The Professor's Daughter

by Emmanuel Guibert and Joann Sfar

Book Overview

Imhotep IV is an Egyptian mummy who's just opened his eyes for the first time in 3,000 years. Lillian Bowell is the daughter of a renowned Egyptologist. One day, when the Professor's away, the two go out for an afternoon on the town. The heap of trouble that they land in--brought on by Mozart, afternoon tea, and a passing gentleman's sensitive nature--only deepens when they learn Imhotep IV's father is in town. Can Imhotep IV and Lillian stay together...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 159643130X
• ISBN13: 9781596431300
• Release Date: April 2007
• Publisher: First Second
• Length: 80 Pages
• Weight: 0.50 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.3" x 6.4" x 8.5"
• Age Range: 14 to 18 years
• Grade Range: Grade 9 to Postsecondary

Customer Reviews

Fun

I really enjoyed this, the characters and plot were funny and engaging. The only thing I wish is that it was longer.

Angieville: THE PROFESSOR'S DAUGHTER

This charming, madcap Victorian romp was originally published in 1997 and has just recently been translated into English and reissued by First Second. The French pairing, Joann Sfar and Emmanuel Guibert, have infused their girl-meets-mummy love story with equal amounts whimsy and longing. Lillian Bowell is the daughter of renowned Egyptologist Professor Bowell. During one of her father's many absences, Lillian befriends one of her father's many mummies, Imhotep IV. Lillian soon feels safe with the debonair mummy and Imhotep finds the lovely lady reminds him of his long-dead wife who was not mummified and therefore will not be around to enjoy eternity with her spouse. Together these two unlikely confidantes spend a day out on the town, strolling through the streets and parks of 19th century London. Mayhem ensues when Imhotep gets into a drunken pub brawl and Lillian is forced to drug the police who come to investigate the matter. Unfortunately, the sedative turns out to be poison and Lillian is put on trial for murder. Both fathers attempt to come to the rescue of their besotted children, but the British justice system will not be perverted and the two lovers must find a way out on their own. Always zany, at times hilarious, this original tale rushes headlong toward a satisfying, if slightly cringe-worthy conclusion. The text is enchantingly abrupt and fast-paced, and the accompanying artwork is utterly beguiling. Highly recommended.

Very Diverting Absurdist Fun

First Second is a wonderful imprint that's been publishing some of the most interesting graphic storytelling of the last several years in beautifully produced editions. This slender story, a translation of a book that appeared ten years ago in France, is no exception. At 64 pages, with generally six panels a page, it's a quick read, albeit a pretty strange one. Sort of Monty Python meets Preston Sturges meets Tales From the Crypt -- or something like that. There's no way to summarize the story and do it justice, all you need to know is that it involves a romance (of sorts) between the beautiful daughter of an Egyptologist and the decidedly animated mummy of Imhotep IV. A day out together turns into a madcap farce involving drunken disorder, poisoning, element, multiple kidnappings, a pirate mummy, a court scene, a soggy Queen Victoria, surreal dream sequences, and various other outlandish elements. It all moves along at a cracking pace with abrupt shifts in the story, so much so that I had to stop a few times and make sure I hadn't missed some transitional page along the way. For the most part, the translation manages to hit the right sassy, snappy, silly tone, with only a few misfires here and there. The artwork is really excellent and unusual, lovely pencilwork and watercolors with a great sense of palette. Guibert captures the Victorian era and brings it to life while also creating engaging characters with relatively simple features. The lettering is slightly disappointing, a lame faux-handprinted font called "Felt Tip" that is resized throughout depending on space. This a minor quibble though, and the book is perfect for the reader looking for an absurd and witty diversion.

An old-fashioned love story... sort of

First, Joann Sfar tackled the subject of a dorky bloodsucker's "Vampire Loves," and now it's the love life of a lonely mummy. Yeah, it's a weird story, and it gets progressively wackier, cleverer and more feverish as it goes on. But Sfar and Emmanuel Gilbert crafted a sweetly offbeat love story, between a young Victorian lady, and her father's three-thousand-year-old mummy, Imhotep IV. When the professor is away, Lillian Browell and the mummy Imhotep IV like to tour London together. But one of their walks goes horribly wrong -- Imhotep gets dead drunk and trashes a cafe, and Lillian learns that he's about to be sent to the museum. When the cops arrive to arrest him, she accidentally poisons them. And when her father arrives, Imhotep sweeps her out of the house and elopes to Egypt. Except they never get further than the docks: Lillian is kidnapped by a pirate mummy, and Imhotep is forced to hide in a kindly man's house. Their love is tested like never before when they are both jailed, and both their fathers -- the professor and the pirate mummy -- are determined to save them. Too bad they're no good at it. "The Professor's Daughter" is kind of like watching a charming, quaint little screwball comedy. A very romantic one, I might add -- the romance between Lillian and Imhotep IV is one of those sweet, comfortable ones where you just want them to live happily ever after. But in the meantime, Sfar keeps the quirky, poignant story rolling -- accidental poisoning, the arrest of hundreds of mummies, and Imhotep III proposing marriage to Queen Victoria (and subsequently chucking her in the river). Even the dialogue has that quirkiness: "The last time I meddled in his affairs was three thousand years ago, and he's STILL furious at me." In fact, the second half of the story is basically a madcap caper through London, which ends in a most unexpected (and slightly gruesome) manner. Yet Sfar never loses touch with the poignant side of things, having Imhotep IV conversing with his long-dead children and mourning his lost wife (whom Lillian resembles). That charm is only helped along by Emmanuel Gilbert's artwork, which is somewhere between contemporary graphic art and Victorian pen-and-ink drawings. Lots of firelight, stormy seas and stone jails, with lots of pale light and vaguely blurred lines around the edges. The lovers are what keep this story moving, even when they're not in it, and it's hard not to feel a little tug when their relationship hits a speed bump. The actual professor is kind of a nonentity, compared to the gung-ho mummy Imhotep III, who is either insane or totally out of touch with human reality. "The Professor's Daughter" is a sweet, slightly wacked-out follow-up to Sfar's tales of vampiric dating, with a slight twist on the usual boy meets girl story. Mummy meets girl?

A Victorian Girl and Her Mummy

It takes about twenty minutes to read The Professor's Daughter, a charming and gorgeously illustrated graphic novel by French artists Joann Sfar and Emmanuel Guibert originally published in 1997 and recently reissued in an English translation by First Second, an imprint of Roaring Brook Press. That's more than long enough to become emotionally invested in this madcap love story featuring Lillian Bowell, the daughter of a famous Victorian Egyptologist, and Imhotep IV, a pharaoh a few thousand years her senior. Spoilers ahead ... Imhotep is stored in a sarcophagus in the Bowell home in Paddington, awaiting delivery to the British Museum. One day Lillian dresses him in top hat and tails and takes him for a walk. Imhotep gets drunk on tea and assaults a gentleman who later turns up at the house with a policeman demanding redress. Lillian inadvertently poisons them with arsenic. When their bodies are discovered by Lillian's father, Imhotep dashes from the house with Lillian, intending to take her to Cairo. At the dock, Lillian is kidnapped by a second, sea-captain mummy who vows to stay at sea until Lillian falls in love with him. Back in London, Imhotep is a wanted man. He manages to find a hiding place while Scotland Yard rounds up all the city's mummies. When Imhotep learns that Lillian has been taken to sea, he despairs. The sea-captain mummy discovers that Lillian's beau is a mummy and returns to London. When Lillian is reunited with Imhotep, Imhotep recognizes the sea-captain mummy as his father, Imhotep III. They argue about Lillian, who bears a striking resemblance to the long-dead wife of Imhotep IV. Lillian concludes that Imhotep is merely using her as a substitute for his dead wife. She goes to the police and confesses to the two poisonings. Imhotep attempts to break her out of jail but gets arrested himself. At the trial, Imhotep asserts that because he is a royal personage, he must be judged by Queen Victoria herself. Meanwhile, the professor and Imhotep III shoot each other in a brougham. The unscathed mummy (he is already dead, after all) tells the bleeding professor that he will seduce the queen and then get her to pardon their children. They manage to get past the gates of Buckingham Palace. Imhotep III, with the now-unconscious professor slung over his shoulder, crashes into the queen's room and proposes to her. When she refuses, he slings her over his other shoulder and sets off for the Tower of London, where Imhotep IV and Lillian are being held. A scene between the lovers follows in which Lillian confesses her love to Imhotep. His father, meanwhile, pitches the queen into the Thames when he realizes that she will be of no help to him. He steals the keys to the lovers' cell, where the professor finally expires. Imhotep IV exchanges his mummy wrappings for the dead professor's clothing and the pair escapes. The professor, now encased in Imhotep's bandages, is mistaken for him and ends up under glass at the British Museum, where