Ćao, đaci!

by Wilfrid Lupano, Rodguen (Illustrator), Željka Somun (Translator)

Već mjesec dana jutarnju kavu ispijam u kafiću Sport, pokraj Bernarda. On je zaštitar blindiranog vozila…

Bernard je moja karta za Trope. Jednog lijepog dana čvrsto sam i neopozivo odlučio da ću se domoći love iz njegovog kamiona i ćao đaci!… I tog dana moj se život iz temelja promijenio.

Genres: Bande Dessinée, Comics, Graphic Novels, Crime, Fiction, France

128 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2013

About the author

Wilfrid Lupano is a French comics writer. Born in Nantes, he spent most of his childhood in Pau. Growing up, he buried himself in his parents’ comics-book collection, and his wild imagination and interest in writing stems from a love of role-playing games.

As a young adult Lupano worked as a server to finance his studies in philosophy and English. With his friends and creative partners, Roland Pignault and Fred Campoy, he created the humorous western Little Big Joe, among other works.

Reviews

[Jon Nakapalau · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very original 'armored car heist' story that takes several sharp turns - great summer read! Crime GN are really getting better and better; there are lots of very fine artists/writers that are bringing back this genre. After the 50's (and the persecution of EC Comics) crime stories just faded away. Glad to see a new generation embrace the new stories!

[Chad · Rating 2 out of 5]

The story of a deadbeat guy who plans to rob an armored car to finance a trip to Senegal to see the child and woman he left behind. He's convinced himself he's not doing anything wrong because he's stealing from the bank. The problem is he's a huge screw up and his cohort is worse. This thing just dragged on and on. We get pointless backstories that never go anywhere for every character we come across. The book would have been much better if the author had skipped the first half of the book. The art was very good though.

Received a review copy from Lion Forge and NetGalley. All thoughts are my own and in no way influenced by the aforementioned.

[James DeSantis · Rating 2 out of 5]

This about a guy trying to figure out how to set up a hiest so he can go back to be with the girl of his dreams after leaving her while she was preggo. Honestly, the idea is great, but the storytelling drags and drags with nothing really happening. I wish I could recommend this but it's a boring storyline, with a somewhat happy ending, that didn't feel earned. I can't give this much higher than a 2 out of 5. Art is solid enough.

[Etienne · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not really for me. It wasn't that bad, but I didn't like the illustrations, the characters or the story, so definitely not my style. Some my like it... but I didn't!

[Václav · Rating 4 out of 5]

(3,9 for 5 for nice "heist but not heist" comics)
I had second thoughts when I saw the rating here on GR. It's in a spectrum of doubts - not that high to be in promising but not that bad to a high probability of shitty comics. But I tried it anyway. Well, it has all usual aspect of "life-descriptive" Europe comics and that's the slippery ground for common comic readers. It starts slowly, but it has tendencies to throw you right in the story. That can be a bit confusing for a while, maybe even annoying. Counting in that overall pace is kind of slow too. But the story is interesting and I got into it after a while and after that, I started to enjoy it. Because it's good. Well-built, well pointed towards final denouement and overall enjoyable. And that denouement is really good, but I won't spoil here.
The art is fine, the European traits are present for better or worse. It didn't annoy me, but it's nothing I would admire and that's fine. Not that important for this kind of stories.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall this was a very enjoyable read. Author Wilfred Lupano has written what, at first glance, might appear to be a heist story. Vincent and Gaby are an unlikely pair who have teamed up to rob an armoured bank truck. But as the story develops it becomes much more complex than this and the story of the robbery really becomes more incidental to a story about personal relationships in general, and about fathers and sons in particular. Vincent narrates the story, which works well in general, but the device of having him be aware he is the narrator of a story was less successfully used. There are also a few sections of the story where Vincent fills us in on his background and that of other characters, which I would have liked to have been a bit more extended with more dialogue and less narration. But overall the story is strong and well constructed.

The art work of Rodguen (Rodolphe Guenoden) is exceptionally good. His drawings of people have a perfect balance of realism and caricature. The backgrounds and frame composition are detailed and dynamic. There are a few brief sections where there are a number of panels in a row without any words (most notably, the scene where Bernard arrives at Ludo's apartment and the scene where Ludo's mother receives the news of what has happened). The artwork is so well done we not only don't need words to know exactly what is going on, but it heightens the emotional impact. But the best section artistically is the use of the jigsaw puzzle motif when relating Bernard's backstory. It's visually a brilliant choice.

The work of colourist Ohazar is also worthy of a comment. The colouring does an amazing job of highlighting aspects of individual panels. The variety of palettes used for different scenes and purposes is remarkable and contributes a great deal to the overall effect of the storytelling. The visual impact of the colours is quite impressive.

[Dario Malic · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ćao, đaci! je jedan vrlo neobičan strip. Priča o mladom francuzu koji, da bi se pridružio djevojci i sinu u Senegalu i osigurao im budućnost, odlučuje zajedno sa svojim otkačenim i pomalo neuravnoteženim prijateljem opljačkati zaštitarski kombi, iako prilično konvencionalno ispričana, ispala je znatno drugačija od onog što sam očekivao. Lupanovi likovi iznenađujuće su trodimenzionalni i stvarni a ono što im se događa, koliko god na trenutke bilo malo vjerojatno, lako je zamislivo. Na prvi pogled jednostavna priča počinje se razvijati u (meni) potpuno nepredvidivom smjeru, a najveći šok mi je donio kontrast između pretežno humorističnog tona te njemu odgovarajućeg, pomalo karikaturalnog i vrlo šareno obojanog crteža i nekih prilično potresnih i za likove izuzetno traumatičnih događaja. Iako navedeno neosporno izaziva efekt kod čitatelja, po meni previše strši te čini strip loše izbalansiranim, što smatram minusom. Slično se može reći i za prilično banalan način na koji Lupano priču privodi kraju i koji još jednom u meni budi oprečne osjećaje. Naime, ono što glavni lik napravi na kraju upravo je ono što je i trebao napraviti - što je dobro i donosi nekakvu satisfakciju, problem je što je to mogao i trebao napraviti još na početku - u kojem slučaju stripa ne bi ni bilo te sve što se u međuvremenu dogodilo ispada potpuno nebitno, ili ne? Možda nam Lupano zapravo želi poručiti da je ponekad potrebno proći kroz razna sranja da bi shvatili ono što je bilo očito od početka. Nisam siguran je li to točno kao niti je li to uopće autorova poruka, zapravo jedino u što sam siguran u vezi ovog stripa je da mi nije žao što sam ga pročitao.

[Dakota Morgan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Curtain Call is the epitome of a shaggy dog story, a wandering tale of two criminals who never manage much crime. It's funny, the art is stellar, and it's heart is in the right place. Sure, it awkwardly plays off racism and homophobia for laughs. Sure, it shows an unnecessary number of boobs. Sure, the looping, flashback strewn tale can be hard to follow. But it's got heart.

Vincent, the worldweary narrator, is desperate to make a quick buck so he can get back to Senegal, where his beach party mistress is raising their newborn child. He's partnered with Gaby, the racist, homophobic drunk who's got a delightfully rockabilly sense of style. Together, they're planning to steal an armored truck and spirit the money away to Africa. Numerous flashbacks explain Vincent's dark family past, and we also get a glimpse into Bernard's life, the driver of the armored truck. None of these side stories quite provide the reason for stealing an armored truck. Not to worry, though, because the robbery is something of a red herring as various surprising twists take our characters to an unexpected and oddly rewarding conclusion.

Curtain Call can shift quickly between darkness and light - jumping from Vincent's grim grandparents to Gaby in a drunken rant, peeing wherever's handy. It's not the tidiest story, but the mess is part of the appeal. Like any good shaggy dog story, Curtain Call keeps your attention and doesn't let you down for your time spent listening.

[Paula Lyle · Rating 3 out of 5]

OK, these are probably the stupidest 2 people ever, but one of them is lucky so it works out in the end and actually becomes a pleasant read. You have to get to the very end though, in my opinion, so don't give up early. I really liked the artwork, very gritty.

I received a eARC from NetGalley.

[Lili Aurelie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Très belle surprise pour une bd prise un peu au hasard à la bibliothèque. Une histoire truculente et parfois émouvante pour une narration originale. Le tout fait mouche !

[Mathieu · Rating 4 out of 5]

Très bon scénarion, bien ficelé, un style graphique qui colle parfaitement à l'ambiance et des personnages fichtrement humains : voilà une BD qui prend les codes du polar pour distiller -- comme dans tout bon polar qui se respecte -- un propos social rarement vu, pour le coup, en BD.

[Magali · Rating 5 out of 5]

Une bonne BD avec une histoire prenante et des personnages très humains. J'ai beaucoup aimé le style du dessinateur, et ai apprécié cette histoire qui est bien plus chargée d'émotions qu'on aurait pu l'imaginer. Une vraie petite perle.

[Dave Neary · Rating 5 out of 5]

A surprising, touching, very human story about two would-be bank robbers who plan to hold up an armoured van. Given the premise, this story had surprising depth. Highly recommended.

[Komuniststar · Rating 2 out of 5]

Rodguenov crtež mi se svidja, priča je ok, malo akcije, malo socijale, zrno humora, sve zajedno bilo je to ugodno čitalačko iskustvo koje je završilo sa zatvaranjem korica.

[Paul Franco · Rating 2 out of 5]

French guy wants to get back to the woman and child he abandoned during a trip to Africa, so he plans an armored car heist with possibly the one person the least in contact with reality in the whole world.
This story feels like it could have been told a lot quicker if it wasn’t for all the frequent asides and explanations as to why things are the way they are. The narrator mentions the armored car robbery he’s planning, but nothing happens for the first half, other than long justifications as to why everyone is racist and/or a homophobe. And that’s only a few of the ways this gets so depressing. Plus I really hated the ending; why didn’t he just do that in the first place?
I’ve read a couple of others by this author, and while it feels like the same kind of narrative, this time it’s even more so. The artwork is of a kind as well, which on the one hand makes it consistent but on the other means the books are not getting better.

[Wayne McCoy · Rating 4 out of 5]

'Curtain Call' by Wilfrid Lupano with art by Rodolphe Guenoden is a graphic novel about a couple guys planning a heist.

Vincent left a woman he loved and their newborn child in a faraway country, but he's got a plan to get back to them. It involves an unstable friend named Gaby Rocket and the heist of an armored car. Vincent has thought it all out, and it will be a non-violent act in the style of Robin Hood. Nothing can possibly go wrong, can it?

The characters were flawed in believable and sympathetic ways. There are some twists along the way, and I did really like this story. The art is quite good too.

I received a review copy of this graphic novel from Lion Forge, Diamond Book Distributors, and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this graphic novel.

[Meghan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Curtain Call reminded me what if the cast of aqua teen hunger force were in human form? That is the exact vibe I got while reading this graphic novel. Some pages though were a little risque and adult rated so I would say probably not for the young teens and geared more towards the adults. However, the storyline pulled you in and you could not stop reading to see what happens next.

Thank you NetGalley and Diamond Books for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. We will consider this title for our adult graphic novels collection in our library. That is why we give this book 3 stars.

[Theediscerning · Rating 1 out of 5]

Nah. Messy crime saga designed to get a rise out of anyone who dislikes non-PC language. Unattractive design, a host of unattractive characters, and not enough in the way of interesting story. This author can give us marvels – but nothing here is anything like.

[Macqueron · Rating 3 out of 5]

D’un polar social qui oscille entre le classique et l’humoristique, l’auteur finit par sortir quelque de olus humain et personnel qu’attendu. Seul regret: les dessins fonctionnent parfois mais n’ont pas toujours la fluidité qu’il aurait fallu

[Francis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Solid but ultimately inconsequential story which will be forgotten quickly. Lupano has an interesting way with words which makes his work worthwhile to be read.

[Aurore · Rating 3 out of 5]

Un peu de mal avec les perso mais le scénario était cool et bien amené.

[Ethan Aegon · Rating 4 out of 5]

C'est un looser gauchiste qui a la bonne idée de s'associer avec un mec encore plus paumé dans une histoire de non braquage qui fleure bon les années 90

J'ai pris cette BD au hasard à la bibliothèque sur la seule foi de l'auteur et n'ai pas été déçu. L'histoire commence comme une histoire de braquage qui bien entendu tournera mal mais d'une manière originale, délaissant l'action à l'émotion. Les personnages sont assez caricaturaux mais l'auteur est assez malin pour l'avouer et prendre du recul sur ses stéréotypes. Le dessin est à la hauteur de ce qu'on pouvait attendre

[Lea · Rating 3 out of 5]

Un type un peu looser veut faire un braquage pour aller retrouver sa famille. Seulement cela ne se passe pas comme son associé et lui se l'étaient imaginés...
Un scénario digne de Lupano, bien accroché sur l'illustration, mais pour moi la fin est un peu trop idéale.. Une bonne lecture tout de même !

[Charlène · Rating 4 out of 5]

Belle révérence, en effet!

[J.D. DeHart · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cinematic and gritty, this book works like a bullet-riddled blaze. Both the art and story work well together.