The Obscure Cities (French: Les Cités Obscures), first published in English as, variously, Stories of the Fantastic and Cities of the Fantastic, is a bande dessinée series created by Belgian artist François Schuiten and French writer Benoît Peeters. First serialized in magazine format in 1982, the series has been published in album format by Brussels-based publisher Casterman since 1983. New installments of the series were published throughout the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s, in varying formats, including full-color, partial color, greyscale, and black-and-white comic illustration, as well as photo comic, picture book, and multimedia formats. The series is distinguished by Schuiten's realistic rendering of diverse contemporary, historical, and imaginary architectural styles.