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Max Fridman #1
No Pasaran!
Una historia de suspense ambientada en la Guerra Civil Española. A Max se le ruega que regrese al menguante escenario de la confrontación entre los izquierdistas y los fascistas de Franco para encontrar a un luchador voluntario por la libertad que ha desaparecido. Muchas personas famosas participaron o fueron testigos presenciales de la condenada lucha contra Franco, incluidos Ernest Hemingway y John Dos Passos. En esta mezcla cosmopolita en busca de la "causa del día", Friedman intenta en vano mantenerse neutral en su búsqueda, pero rápidamente se ve envuelto en una vorágine de intrigas.
64 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2000
75 people want to read
About the author
Vittorio Giardino
90 books58 followersVittorio Giardino (Bologna, 1946) è un fumettista italiano.
Laureato in ingegneria elettronica intraprende solo in una seconda fase della sua vita la carriera di autore di fumetti e raggiunge progressivamente la maturità artistica sia per la perfetta connotazione del tratto sia per le sue capacità narrative.
Nei suoi racconti è attraversata tutta la storia europea del Novecento, la guerra civile di Spagna, il Nazismo, lo Stalinismo e la sua fine.
Il Nostro Autore, nel suo percorso artistico di maturazione, passa dal genere hard-boiled di Sam Pezzo alla spy-story con venature politiche ed intellettuali di Max Fridman, al fumetto erotico con Little Ego, fino ad arrivare al capolavoro, del quale noi lettori attendiamo il completamento, di Jonas Fink, il romanzo di formazione di un giovane ebreo praghese dal dopoguerra alla caduta del muro.
Con Jonas Fink riceve il premio Alph-Art al salone di Angoulême (1995) e l'Harvey Awards al San Diego Comic Con. (1998).
Laureato in ingegneria elettronica intraprende solo in una seconda fase della sua vita la carriera di autore di fumetti e raggiunge progressivamente la maturità artistica sia per la perfetta connotazione del tratto sia per le sue capacità narrative.
Nei suoi racconti è attraversata tutta la storia europea del Novecento, la guerra civile di Spagna, il Nazismo, lo Stalinismo e la sua fine.
Il Nostro Autore, nel suo percorso artistico di maturazione, passa dal genere hard-boiled di Sam Pezzo alla spy-story con venature politiche ed intellettuali di Max Fridman, al fumetto erotico con Little Ego, fino ad arrivare al capolavoro, del quale noi lettori attendiamo il completamento, di Jonas Fink, il romanzo di formazione di un giovane ebreo praghese dal dopoguerra alla caduta del muro.
Con Jonas Fink riceve il premio Alph-Art al salone di Angoulême (1995) e l'Harvey Awards al San Diego Comic Con. (1998).
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
October 9, 2022
Μετα την αριστουργηματική Ουγγρική Ραψωδία ξαναβούτηξα με λαχτάρα στο νουάρ κόσμο που πλάθει ο Giardino. Στην τρίτη ενότητα με τις περιπέτειες του Max Fridman μεταφερόμαστε στην Ισπανική Δημοκρατία κατά τα θυελλώδη χρόνια του εμφυλίου. Στο πρώτο μέρος της τριλογίας η πλοκή αναπτύσσεται στα μετόπισθεν: κρυφακούμε πυρετώδεις πολιτικές συζητήσεις σε καφέ και ξενοδοχεία, οσφριζόμαστε ίντριγκες και ακολουθούμε σκιές κατασκόπων. Η ατμόσφαιρα είναι αυτή ενός προοδευτικού κοσμοπολιτισμού που παλεύει να μπει φράγμα στην επέλαση του ναζισμού. Μέσα σε αυτό το περιβάλλον, αναμιγμένος με Αμερικανούς ιδεαλιστές, Ευρωπαίους δημοσιογράφους και κομματικούς γραφειοκράτες, ο Fridman αναζητά τα χνάρια ενός παλιού συντρόφου. Είναι η στιγμή που το ισπανικό όνειρο φαίνεται να προδίδεται από τις σοβιετικές ραδιουργίες ενώ τα τα φασιστικά αεροπλάνα που δανείζει η χιτλερική Γερμανία γέρνουν την πλάστιγγα υπέρ του Φράνκο στο μέτωπο της μάχης.
Εξαιρετική η μετάφραση και τα σχόλια της πρόσφατης ελληνικής έκδοσης από την Jemma Press.
Εξαιρετική η μετάφραση και τα σχόλια της πρόσφατης ελληνικής έκδοσης από την Jemma Press.
August 10, 2023
No Pasaran! Vol. 1
This comic takes place in 1938 and it follows Max Friedman (the protagonist of "Hungarian Rhapsody"). Max is approached by the wife of a good friend of his, who's fighting in the Spanish Civil War as a volunteer, in the side of the leftists, against Franco’s fascists. She tells Max that she hasn't heard from him in months, so he goes back to Spain to find his friend. There he meets a reporter named Claire, who's infuriated by the apathy and lack of passion that the reporters there express. Max quickly realises that the case is more complicated than he expected and that things have changed since he left, a couple of years earlier.
This was incredible! It's the first out of three volumes that follow Max in Spain, during the civil was and it's way better than I expected. After the amazing "Hungarian Rhapsody" I had high expectations from this, but it was even better than I could ever anticipate. In the first of Max's adventures, Vittorio Giardino's political beliefs are clear, but here he express them in a way more vocal way. Every war that hurt communism and with it thousands of lives is extremely sad to think about, but the Spanish Civil War is probably the most painful of all (besides the Greek Civil War, but that's mainly because of personal reasons), not only because of the outcome, wich was devastating for Spain, but also because of everything that happened during the war, between the leftists. So, reading a comic about it is certainly a very interesting and difficult experience. Thankfully, Giardino does a great work with it. In this volume, there's an absolutely devastating scene, in which Max Friedman visits in the hospital his old major. With him he has a pair of military binoculars, because they rarely had them while he was fighting there, so he promised his major that if he ever returned he'd bring a pair. When he arrives at the hospital he finds out that the major has lost his sight, due to his injuries. After leaving, he breaks the binoculars that he brought with him. In the hands of a lesser writer this encounter would have been very different, as well as Max's expression of his anger and sadness, but Giardino writes this in such an incredible way than you can't help but start tearing up, for Max, his old Major and every person who suffered during this war. Absolutely incredible. In general, this volume works as a great introduction to the story. It presents the world, the characters and the historical context very well, with Giardino's great world building and character writing.
The artwork is absolutely amazing, as one would expect. Giardino's line work should be studied in art schools. It's extremely clean and gorgeous. The characters have great, unique designs, the environments are beautifully rendered, with a lot of details and the panel layouts are always amazing.
Overall, this is a truly great comic, with a very important historical backdrop and I can't wait to see what's gonna happen in the remaining volumes.
10/10
This comic takes place in 1938 and it follows Max Friedman (the protagonist of "Hungarian Rhapsody"). Max is approached by the wife of a good friend of his, who's fighting in the Spanish Civil War as a volunteer, in the side of the leftists, against Franco’s fascists. She tells Max that she hasn't heard from him in months, so he goes back to Spain to find his friend. There he meets a reporter named Claire, who's infuriated by the apathy and lack of passion that the reporters there express. Max quickly realises that the case is more complicated than he expected and that things have changed since he left, a couple of years earlier.
This was incredible! It's the first out of three volumes that follow Max in Spain, during the civil was and it's way better than I expected. After the amazing "Hungarian Rhapsody" I had high expectations from this, but it was even better than I could ever anticipate. In the first of Max's adventures, Vittorio Giardino's political beliefs are clear, but here he express them in a way more vocal way. Every war that hurt communism and with it thousands of lives is extremely sad to think about, but the Spanish Civil War is probably the most painful of all (besides the Greek Civil War, but that's mainly because of personal reasons), not only because of the outcome, wich was devastating for Spain, but also because of everything that happened during the war, between the leftists. So, reading a comic about it is certainly a very interesting and difficult experience. Thankfully, Giardino does a great work with it. In this volume, there's an absolutely devastating scene, in which Max Friedman visits in the hospital his old major. With him he has a pair of military binoculars, because they rarely had them while he was fighting there, so he promised his major that if he ever returned he'd bring a pair. When he arrives at the hospital he finds out that the major has lost his sight, due to his injuries. After leaving, he breaks the binoculars that he brought with him. In the hands of a lesser writer this encounter would have been very different, as well as Max's expression of his anger and sadness, but Giardino writes this in such an incredible way than you can't help but start tearing up, for Max, his old Major and every person who suffered during this war. Absolutely incredible. In general, this volume works as a great introduction to the story. It presents the world, the characters and the historical context very well, with Giardino's great world building and character writing.
The artwork is absolutely amazing, as one would expect. Giardino's line work should be studied in art schools. It's extremely clean and gorgeous. The characters have great, unique designs, the environments are beautifully rendered, with a lot of details and the panel layouts are always amazing.
Overall, this is a truly great comic, with a very important historical backdrop and I can't wait to see what's gonna happen in the remaining volumes.
10/10
September 18, 2019
Me he quedado con ganas de saber lo que pasaba, seguramente seguiré con el protagonista y otras historias que tiene, pero sobre todo saber como termina esta,si consigue su objetivo.
June 2, 2023
I've read Koestler, Orwell, Hemingway, but this is probably the most interesting account of the Spanish Civil War I've ever read. From other subjects I've studied, having lived in Russia and majored in Russian history, the role of Commissar is captured perfectly. I had no idea that France and England stopped supplying arms based on an agreement with the League of Nations. The characters are compelling, although as a parent, my first thought was who stayed with his daughter in Switzerland? I'm so glad I found these.
December 27, 2019
I enjoyed this as some starting background to Spanish civil war. But it felt like a very disjointed or sudden start and not the best beginning or unfolding of a story. I want to read more but I find it a bit bland to be honest. Am I missing previous volumes that would have introduced more? Somewhere it says this story is in two parts and yet they sell three books. Overall disappointing as this game highly recommended.
April 11, 2021
This the first in a three-part saga. It’s slower than the first two stories but this allows greater character depth as well as capturing the confusion and tension of the Spanish Civil War.
Enjoy!
Enjoy!
January 17, 2023
Ενδιαφέρουσα ιστορία, ωραίο σχέδιο και πολύ προσεγμένη έκδοση. On to vol.II!!
June 22, 2019
Spies have never and will never wear orange beards- and they don't use their real names.
ALSO a guy with an orange head and beard who walks around with a pipedidn't and doesn't get the babes that Max gets. Maybe in England.
Torio, seemingly effortlessly, weaves rarely recounted history into a compelling tale of cold war on the fringes of the bloodshed!
I love the conscientiousness of the prologue which sets the historical stage of Franco's coup. The protagonist is fit into relationships with major players with as much authenticity as fiction can afford and that earns tremendous respect.
The art is solid in every layer: the backgrounds are well researched and detailed accordingly while avoiding cliche, EVERY person is detailed to individually so that they stand out against the rest and the color is appropriately dulled while retaining its beauty to represent the presence of war in beautiful and nuanced locales. I must remind you that the presence of ANY color should not be taken for granted when a single creator does the rest- whether they do the color themselves or not!
ALSO a guy with an orange head and beard who walks around with a pipedidn't and doesn't get the babes that Max gets. Maybe in England.
Torio, seemingly effortlessly, weaves rarely recounted history into a compelling tale of cold war on the fringes of the bloodshed!
I love the conscientiousness of the prologue which sets the historical stage of Franco's coup. The protagonist is fit into relationships with major players with as much authenticity as fiction can afford and that earns tremendous respect.
The art is solid in every layer: the backgrounds are well researched and detailed accordingly while avoiding cliche, EVERY person is detailed to individually so that they stand out against the rest and the color is appropriately dulled while retaining its beauty to represent the presence of war in beautiful and nuanced locales. I must remind you that the presence of ANY color should not be taken for granted when a single creator does the rest- whether they do the color themselves or not!
January 5, 2013
Very well-done and a fine complement to my other recent reading about the Spanish Civil War (Orwell et al). Vittorio Giardino and his protagonist Max Freidman have both matured with age very nicely since the earlier books in this series.
August 4, 2008
Interesting story set in a great backdrop of history. Love the art too.
October 18, 2022
I love the work of Vittorio Giardino.
July 24, 2021
7.5/10
Here is my review of the whole story (No Pasarán volumes 1-to-3, aka Max Friedman volumes 3-to-5).
Here is my review of the whole story (No Pasarán volumes 1-to-3, aka Max Friedman volumes 3-to-5).
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews