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Silésie, dans les années trente. Trois enfants inséparables, Max, Werner et Hanna, partagent la même passion pour l'aviation. Mais au loin, l'écho du martellement de bottes et du sinistre fracas de casques commence déjà à résonner ! Bientôt l'ouragan d'acier qui va ravager toute l'Europe va contraindre notre trio à devoir effectuer de terribles choix. Leur amitié pourra-t-elle y survivre ?.

56 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2013

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About the author

Yann

518 books37 followers
Pseudonym of Yann le Pennetier or Lepennetier, who also publishes as Balac, is a French comics writer.

[FR]
Après ses débuts dans la publicité et l’architecture, ce Marseillais s’est lancé dans la bande dessinée en 1974 en dessinant pour Spirou à Bruxelles où il habite désormais.

Remercié par le journal pour dessins irrévérencieux, il avait noué des liens forts de franche camaraderie avec Conrad avec qui il a notamment réalisé les Innommables en 1980 et lancé la Tigresse blanche en 2005.

Ses premiers scénarios l’avaient conduit dans l’univers de Franquin avec le Marsupilami en 1989 et de Goscinny avec Lucky Luke sans oublier son one-shot sur une aventure de de Spirou. Il écrit depuis pour de nombreux dessinateurs comme Berthet (Pin Up, Yoni, les exploits de Poison Ivy), Simon Léturgie (Spoon White), Félix Meynet (les Eternels) avec ou encore Herval (Tiffany), René Hausman (Les Trois cheveux blancs, Le Prince des écureuils), Yslaire (Sambre), Joël Parnotte (Le Sang des Porphyre)...

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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
Profile Image for Rod Brown.
7,347 reviews281 followers
January 21, 2021
In the 1930s in a region of Europe called Silesia, which straddles Poland, Germany, and the Czech Republic, three young kids dream of flying. Max Kurtzman, a Polish Jew, will one day emigrate to the United States and fly planes off the USS Yorktown aircraft carrier in the Pacific theater of World War II. In this historical fiction, one of his Germanic friends from Silesia will become famous as a female test pilot for the Luftwaffe, the real-life Hanna Reitsch. Suspected by the U.S Army of being a Nazi agent, Max finds himself with the choice of facing a firing squad as a traitor or proving his loyalty by undertaking a dangerous mission.

Cutting frequently between a childhood increasingly tainted by Nazi antisemitism and WWII action, it's a pretty engaging set-up, even if Yann is no Garth Ennis when it comes to war fiction. I'm annoyed that my usual library sources do not have the next two volumes. I may actually have to buy them.
Profile Image for Leboudoirdulivre.
348 reviews12 followers
December 12, 2019
Octobre 1944. Après un exploit dans les airs, Max se souvient de son enfance grâce à sa dent d’ours.

1930, Silésie. Max, Hanna et Werner sont trois enfants passionnés par l’aviation. Leur rêve de voler est compromis. Max est Juif et Hanna est une fille qui souhaite montrer qu’elle est aussi capable qu’un garçon.

Les années passent. En 1932, Max perd ses doigts en faisant exploser une fusée.

Obligé de fuir, Max émigre aux Etats-Unis où il devient pilote pour la US Air Force jusqu’à ce qu’il soit accusé de haute trahison à cause de sa ressemblance avec Werner Königsberg, un pilote Aryen renommé dans l’Allemagne nazie. Pour s’en sortir et malgré la preuve de son innocence, il accepte une mission qui va lui faire revivre le passé qu’il et les cauchemars qu’il essaie d’oublier.

Pour sauver sa vie, Max va devoir faire un choix horrible, la guerre aura été le renoncement à tout… même à l’amitié.

Max va-t-il réussir à sauver sa vie au détriment d’un être cher ?

A l’heure des choix, où l’amitié ne tient qu’à un fil, Max prendra-t-il la bonne décision ?

Une série qui montre les choix qu’on doit faire, les sacrifices et le prix à payer lorsque l’on est en guerre.

Un premier tome centré sur Max en Silésie où toutes les nationalités cohabitaient jusqu’à l’arrivée d’Hitler. Très intelligent, Max essaie de prévenir ses amis allemands de ce qui les attends grâce à la lecture de Mein Kampf. La vie suit son cours et ça devient de plus en plus dangereux pour Max et les Juifs avec les interdictions, les persécutions, l’obligation de faire partie des Jeunesses hitlériennes pour ses amis.

Ne voulant pas le croire, chacun va aller vers son destin. Tous vont voler pour défendre son pays et combattre entre eux.

Bien qu’axée sur l’aviation, cette série aborde pleins de sujets comme l’amitié, le sort des Juifs, la guerre, l’espionnage…

Dessins réalistes aux couleurs vintage (similaire à l’époque où se situe l’histoire) et scénario parfaitement ancré dans le contexte des prémices de la Seconde Guerre mondiale où chaque personnage raconte sa propre histoire à travers ses souvenirs d’enfance. Malgré quelques scènes osées pour un public de 9 ans, une bande-dessinée qui intéressera les jeunes comme les adultes.
Profile Image for Simon Chadwick.
Author 46 books9 followers
July 20, 2018
Beginning in 1930s Silesia (now part of Poland, Germany and the Czech Republic) we follow three childhood friends, Max, Werner and Hanna as they explore their love of aviation, all dreaming to be pilots one day. Even at a young age it doesn’t escape them that one of them is a Jew and one is female so their opportunities to fulfil their dream are limited. As the Nazi’s rise to power the children’s friendship is torn apart when it’s apparent that Werner must join the Hitler Youth in order to fly and Max’s family shop is attacked for being run by Jews, forcing the family to flee to America. It’s at this point the three friends make a pact to be friends for life.

By the time the war is in full swing Max and Werner are skilled pilots on opposite sides of the fight, and it comes to the attention of the US that Max is either not who he seems or, potentially, a way for them to strike a serious blow against the enemy, and somehow this plan involves Hanna.

Bear’s Tooth tells a story of the war through the eyes of three friends, using a non-linear narrative to explore their friendship, hopes, failures and challenges, and encapsulates the absurdity of a war that divides countries and people and throws them against one another. This opening volume sets the tale up superbly as Max, Werner and Hanna all strive to fulfil their ambitions despite the changing world around them, and with little thought to the ultimate destination of the paths they set out on.

Comic storytelling has the ability to open up so many new avenues of storytelling, and here we have a prime example of a different perspective of WW2 told from outside of the usual viewpoints. I’d never heard of Silesia prior to picking up this book and that detail alone has opened up new paths of discovery for me. Henriet’s artwork, coupled with Usagi’s thoughtful colour palette, captures the period perfectly, with some excellent depictions of military aircraft and ships. Where a movie will spend millions on CGI effects to realise such vehicles, artists like Henriet drag you straight in to the action at a fraction of the cost but with all the drama. If this first issue is anything to go by then Bear’s Tooth has the potential to be a thought provoking and memorable series.
Profile Image for Matt Reid.
92 reviews
September 6, 2021
A story set during WWII and an excellent read. The art is clean and has a wonderful amount of detail whilst still keeping its almost cartoonish charm. The story is both one of three friends growing up in the build up to the war whilst also telling us of their time in the war. Heartily recommend this, a fine example of European comics.
Profile Image for Minniewhop.
168 reviews29 followers
September 8, 2019
Wow I didn’t expect to like it so much! Not what I would pick up usually but my dad lended me all 3 volumes because I HAD to read them. Now I know why!
Profile Image for Alex E.
1,717 reviews12 followers
October 10, 2023
Three young kids, best friends, dream of flying airplanes as they run through fields playing with toy planes for the time being.

Yann gives us a story of friendship broken by war, idealism, courage, and violence. He jumps back and forth in time, showing the kids growing up and being - well, just kids, all the while Nazism begins being brought up more and more. The juxtaposition of their friendship against what we all know now is coming, was a powerful way to really cement the fact that the war took not just lives, but innocence and hope as well. This volume is very much a setup volume, we we are introduced to the three friends, Hanna (based on the real life Hanna Reitsch), Max, and Werner. Max is Jewish - and while that doesn't matter at first, Hannah and Werner join the Hitler Youth in order to become pilots. Their relationship begins to strain from then on.

One thing that made the book highly enjoyable was the art. Alain Henriet excels at drawing machinery, aircraft, vehicles, and architecture. Don't get me wrong, his figure work and nature drawings are great as well, but when you see the detail on some of the planes and - as we go further into the story - the experimental vehicles, the art brings the story to life, and that's do to Henriet's artwork.

This was an interesting story that grabs you right from this first volume. Definitely check this out if you like stories more personal stories on how the war changed everything.
Profile Image for Bulent.
997 reviews64 followers
December 20, 2022
Yine sağlam bir Fransız çizgi romanı. Naziler iktidara gelirken Silezya'da, uçma hayalleri kuran ikisi Alman biri Yahudi üç çocuğun, ilerleyen yıllarda savaşın farklı cephelerinde biraraya gelmesi ile sonuçlanan güzel bir hikayesi var çizgi romanın.

Çizgilerin gücü ve renklendirmenin katkısı, hikayeyi biraz daha yukarı taşıyor elbette. Gerçek karakterlerin katılımı ile havada geçen düello gibi "dogfight"lar da heyecanı arttırıyor.

Profile Image for Daniel López.
Author 2 books14 followers
September 3, 2017
Como comienzo de la historia tiene un buen sentido del ritmo y de dejar bien plantados todos los elementos de la historia. Aún no genial, eso sí. El dibujo es simple, limpio y muy correcto aunque a veces carece de fuerza e impacto. Le pondría 3,5 estrellas pero no se puede. Un comienzo prometedor.
Profile Image for Celo.
204 reviews8 followers
June 7, 2022
C'est mon seconde comix lis en Francais, et mon premiere review ecrit in cet langue. J'aime le plot-twist a la fin, mais le author pourrait meilleur penser au placement des fenetres pour cela soit choquant.
Profile Image for Erika HerO✨.
456 reviews15 followers
October 24, 2023
¡Al fin encontré este tomo!
Me leí los #6 faltándome le primero pero la historia se entendió a la perfección.
Ahora se entendió del porque a Max lo tratan de traidor.

Profile Image for Eric.
465 reviews11 followers
December 29, 2020
Excellent cartooning and accuracy in rendering the M 163, Corsair and B-17’s depicted. The story line, particularly Max being beat up regardless of his heroism, is hard to believe.
Profile Image for Wren.
982 reviews4 followers
July 11, 2022
Interesting story about world war 2. Will continue the series
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews

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