The Extraordinary Part: Book One: Orsay's Hands

This first book in a two-volume graphic novel series is set in a near-dystopian present, where mysterious creatures called “whols” coexist with humans since their sudden appearance a few years earlier. At first, they aroused curiosity and wonder, then their seemingly harmless presence became commonplace. Nineteen-year-old Orsay leads an uneventful life in the French countryside, until the day he gains extraordinary powers in his hands after an atypically aggressive encounter with a whol. On a trip to Paris in search of a cure, he meets and falls for Basma, a passionate activist for whols’ rights. But Orsay isn’t convinced that whols should be granted the same status as humans. Especially once Melek, another human with similar powers, embarks on a murderous rampage to avenge those she sees as her kin.

Florent Ruppert is a French comics writer and artist who frequently collaborates with Mulot. The two met at the National School of art in Dijon and began publishing their creations in their fanzine Del Adventure. Together, they won the Revelation Prize from the Angouleme International Comics Festival for Barrel of Monkeys (Panier de Singe). They began publishing the crime fiction le Grande Odalisque in 2012.

Jérôme Mulot is best known for his comics collaborations with Ruppert; each French artist both writes and draws. The two met at the National School of art in Dijon and began publishing their creations in their fanzine Del Adventure. Together they won the Revelation Prize from the Angouleme International Comics Festival for Barrel of Monkeys (Panier de Singe). They began publishing the crime fiction le Grande Odalisque in 2012.


Based in France, M.B. Valente is a freelance translator from French and Chinese into English. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in French and Francophone literature from Macalester College in Saint Paul, Minnesota, USA, and a Master’s degree in specialized translation from the University of Geneva, Switzerland. Her translations have appeared in Words Without Borders and The Common, among others.