Jacques Tardi (Žak Tardi) jedan je od najcenjenijih francuskih strip umetnika današnjice, začetnika pravca kog mnogi nazivaju 'novi realizam'.
U albumu se nalaze dve priče 'Istinita priča o neznanom junaku' i 'Šarloova klackalica' o kojima izdavač kaže sledeće: 'Kada su prvi put objavljena pre skoro četrdeset godina, ova dva bisera Žaka Tardija izazvala su nemali skandal u ondašnjoj francuskoj javnosti. Bez preterivanja se može reći da su oba stripa maestralna studija ljudske psihe koja je doživela slom i koja se do poslednjeg trenutka tetura i, poput pijanca koji se hvata za plot, čas pridržava za zbilju, a čas za maštu.'
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.
Pese a que es interesante y las viñetas están trabajadas de una manera inmersiva, no me ha terminado de cautivar. La manera en la que los personajes se comen a su propio creador, o como el pasado del soldado acaba con él, cuanto menos curiosa.