The Professor's Daughter

When thinking up a name for this blog I wanted to check what other professor’s daughters existed before committing myself. I came across the graphic novel, The Professor’s Daughter, written by Joann Sfar and illustrated by Emmanuel Guilbert and was eager to get my hands on it. I went to my favorite Comic Book Shop and picked up a beautifully bound book published by First Second. The sepia toned illustrations and the black ribbon bookmark were just the right kind of book for this professor’s daughter. But I was so disappointed by the story. Looking at the book closer I realized that it had been translated from the French and I think a lot has been lost in this translation.

The story is bizarre to say the least; a young lady takes her father’s prized mummy out for a stroll in Victorian London. They listen to Mozart and drink tea and get into all sorts of adventures. The story takes a turn for the worse when Lillian (daughter of professor) accidently commits a crime. In order to escape the law and her father, Imhotep IV (prized mummy) lies about committing the crime himself, kidnaps Lillian, professes his love for her (where did that come from?) and boards a boat to Cairo. His plans are thwarted when his father (another mummy?) kidnaps Lillian (poor woman) and threatens to sail the seas forever until she agrees to marry him. It is unclear whether Lillian has any interest in either one of these undead hopefuls but she is distressed to say the least and so, inexplicably Mr. Mummy Sr. takes his traumatized victim back to London to his son.

Meanwhile, in London everyone has been looking for Imhotep IV. There are ‘wanted’ posters everywhere; clearly the people of London have no issues with the undead running loose in their city. Mummies from across the city have been collected for the professor’s inspection. The professor, shockingly seems more concerned with authenticating the mummies then looking for his lost daughter but that is only one problem in this story arch. Out of nowhere Lillian reappears and confesses to her crimes. And this is where the story truly gets bizarre. Queen Victoria gets involved, corgis are possibly injured, the professor is killed and no one really cares. Immotep reveals himself to be a fully functional (wink, wink) prince and they live happily ever after…

I felt at times like I was missing panels or I would flip back and forth between pages and ask, “what?”. I understand the idea of fantasy and suspending disbelief but this story was all over the place. I felt like perhaps it was written for a 7-year-old suffering from attention deficit disorder. Yet there were some narrative points that might have been too mature for a young reader. I was baffled by this book, but the title is a good one and the illustrations are truly beautiful. It’s a lovely book to have on my graphic novel shelf even if the story is a little crazy.

This is my favorite panel:

The Professor’s Daughter, illustrated by Emmanuel Guilbert; story by Joann Sfar originally published in France in 1997 under the title La fille du professeur by Editions Dupuis, Paris. 

English translation by Alexis Siegel, First Second, 2007.