Review by Frank Plowright

Every single volume of Trent has been an absolute joy. Rodolphe’s plots toy with the Western format, but replace the cowboy with a mountie and the usual testosterone-fueled bombast with an understated melancholy. It’s beautifully observed, and lushly drawn by Leo, so a heavy heart is induced on discovering this is the final volume.

There’s no sentimentality about Rodolphe. Having finally brought Trent and Agnes together in holy matrimony in Miss Helen, he immediately separates them in Little Trent by having her travel to England. While she’s away Trent is to accompany a woman and her son who’ve separated from an abusive husband who refuses to accept her decision and remains dangerous as she takes the long journey back home to her father’s property. Due to imaginatively plotted circumstances, Trent is unable to read a letter sent by Agnes, yet some of what he can make out refers to a happy event, and he begins to speculate she’s pregnant. He dreams of having his own son, and begins to see elements of his fantasy in the young boy he’s accompanying.

While Rodolphe has Trent comment on the stately beauty of Europe, the wild landscapes Leo draws have a beauty of their own, and he keeps the public scenes busy and bustling with life. He’s beginning to move toward his later style where everyone has piercing eyes, but the people don’t yet have the poses stiffness, and move naturally when drawn.

Beyond what Trent believes might have been written in the letter, mystery is largely absent from Little Trent. The personalities are clearly defined and they behave accordingly all the way to an ending that’s heartbreaking, but keeps consistent with the tone by not being sensationalistic. This is another quiet gem.

Following Trent Rodolphe would sustain an astonishingly prolific bibliography, very little of which has been translated into English, and Leo would go on to write his own projects and become known for designing fantastic alien animals, beginning with Alderbaran.