La Grande Guerre dans la BD
Luc Révillon
World War I in the form of comic strips: it can only be the work of Tardi (Putain de guerre !). Actually, as we can see in the compiled book illustrators, illustrators took over this means since the beginning of the conflict. Certain illustrated works such as la Croix d’honneur and la Jeune France were even created purposely by the powerful editors of the sector, the Offenstadt brothers, who own Cri-Cri and l’Épatant (the Superb). With les Pieds nickelés s’en vont en guerre, the infernal trio is armed, with the bottle of red wine in the pocket and we even see Bécassine mobilisée. While up to the seventies the tone was rather patriotic (for example, the heroic and moral ridden stories of Tintin or les Belles Histoires de l’oncle Paul published by Spirou), the speech is more critical with the appearance lof adult comic strips after 1968. Cabu got a real kick in writing and illustrating his A bas toutes les armées (1977) and Pat Mills creatd a monument in this type with Charley’s War (1979-86) which describes the daily life of a British soldier. The story of course continues: the most recent years see new graphic audacities and new types of scenarios and the fashion of adapting great novels such as le Feu by Barbusse.
|
Review published in the newsletter #374 - from 5 February 2015 to 11 February 2015