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Table of Contents
Tour (La)
La Tour [The Tower] is the fourth volume of the chronicles. Started in A Suivre in January 1986 and published as an album by Casterman in 1987.
One of the last documents uncovered in L’Archiviste was a picture entitled “Giovanni and his Friends”, showing a man surrounded by a group of famous painters and illustrators. In La Tour, we learn his identity and the nature of his connection with the world of the Obscure Cities.
This album was published in black and white, but with a twist: the paintings in Palingenius’ collection are in colour. The inhabitants of the Tower see their world as perfectly normal, but they cannot help but to feel that there is something wonderfully strange about the paintings…
Story
Giovanni Battista is a third class maintainer of the Tower. His section is getting worse by the day and as he has not been in contact with any of his inspectors or colleague maintainers he decided to go to the Base to complain. While using a chute his end up somewhere higher as his level. He meets Ellias Aureolus Palingenius and Milena. Together with Milena he tries to figure out the purpose of the Tower. He finally decides to climb to the top.
Two pages of the scenario by Benoît Peeters.
Gallery
Some interior pages of La Tour.
Editions / translations
| Year | Title | Language | Publisher | Pages | HC/SC | ISBN | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1987 | La Tour | French | Casterman | 112 | SC | 2203334339 | |
| 1987 | La Tour | French | Casterman | 112 | HC | 220334301X | |
| 1987 | De Toren | Dutch | Casterman | 112 | SC | 9030385553 | |
| 1987 | De Toren | Dutch | Casterman | 112 | HC | 9030385596 | Numbered and signed. (1-400 & I - L) |
| 1987 | La Torre | Spanish | Eurocomics | 106 | SC | 8486004705 | |
| 1987 | Tårnet | Danish | Bogfabrikken | 106 | SC | 8772970545 | Two editions |
| 1988 | De Toren | Dutch | Casterman | 112 | HC | 9030385871 | |
| 1988 | Der Turm | German | Feest comics | 106 | SC | 3893431527 | |
| 1988 | Der Turm | German | Feest comics | 106 | HC | n/a | |
| 1988 | Der Turm | German | Feest comics | 106 | HC | n/a | Deluxe edition |
| 1989 | A Torre | Portuguese | Edições 70 | 106 | SC | NO ISBN | |
| 1993 | The Tower | English | NBM Publishers | 112 | SC | 1561630705 | |
| 1999 | Menara | Indonesian | Forum Paris - Jakarta & CCF Jakarta | 106 | SC | 2203334339 | |
| 1999 | Rêves de pierres | French | Museé Fesch Ajaccio/Casterman | 106 | SC | 2203334339 | With additional cover and 25 page booklet: “Rêves de pierres: de Piranèse à Schuiten & Peeters” |
| 2008 | La Tour | French | Casterman | 110 | SC | 9782203017436 | Additional intro & explanation “Rêves de Pierre” |
| 2011 | Toranj | Croatian | Fibra | 110 | HC | 9789533210377 | Like the 2008 French edition |
| 2011 | 闇の国々 | Japanese | ShoPro Books | n/a | HC | 4796871012 | Part of bundle 1 |
| 2014 | Der Turm | German | Schreiber und Leser | 112 | HC | 9783943808377 | With 18 new additional pages |
| 2015 | 巨塔 | Chinese | 人民美术出版社 | 100 | n/a | 9787102070537 | |
| 2018 | 巨塔 | Chinese | Huazhong University of Science & Technology Press | 100 | n/a | 9787568045100 | |
| 2021 | Wieża | Polish | Scream Comics | 112 | SC | 9788366291713 | |
| 2022 | The Tower | English | IDW | 112 | SC | 9781684057313 | Announced for March 2022. All new translation. |
| 2022 | La Tour | French | Laurent Hennebelle | 112 | HC | - | 58 x 43 cm album, 124 pages, printed with pigment inks. Black & white edition. It will include the entire album, the supplements found in the current edition, elements from the guide and the echo of the cities and unpublished documents.About 35 copies for 1500 euros. |
| 2022 | La Tour | French | Laurent Hennebelle | 112 | HC | - | 58 x 43 cm album, 124 pages, album printed with pigment inks. All the pages and other documents in facsimile. It will include the entire album, the supplements found in the current edition, elements from the guide and the echo of the cities and unpublished documents.About 35 copies for 1500 euros. |
| 2022 | La Tour | French | Laurent Hennebelle | 112 | HC | - | Large album printed in offset print. |
| 2022 | La torre | Italian | Alessandro Editore | 112 | SC | 9788882854232 | |
| 2024 | Wieża | Polish | Scream Comics | 112 | - | - | Announced for March 2024 |
Rêves de pierres
A special edition of La Tour was made for the exhibition Rêves de pierres in Musée Fesch, Ajaccio. The exhibition was about the connections between Piranèse and the world of Schuiten and Peeters. The exhibition ran from 24 October 2000 till 28 January 2001.
See also: Donjon des rêves (Le) - Piranesi by Schuiten.
