Le Der des ders by Didier Daeninckx

Eugène Varlot #1

by Jacques Tardi, Didier Daeninckx

A rollicking noir set in Paris, during the anarchic days following World War OneIn January 1920, in the aftermath of “the war to end all wars,” private detective René Griffon is hired to investigate the marital infidelities of the wife of a war hero. But what he uncovers is more than shabby behavior, and more than a sex scandal—what he uncovers is a scandal with devastating national implications. And as Griffon’s investigation plunges him into the murky world of blackmail, murder, anarchists, profiteering, and the repercussions of the war’s dark secrets, he discovers that the people who helped France win the war are being made to pay for the peace. Both homage to its American predecessors and critique of the Americanization of French—and global—culture, A Very Profitable War is a tense and evocative book that will linger long after its startling conclusion.

Genres: Bande Dessinée, Comics

Mass Market Paperback

First published May 1, 1995

About the author

Jacques Tardi is a French comics artist, born 30 August 1946 in Valence, Drôme. He is often credited solely as Tardi.

After graduating from the École nationale des Beaux-Arts de Lyon and the École nationale supérieure des arts décoratifs in Paris, he started writing comics in 1969, at the age of 23, in the comics magazine Pilote, initially illustrating short stories written by Jean Giraud and Serge de Beketch, before creating the political fiction story Rumeur sur le Rouergue from a scenario by Pierre Christin in 1972.

A highly versatile artist, Tardi successfully adapted novels by controversial writer Louis-Ferdinand Céline or crime novelist Léo Malet. In Malet's case, Tardi adapted his detective hero Nestor Burma into a series of critically acclaimed graphic novels, though he also wrote and drew original stories of his own.

Tardi also created one of French comics' most famous heroines, Adèle Blanc-Sec. This series recreates the Paris of early 20th century where the moody heroine encounters supernatural events, state plots, occult societies and experiments in cryogenics.

Another graphic novel was Ici Même which was written by Jean-Claude Forest, best known as the creator of Barbarella. A satire, it describes the adventures of Arthur Même who lives on the walls of his family's former property.

Tardi has produced many antiwar graphic novels and comics, mainly focusing on the collective European trauma of the First World War, and the pitfalls of patriotism spawned several albums (Adieu Brindavoine, C'était la guerre des tranchées, Le trou d'obus, Putain de Guerre...). His grandfather's involvement in the day-to-day horrors of trench warfare, seems to have had a deep influence to his artistic expression. He also completed a four-volume series on the Paris Commune, Le cri du peuple.

Fantagraphics Books translate and publish in English a wide range of Tardi's books, done by editor and translator Kim Thompson.[3] The books released so far are West Coast Blues (Le Petit bleu de la côte ouest), You Are There (Ici Même), and It Was the War of the Trenches (C'était la guerre des tranchées); a single album collecting the first two Adele Blanc-Sec volumes has also been published.

->http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacques_...

Reviews

[Gideon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Een indrukwekkend en naargeestig verhaal. Een soort film-noir in stripvorm met mooie tekeningen.

[Alberto · Rating 4 out of 5]

La mejor representación de la guerra, cualquier guerra, en una obra cultural actual está en un tebeo de Tardi.

[Bernard Convert · Rating 5 out of 5]

L'évocation par Tardi de Paris en cet hiver 1920 est à couper le souffle... Et l'histoire de Daeninckx passionnante de bout en bout. Comme à son habitude il exhume un épisode peu connu et peu glorieux de l'Histoire de France, ici la répression de la mutinerie des soldats russes à La Courtine. Bref un album magistral !

[!Tæmbuŝu]

Reviewed by The Complete Review

[Anh Quan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Intrigue passionnante du début jusqu'à la fin. La fin....