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Le Chat du Rabbin #12
La Traversée de la mer Noire
Le rabbin, le Malka des Lions et leurs amis racontent au Chat et à Zlabya comment ils ont participé à la Première Guerre mondiale, et comment après les tranchées en France, ils ont été envoyés, en 1918, à Odessa pour un épisode méconnu de l'histoire de l'Hexagone. Des horreurs et des absurdités qu'il entend de la bouche des vieux hommes, le Chat se demande si le pire ne serait pas que son rabbin ait pu avoir un autre chat que lui — trahison !
- GenresBande DessinéeComics
88 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2023
19 people want to read
About the author
Joann Sfar
489 books509 followersJoann Sfar (born August 28, 1971 in Nice) is a French comics artist, comic book creator, and film director.
Sfar is considered one of the most important artists of the new wave of Franco-Belgian comics. Many of his comics were published by L'Association which was founded in 1990 by Jean-Christophe Menu and six other artists. He also worked together with many of the new movement's main artists, e.g. David B. and Lewis Trondheim. The Donjon series which he created with Trondheim has a cult following in many countries.
Some of his comics are inspired by his Jewish heritage as the son of Jewish parents (an Ashkenazi mother and a Sephardic father). He himself says that there is Ashkenazi humor in his Professeur Bell series (loosely based on Joseph Bell), whereas Le chat du rabbin is clearly inspired by his Sephardic side. Les olives noires is a series about a Jewish child in Israel at the time of Jesus. Like Le chat du rabbin, the series contains a lot of historical and theological information.
His main influences are Fred and André Franquin as well as Marc Chagall, Chaim Soutine, Will Eisner, Hugo Pratt and John Buscema.
From 2009 to 2010, Sfar wrote and directed 'Serge Gainsbourgh: Une Vie Heroique', a biopic of the notorious French songwriter, of whom Sfar is a self-confessed fanatic. The film, which draws substantially on Sfar's abilities as a comic book artist through its extensive use of fantasy artwork, animation and puppetry, was released in 2010 to general critical acclaim.
Sfar is considered one of the most important artists of the new wave of Franco-Belgian comics. Many of his comics were published by L'Association which was founded in 1990 by Jean-Christophe Menu and six other artists. He also worked together with many of the new movement's main artists, e.g. David B. and Lewis Trondheim. The Donjon series which he created with Trondheim has a cult following in many countries.
Some of his comics are inspired by his Jewish heritage as the son of Jewish parents (an Ashkenazi mother and a Sephardic father). He himself says that there is Ashkenazi humor in his Professeur Bell series (loosely based on Joseph Bell), whereas Le chat du rabbin is clearly inspired by his Sephardic side. Les olives noires is a series about a Jewish child in Israel at the time of Jesus. Like Le chat du rabbin, the series contains a lot of historical and theological information.
His main influences are Fred and André Franquin as well as Marc Chagall, Chaim Soutine, Will Eisner, Hugo Pratt and John Buscema.
From 2009 to 2010, Sfar wrote and directed 'Serge Gainsbourgh: Une Vie Heroique', a biopic of the notorious French songwriter, of whom Sfar is a self-confessed fanatic. The film, which draws substantially on Sfar's abilities as a comic book artist through its extensive use of fantasy artwork, animation and puppetry, was released in 2010 to general critical acclaim.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
August 12, 2024
This is another chapter in the Rabbi's Cat series. The story is mostly told in the past, as a recounted tale from the Rabbi. In this story, the Rabbi and his cousins, including the Malka and the lion, are soldiers in the war, then marines (without any experience!) on the Black Sea.
A few of the story's themes are: believing in God in the middle of atrocities, navigating personal identity (whether being Jewish, black, Arab, foreign, Communist, etc.), the relevance of war. Of course, Sfar takes these on with a typical light touch.
The art is beautiful, as always. Furthermore, the drawings do a lot of the heavy lifting -- through several massacres, people being flung out of windows, and more. I think he handles it pretty well.
There are some new characters like a rat and a red cat. These provide some levity against some pretty horrible scenes. And while the main cat doesn't feature heavily in this volume, he's definitely got a couple of pages.
It's an entertaining book and a great exploration of the world beyond the cat.
A few of the story's themes are: believing in God in the middle of atrocities, navigating personal identity (whether being Jewish, black, Arab, foreign, Communist, etc.), the relevance of war. Of course, Sfar takes these on with a typical light touch.
The art is beautiful, as always. Furthermore, the drawings do a lot of the heavy lifting -- through several massacres, people being flung out of windows, and more. I think he handles it pretty well.
There are some new characters like a rat and a red cat. These provide some levity against some pretty horrible scenes. And while the main cat doesn't feature heavily in this volume, he's definitely got a couple of pages.
It's an entertaining book and a great exploration of the world beyond the cat.
May 24, 2024
Cet album nous offre moins de réflexions théologiques, mais nous fait plutôt un compte rendu d’événements méconnus et regrettables du colonialisme français. C’est plus sérieux et il est question d’identité. Sfar nous inclut d’ailleurs quelques pages de bibliographie commentée à la fin de l’album. Son style est toujours le même: des planches à six cases, un dessin brouillon et ondulant avec des couleurs criardes. Il y a moins d’humour que dans les volumes précédents, mais cela reste divertissant et surtout instructif. C’est un récit fort, assez intéressant, qui nous fait réfléchir. Une très bonne lecture, donc, que je recommande — surtout pour les amateurs d’histoire (et de Sfar).
Lire mon commentaire complet sur http://clodjee-blog.com/2024/05/24/le...
Lire mon commentaire complet sur http://clodjee-blog.com/2024/05/24/le...
November 11, 2023
Album qui retrace la jeunesse du rabbin durant la première guerre mondiale. Sfar sort de ses schemas classiques pour cette série et nous offre une aventure forte et historique, notamment dans la 2eme partie de ce titre
January 28, 2024
nan bien joué
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews