Animan - by Anouk Ricard (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

Pet therapist by day, animal-morphing pet detective by night--fear not, Animan's on the case!

Inspired by the 1980s TV series Manimal, award-winning cartoonist Anouk Ricard pairs her unique brand of absurd storytelling and impeccable comedic timing to deliver the riotously funny adventures of Animan, superhero pet detective.

A radioactive mosquito bite as a baby gives Francis the superpower of morphing into any animal at will. Learning to keep his powers secret from an early age, Francis takes up pet therapy as his day job, the perfect cover for his secret identity as Animan.

Francis uses his fantastical gift to treat his animal patients, go undercover to solve murders, and battle it out with his nemesis, Objecto, a man capable of transforming into any and every possible object. And to top it all off, in his free time Francis is an avid watercolorist, who enjoys drawing landscapes and risqué portraits of his frog girlfriend, Fabienne.

Winner of the 2025 Grand Prix at the Angoulême International Comics Festival, veteran cartoonist Ricard delivers a fresh take on the superhero genre, imbued with her signature slapstick sensibility, preposterous scenarios, and off-the-wall punchlines.

Review Quotes

"Combine absurdity with Ricard's simplified, charming funny animal art style and you've got a very funny comic. Ricard has a healthy appreciation for the ridiculous that is infectious." --Comic Book Resources

"Surreal workplace comedy as performed by anthropomorphic animals." --The AV Club

"In Anouk Ricard's gently bonkers satire, [she] just barely cushion[s] her pointed jabs at the insular, dysfunctional families we construct at work." --The Globe & Mail

About the Author

Anouk Ricard was born in 1970 in southern France. She studied at the Beaux-Arts in Aix-en-Provence and the Strasbourg School of Decorative Arts where she graduated with a degree in illustration. She launched her career in comics with Anna and Froga, a children's series first published by Capsule Cosmique magazine, and later published in English by Drawn & Quarterly. The french edition of Animan--soon to be published in English by Drawn & Quarterly--was awarded the special jury prize at the 2023 Angoulème Comics Festival. In 2025 Ricard was awarded the Angoulême Grand Prize in recognition for her lifetime career achievement in comics.