have modern media, the fashion look is short, modern design, Art Deco in general. You immediately identify the difference, don’t you? And Maud is much more glamourous than the English teachers.
cover ort.indd
Dueben: Did you do a lot of research into getting the clothes and style correctly, and spend time at Versailles and Trianon so they look correct?
Goetzinger: For such historical comics we must turn to other works. I studied the paintings for the 18th Century section. For the 1930’s section there are many pictures. The Trianon of our time is very different from that of the 1930s. At the time, the castle, and the park of Versailles was a bit abandoned. It really looked like a romantic place in accordance with the end of the story.
Dueben: Did you have to do much research into Marie Antoinette?
Goetzinger: I read biographies including that of Antonia Fraser. I read Marie Antoinette’s biography by Stefan Zweig, an Austrian author who died in the 1940’s. I’m sure he was in love with Marie Antoinette! He described a complex woman, how a young princess change into a queen, her frustrations, her desires. Zweig is contemporary of another Austrian, Freud–of course.
Dueben: Like a lot of ghosts she needs to be put to rest in some way. After the revolution, the bones of her and the King were dug up and reburied, but in your story, those bones were not hers. How did you come up with that as the ending? Do people think that this might be the case?
Goetzinger: The Phantom Queen is fiction and as in all fiction, there are some truth and some lies. But it is important to make the reader believe that this lie could be true!
queen1
Dueben: According to the book, Marie Antoinette has appeared to many people over the years. Did you invent that or have many people reported seeing her?
Goetzinger: Personally, I can tell you that in my childhood during walks at Trianon, I did not seen the ghost of the Queen as the two English women did but in 1912, but I felt a strange uneasiness around Hameau de la Reine (the Hamlet of the Queen) that I would define as an invisible presence.
There are still, now, people who talk about these phenomena during their visits.
Dueben: You both draw and paint the book. Do you see the color as a vital part of your artwork?
Goetzinger: I enjoy painting my pages. It’s an important part of my work. I like starting on white paper–virginal paper–and finishing, including writing in the bubbles.
Dueben: In the past 10-15 years we’ve seen novels like Chantal Thomas’, films by Sofia Coppola and Benoit Jacquot, and your book, which really paint Marie Antoinette as a much more complex figure. What do you think the reason for this is? Do you have any theories?
Goetzinger: I very much like Chantal Thomas’ book, but not the film of Benoit Jacquot. He misrepresented the novel. I like all of Sofia Coppola’s films, but not that one. Marie Antoinette is scatterbrained, frivolous. But I like Sofia Coppola mixing in rock and roll, and Marianne Faithfull as Marie Antoinette’s mother–fantastic!
Marie Antoinette was a person who changed with age. She was a good mother and she finished her life–her trial, jail and finally execution–with a lot of dignity. She was much more intelligent than was supposed, I think.
queen2
Dueben: You collaborated with Pierre Cristin for many years on comics and I’m curious as you’ve been writing books like Marie Antoinette, like Girl in Dior, is there anything you learned from him or other writers that really influenced your own writing?
Goetzinger: I worked for a long time with Pierre Christin and other scriptwriters, such as Victor Mora, for example. I make books alone when the story is close to my sensibilities like Girl in Dior or now a graphic novel about Colette.
Colette is a fascinating character. She was a writer, journalist, artist in music hall, lesbian. She married three times. She was the mother of just one baby, a girl. She seemed scandalous at her time, but she said: I want to be free. She was just modern too early.
queen3
Dueben: How is the Colette book coming along? Are there plans for any more of your work to be translated into English?
Goetzinger: The book, Les apprentissages de Colette, will be published in France on March 17. I hope it will be translated into English!
Goetzinger, Rodolphe, and Annie Goetzinger. Marie Antoinette:Phantom Queen
Laura Perenic
39.4 (Oct. 2016): p75.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2016 E L Kurdyla Publishing LLC
http://www.voya.com
4Q * 2P * NA * [G]
Goetzinger, Rodolphe, and Annie Goetzinger. Marie Antoinette:Phantom Queen. NBM, 2016. 68p. $18.99. 978-1-68112-029-4.
While painting at Versailles in 1934, Maud, a widowed painter, finds her life coalescing with the history of the French Revolution. In conversations with Marie Antoinette's ghost, Maud simultaneously sets discoveries in motion. While her psychic talents prove great inspiration to her art, Maud also gives her greedy son-in-law the evidence he needs to claim the fortune his father left to his wife, Maud. Others see only Maud's insanity, but friend Felix is intent on solving the mystery of where Marie Antoinette is buried, a secret that keeps both Maud and Marie's ghost restless.
Inspired by an incident in 1901, the ghost story of Marie Antoinette purportedly captured the imagination of many and changed the lives of the women who witnessed her. Exquisitely illustrated, the beauty of Parisian royal life under the reign of Louis XVI and the glamor of the roaring '20s that preceded the depression of the 1930s blend as the ghost story progresses. The overlap in plots can be difficult to follow. Many characters from each time period look the same and are rarely named. As history overlaps, the story becomes confusing instead of enjoyably complex. Despite basic historical elements, much of the graphic novel is fictional. The foreword speaks of two women who saw the ghost and were forever changed, but in this retelling the women do not see the spirit of Marie Antoinette. It feels peculiar that the original incident that was the impetus for the graphic novel did not occur in the book. The entire work looks lovely but feels somewhat disjointed.--Laura Perenic.
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
Perenic, Laura. "Goetzinger, Rodolphe, and Annie Goetzinger. Marie Antoinette:Phantom Queen." Voice of Youth Advocates, Oct. 2016, p. 75. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA467831158&it=r&asid=3e0c1030cbbeb32a0aa34ffe452ba67e. Accessed 27 Mar. 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A467831158
Marie Antoinette, Phantom Queen
Annie Bostrom
113.2 (Sept. 15, 2016): p43.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2016 American Library Association
http://www.ala.org/ala/aboutala/offices/publishing/booklist_publications/booklist/booklist.cfm
* Marie Antoinette, Phantom Queen. By Rodolphe and Annie Goetzinger. Illus. by Annie Goetzinger. Tr. by Peter Russella. 2016. 68p. NBM, $18.99 (9781681120294). 741.5.
[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]
In 1930s Paris, Maud de Brunhoe is a young widow and painter on the brink of success. Away in the country for the weekend, Maud is skeptical of the seance her friend suggests, until she's utterly overtaken by a ghost. Back in Paris, the spirit continues to visit Maud, revealing herself to be Marie Antoinette, restless in death and in need of Maud's help. The two become odd companions, and Maud's new artwork surprises even her. Meanwhile, Maud's dead husband's son, pursuing her for her fortune to pay off the gambling debts he's stacked up, is thrilled when Maud is spotted around Paris, talking to apparently no one. Drawing inspiration from the 1901 book by two women who claimed they'd been visited by Marie Antoinette's ghost, Goetzinger (Girl in Dior, 2015) and French comics writer Rodolphe imagine an entirely new story, including true history of Marie Antoinettes life, final days, and death. Goetzinger is in fine form showcasing the fashions and interiors of eighteenth-century Versailles and 1930s Paris, full of characters drawn in her inimitable, elegantly modeled style. Heavy on the eye candy, Marie Antoinette: Phantom Queen combines history, biography, and fantasy for a rich, quick read.--Annie Bostrom
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
Bostrom, Annie. "Marie Antoinette, Phantom Queen." Booklist, 15 Sept. 2016, p. 43. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA464980890&it=r&asid=10a6b1be76de7f0ed4d7deb09a24701c. Accessed 27 Mar. 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A464980890
Marie Antoinette, Phantom Queen
263.31 (Aug. 1, 2016): p55.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2016 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Marie Antoinette, Phantom Queen
Rodolphe and Annie Goetzinger. NBM, $17.99 (68p) ISBN 978-1-68112-029-4
This follow up to Goetzinger's YALSA Award-winning Girl in Dior is written in collaboration with scripter Rodolphe (the Kenya and Namibia series). It's as lavish in design as the predecessor, though the story, inspired by a true tale, is lightweight. In 1910, the ghost of Marie Antoinette contacts painter Maud, guiding and advising her in skillfully navigating the complicated social structure of the early 20th century. Goetzinger's radiant art outshines the familiar territory of a celebrity ghost story. A quintessential model of modern-day French cartooning, her finely detailed couture, interior decoration, and landscapes complement but never overwhelm the foreground characters. The gorgeous coloring-- muted, subtle pastels--add to the ethereal quality of the story (as during a seance depicted in shades of black and gray) or its social aspects (an opera scene contrasts gentlemen's ubiquitous black-tie with brilliant emerald and scarlet gowns for the women). This is a cliched and lightweight historical ghost story that's elevated by the sublime artwork. (Aug.)
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
"Marie Antoinette, Phantom Queen." Publishers Weekly, 1 Aug. 2016, p. 55. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA460285705&it=r&asid=ec47a8a70a87d00984e85e778afbb228. Accessed 27 Mar. 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A460285705
Girl in Dior
Annie Bostrom
111.16 (Apr. 15, 2015): p39.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2015 American Library Association
http://www.ala.org/ala/aboutala/offices/publishing/booklist_publications/booklist/booklist.cfm
By Annie Goetzinger. Illus. by the author. Tr. by Joe Johnson.
2015.128p. NBM, lib. ed., $27.99 (9781561639144). 741.5.
Via the fictional journalist turned model Clara Nohant, Goetzinger frames the story of the House of Dior, its revered namesake, and the indelible impression the two left on fashion. Beginning with the startling "New Look"--structured, waist-hugging dresses with exaggeratedly full skirts--that Dior debuted on Paris runways in the late 1940s, Clara follows the well-loved designer's meteoric rise. The English translation leaves a few French words and phrases in Clara's narration and conversations with the behind-the-scenes crew, which gives readers a fly-on-the-wall view of the frenzied flurry to draw, sew, and fit the couture creations. Goetzinger's detailed, expressive faces and figures seem to be illuminated from within, and the garments themselves are a great tribute to the author's background in fashion illustration. A muted watercolor palette conveys tone in the model's largely indoor universe, and bursts of bold color leap from the page in this delightful look at Fashion Week before social media. An obvious pick for those who appreciate graphic novels featuring female leads, but hand this to Francophiles and historical-and women'sfiction readers, too.
YA: Extensive back matter makes this
a fun read as well as a useful tool for
interested YAs. AB.
Bostrom, Annie
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
Bostrom, Annie. "Girl in Dior." Booklist, 15 Apr. 2015, p. 39. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA413338265&it=r&asid=5b5b901045e810733322e17620215368. Accessed 27 Mar. 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A413338265
Goetzinger, Annie. Girl in Dior
Liz French
61.3 (Mar. 2015): p179.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2015 Library Journals, LLC. A wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/
GOETZINGER, Annie. Girl in Dior. tr. from French by Joe Johnson. illus. by Annie Goetzinger. 128p. bibliog. chron. further reading. glossary. NBM. Mar. 2015. Tr $27.99. ISBN 9781561639144. LC 2014956278.
[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]
Gr 9 Up--This is a appealing graphic novel, gorgeously illustrated by French costume designer and illustrator Goetzinger. The story covers the 1947 groundbreaking first fashion show put on by designer Christian Dior, when he introduced weary post--World War II patrons to the "New Look"--yards and yards of fabric and fantasy after years of shortages and short skirts. We watch the magic happen through the eyes of Clara Nohant, a young "fashion chronicler," a fictional character injected into the story amid real-life modistes, drapers, pattern makers, muses, magazine editors, and movie stars who surrounded the designer. Particularly informative and educational are the representations of all the hard work that went into the creation of a Dior "line": from conception to realization to presentation, and the loyalty, inspiration, and support the designer's team provided him. Goetzinger's renderings of each character, from Dior's beloved dog "Bobby" to French grandmeres to Hollywood icons is distinct and memorable in every respect. And the clothes! The sweep and drape of the gowns and the exquisite cut of the suits and hats will make would-be designers and future fashion chroniclers shiver. Clara's fairy-tale journey from journalist to model to Dior confidante and client feels as fresh as if it happened last week. VERDICT This title is like a perfect Dior creation: stunningly designed, lavishly beautiful, effortlessly elegant. Fashionistas and fashionistos of all ages will devour this book hungrily.--Liz French, Library Journal
French, Liz
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
French, Liz. "Goetzinger, Annie. Girl in Dior." School Library Journal, Mar. 2015, p. 179. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA404035614&it=r&asid=43e0917f326f21128ac6fdb3cd168714. Accessed 27 Mar. 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A404035614
Goetzinger, Annie & Rodolphe. Marie Antoinette, Phantom Queen
Laura McKinley
(Oct. 7, 2016):
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2016 Library Journals, LLC
http://www.libraryjournal.com/lj/reviews/xpress/884170-289/xpress_reviews-first_look_at_new.html.csp
Goetzinger, Annie & Rodolphe. Marie Antoinette, Phantom Queen. NBM. Aug. 2016. 68p. ISBN 9781681120294. $18.99. BIOG
Englishwoman Maud de Brunhoe, an accomplished 1930s painter, encounters a peculiar sensation while in the French royal gardens of Trianon composing her newest landscape. Quick to dismiss the feeling, Maud thinks nothing of it until days later, at a party seance, where she channels the spirit of Queen Marie Antoinette (1755-93). Unbeknownst to Maud, Marie has been trying to communicate with her. Maud has been entrusted to help the queen find her burial remains, which, according to Marie, are not at Saint-Denis Basilica but in a mass grave near the Madeleine Cemetery, where a chapel now stands. The queen must be moved to Trianon in order for her finally to be at peace. Rodolphe (Kenya) and Goetzinger (Girl in Dior) have created an elegantly illustrated biographical ghost story that transports readers between 1930s England and late 1700s France. Each panel is a work of art, which adds to the decadence of the piece.
Verdict Readers will delight in this account but may feel a sense of being left short. There are many threads that could have been expanded yet went unexplored, leaving readers with unanswered questions. Overall, enjoyable for all audiences; short and sweet. --Laura McKinley, Huntington P.L., NY
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
McKinley, Laura. "Goetzinger, Annie & Rodolphe. Marie Antoinette, Phantom Queen." Xpress Reviews, 7 Oct. 2016. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA469502965&it=r&asid=5d6b44c769100694739bc80b0fbd36f7. Accessed 27 Mar. 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A469502965
Marie Antoinette: Phantom Queen
(Sept. 2016):
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2016 Midwest Book Review
http://www.midwestbookreview.com
Marie Antoinette: Phantom Queen
Rodolphe & Annie Goetzinger
NBM Publishing
160 Broadway, Ste. 700, East Wing, New York, NY 10038
9781681120294 $18.99 www.nbmpub.com
Marie Antoinette: Phantom Queen is a full-color, hardcover graphic novel ghost story spanning two time periods. The tale switches between the life of Marie Antoinette in eighteenth-century Versailles, and a female artist in 1930s France who is able to see the now-ghostly queen, and accepts the task of helping Antoinette find eternal rest. The dignified art style lends the perfect touch to his supernatural blend of biography and historical fantasy. Highly recommended!
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
"Marie Antoinette: Phantom Queen." Internet Bookwatch, Sept. 2016. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA465810350&it=r&asid=eca0814eb66e186c5747d3168e2ddf21. Accessed 27 Mar. 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A465810350
Girl in Dior
by Annie Goetzinger
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GIRL IN DIOR, Annie Goetzinger’s homage to high fashion’s greatest designer, ties a fictional model’s life into the historical beginnings of the Dior house of fashion. Whether or not the reader is familiar with the House Dior and its designs --- classical feminine themes, perfumes, sharp contours and sharper profiles --- or the man who represent it all, the name is certainly recognizable. Dior represents all that is high fashion --- especially Parisian high fashion --- and Christian Dior founded all that with the release of his first collection in 1947.
"Having only read this book, I can say I have a much greater respect for Dior, his brand, his art, and his unflinching genius."
Goetzinger gives her readers an intimate and clever look into the life in the post-war French fashion industry. The reader follows Clara Nohant, a young journalist en route to her first article. Little do we know that her first article is on the very first Christian Dior collection release, to be remembered as the very first contemporary fashion show. This is a moment in fashion history much written about, ranging from the many angles it was reported by the media to the socialites and celebrities present, and remembered most widely for the shockwave of controversy that followed.
Much like any of the most successfully lasting works in history, Dior’s survived the test of time, most notably due to his controversial hemline lengths. Hemlines falling below the ankle were seen as backward and anti-suffrage and anti-women’s rights by audiences worldwide --- not to mention the excess of fabric Dior used on most of his skirts, while the bulk of Europe was still recovering from the war. Such extravagant gowns were attacked as elitist and added insult to injury.
As told to us by Nohant, this may have served to only draw more attention to the designer and the mystique of his character. Unhindered by criticism, Dior spent the next 10 years, until his sudden and tragic death in 1957, creating new collections season after season. Nohant recounts the family inside the Dior household as a loving community succeeding in brilliance together.
Goetzinger’s art and narrative cleverly weave a biography, delivered by a narrator whose naiveté rivals our own at the start of this book. Lovingly illustrated --- and even more lovingly constructed --- the narrative expresses the importance of Christian Dior and why he deserves to be well-remembered. Having only read this book, I can say I have a much greater respect for Dior, his brand, his art, and his unflinching genius.
Reviewed by Matthew Burbridge on March 2, 2015
Dior: The Comic
By Lisa Niven
Lisa is beauty editor of Vogue.co.uk
Thursday 23 April 2015
FORGET Dior And I (actually don't - if you haven't seen the beautiful documentary film yet then you really must), the latest telling of the Dior story comes in the form of a comic book, Girl In Dior. Graphic novelist Annie Goetzinger is the brains behind the (Dior-approved) book, which chronicles the journey of fictional journalist Clara as she is enlisted to report upon Christian Dior's seminal 1947 show, and catches the eye of the designer himself.
"I could have talked about Dior's life from his birth until his death, but what interested me, obviously, was that adventure in high fashion which took place between 1947 and 1957," Goetzinger said. "I wanted to talk about the creator, not only aobut his personality but his whole universe, his environment."
The familiar nipped waists and full skirts of Dior's famous New Look silhouette are rendered in beautiful detail - Goetzinger is one of France's most respected graphic novelists with a CV including newspaper Le Monde, as well as having worked in costume design. Already a hit in Europe, Girl In Dior debuts in the US and UK this month.
Girl in Dior
Image of Girl in Dior (Biographies)
Author(s):
Annie Goetzinger
Release Date:
March 1, 2015
Publisher/Imprint:
NBM Publishing
Pages:
128
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Reviewed by:
Jeffrey Felner
The first quarter of the New Year usually yields very little in terms of interesting or memorable books, but this year that cycle has been broken and has produced one more wonderfully engaging book about one of the greatest designers of the 20th century.
The subject is Christian Dior and the book is Girl in Dior. To be precise the book concerns itself with a 10 year span (1947–1957) in the life and career of Monsieur Dior. There have been countless books dealing with so many facets and areas of this designer’s life and career, but Annie Goetzinger has delivered one of the most charming and delightful reads that more than holds its own against the rest.
Without giving away too much of how Goetzinger pulled this off, suffice it to say that she has employed one of the oldest forms of reading material that can be remembered and one that might have been totally ingrained within your childhood. The method of storytelling here is a “comic book” but not the way you might have remembered them but this is most definitely a comic book for adults and students of fashion.
The illustrations are as spot-on and detailed as they can be, and the “conversations” are confined to the subject but with some humor and humanity tossed in for good measure. This is a historical read peppered with facts about the people who inhabited the world of maison Christian Dior as well information about the world of haute couture. One might say that the only thing missing is hearing the French accents from the characters in this book.
For someone who never gave a comic book a second glance, this little treasure has made me rethink the value of this type of reading material. Per chance, if history lessons were offered in the same way, kids might be far more knowledgeable than they are from just reading some dry text book. Somehow this petite volume made this prophetic decade come alive in ways no that no other book on the topic has been able to do before—and that includes the photo centric coffee table books!
The bottom line is simply this: if you are looking for an alternate way of reading about fashion then you better rush out and get yourself a copy. If you want a very insightful and historically accurate way of learning about this man and the world he inhabited, then get thee to Amazon or a book store if you can still find one. Lastly, if you want to get lost in fashion or introduce someone to fashion, this is surely a good way to do it.
Jeffrey Felner is a dedicated participant and nimble historian in the businesses of fashion and style. Decades of experience allow him to pursue almost any topic relating to fashion and style with unique insight and unrivaled acumen.