Sunday Splash Page #149

 

"Skies Over Istanbul (Now Constantinople)" in Delilah Dirk and the Turkish Lieutenant, by Tony Cliff

Delilah Dirk is a series of, so far, three stories taking place in the early 19th Century, focusing on a young woman who runs about having adventures, stealing, occasionally helping people for a good cause (and a little coin). The first GN, from which the above is taken, tells the story of her meeting and eventual partnership with Erdemoglu Selim, the Turkish lieutenant in question. Selim is mostly quiet and studious, and enjoys tea, but finds he enjoys the near-constant travel and madcap excitement that occurs wherever Delilah Dirk goes. 

 

Delilah has a lot of enjoyment at his discomfort with the two-fisted heroics, and Selim enjoys tweaking her a bit when she goes off half-cocked. She has a tendency to get caught up in her own ego, and he has to rein that in occasionally. Cliff introduces enough different variables as he goes along to keep the interactions interesting.

 

The subsequent two books, The King's Shilling and The Pillars of Hercules, make a little more use of the historical context of the time period (other than her ship being able to fly, things are generally historically accurate, near as I can tell). The tensions caused by the Napoleonic Wars and increasing struggles for dominance between the major European powers begin to factor more heavily into the stories. Not overwhelmingly so; Delilah is largely unconcerned with politics. Even when she's falsely accused of aiding the French, she's less concerned what her accuser (the real traitor) is doing, and more that he besmirched her good name. It's a personal issue for her.

The books were released over a five-year span, so you can track the changes in Cliff's art over time. Delilah's face gets rounder, the nose a bit less prominent. There's fewer sketch lines, just in general the art looks more confident in itself. Cliff allows himself more opportunities to draw some interesting locales and landscapes on a full page. The progression of action in the fight scenes gets clearer, and he gets a bit more creative with how the eye is drawn around the page. It's fun to see if you read the books in rapid succession.

The third book came out in 2018, so I'm kind of hoping we'll get a new volume this year. Maybe they'll travel to the Far East, or the Americas.