The Alliance Française de Seattle is a nonprofit organization dedicated to spreading Frenchness throughout the region, and those socialist cheese-eaters have finally discovered the way to our hearts: comic books. Fantagraphics Books cofounder Kim Thompson talks about 20 artists who've made French comics among the best in the world, and the slide show is followed by a free reception to kick off a week of French comics-related goodness, including multiple appearances by genius memoirist and comics revolutionary David B. (Alliance Française de Seattle, 4649 Sunnyside Ave N, 632-5433. 7 pm, free.)