Fantomas
The Corpse Who Kills
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- $4.99
Publisher Description
FANTOMAS is the Emperor of Crime, the Lord of Terror, the Genius of Evil, the nihilistic anti-hero of a series of sublime pulps, books brimming with motifs of the "marvellous": nuns, coffins, severed hands, daggers, masks, bells that bleed, corpses, poison flowers, gloves of human skin, lunatics and labyrinths. Fantômas loves criminal atrocities and random acts of "beautiful-compulsive" violence, carnage on a mass scale, outrageous theft, arson and destruction, virtuoso displays of terrorism and chaos compounded by the brutality of the Paris street-gangs under his command. FANTOMAS: THE CORPSE WHO KILLS (Le Mort Qui Tue, 1911), the third and perhaps most inventive book in this astonishing series, was acclaimed by the Surrealists for its dream-like imagery, wanton cruelty, and gallows-black humour. This new edition includes a detailed introduction on Fantômas and the Surrealists.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In the mode reminiscent of Sherlock Holmes and his ineradicable nemesis, the virtually immortal Professor Moriarty, Inspector Juve dedicates himself to the relentless pursuit of that evil genius Fantomas. He is, as they say in petrified Paris, "Nothing. . . Everything. . . Nobody. . . Somebody.'' And what does he do? He ``spreads terror,'' diabolically, craftily beyond all imagining: slashes throats of kindly old ladies; stuffs strangled British socialites into trunks; boldly robs Russian princesses in their hotel rooms; pushes witnesses off speeding trains to their deaths. Can Juve prevail against that hellish power? Men masquerade as women; suicides return from the dead; ladies wail ``What am I to do?'' and faint from surprise and shock. Juve finally hunts Fantomas down. But a surprise awaits, leaving the charmed reader of this French bestseller hoping to see more of the weird pair. Ashbery's introduction not seen by PW.
