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Tardi's WWI: It Was the War of the Trenches/Goddamn This War Gift Box Set
Jacques Tardi is responsible for two acknowledged graphic novel masterpieces about World War I: It Was the War of the Trenches and Goddamn This War! To honor the 100th anniversary in 2014 of WWI, Fantagraphics is proud to release a two-volume boxed set collecting these two perennial classics. The first book, It Was the War of the Trenches, focuses on the day to day of the grunts in the trenches, bringing that existence alive as no one has before or since with some of his most stunning artwork. His second WWI masterwork, Goddamn This War!, is told with a sustained sense of outrage, pitch-black gallows humor, and impeccably scrupulous historical exactitude, in masterful full color.
- GenresComicsGraphic NovelsWar
260 pages, Paperback
First published September 10, 2014
4 people are currently reading
79 people want to read
About the author
Jacques Tardi
297 books212 followersJacques 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_...
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_...
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
November 1, 2023
Like most, I grew up with a LOT of WWII media and discussion. I haven't been exposed to a lot of coverage from WWI, though that's mostly due to me simply not searching it out. However, if this comic is at all representative, I'd wager it's also largely because this is simply a tougher war to romanticize. I have no doubt that Tardi's look at the Great War is far from complete, but it paints one hell of a picture.
Telling the story of WWI through mostly unrelated vignettes is a powerful choice. It's just one depressing story after another. It never feels gratuitous though; instead this is a story full of humanity, though it's one with very little redemption and even less hope. The only possible takeaway from reading this is "...why?" which I see as exactly the point Tardi is trying to make.
Both volumes of the story are fantastic, and you can see Tardi's growth as a storyteller with each chapter, which were originally released across several years. The second volume, with added color, stands out as a major improvement, telling the story of the entire war through one man's eyes, but still touching the wide range of affected people throughout society as the narrator bounces from place to place and person to person. The simple 3-panel layout that runs through the majority of both books underlines the bleak outlook of the war, and the occasional break from that format with more interesting paneling allows Tardi to highlight various moments.
A comic book might feel like an insufficient medium for a dive into WWI, but Tardi has a control over the form that justifies the format despite the serious subject matter. The box set is also beautifully presented - like everything from Fantagraphics - but I'm sure the work shines in any format.
Telling the story of WWI through mostly unrelated vignettes is a powerful choice. It's just one depressing story after another. It never feels gratuitous though; instead this is a story full of humanity, though it's one with very little redemption and even less hope. The only possible takeaway from reading this is "...why?" which I see as exactly the point Tardi is trying to make.
Both volumes of the story are fantastic, and you can see Tardi's growth as a storyteller with each chapter, which were originally released across several years. The second volume, with added color, stands out as a major improvement, telling the story of the entire war through one man's eyes, but still touching the wide range of affected people throughout society as the narrator bounces from place to place and person to person. The simple 3-panel layout that runs through the majority of both books underlines the bleak outlook of the war, and the occasional break from that format with more interesting paneling allows Tardi to highlight various moments.
A comic book might feel like an insufficient medium for a dive into WWI, but Tardi has a control over the form that justifies the format despite the serious subject matter. The box set is also beautifully presented - like everything from Fantagraphics - but I'm sure the work shines in any format.
July 4, 2022
Definitely one of the best box sets published by Fantagraphics if not THE best.
April 16, 2015
Possibly even more emotionally affecting than Charley's War, this is an amazing collection of stories told from the point of view of WWI soldiers. Brutal, human, and very sad.
August 8, 2016
Incredible, thought-provoking, disturbing, powerful graphic novel about WWI.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews