Bastard

by Max de Radiguès

After taking part in a historic heist — 52 simultaneous robberies at the same time, in the same city — May and Eugene are now on the run not only from the law and double-crossed former accomplices, but also their violent past. What makes these criminals so surprising is that they are a young mother and her preteen son. Thus begins the intense, yet touching, Bastard, Max de Radiguès’s Fantagraphics debut and a book already nominated for the prestigious noir award at the 2018 Angoulême International Comics Festival. Bastard traces the deadly escape of May and Eugene as they crisscross the United States, encountering mysterious truckers, ambitious bandits, and senior citizens living off the grid in the Southwest. The duo race to get to their stolen cash and simply survive as masterful flashbacks clue us into how they got into this deadly situation in the first place. Both bloody and tender, de Radiguès focuses on the familial relationship as much as the exhilarating plot elements, and his clear-lined style adds depth to the brutality as well as the moments of maternal love. Full of plot twists and high tension, Bastard is a hard-boiled page-turner introducing an adolescent anti-hero that you’re sure not to forget. (less)

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

174 pages, Paperback

First published June 7, 2017

Reviews

[Skye Kilaen]

DANG I was impressed with this! When I saw it was about the aftermath of "a historic heist — 52 simultaneous robberies at the same time, in the same city" I was in, but I guess I didn't read the rest of the blurb because I wasn't at all ready for the emotional depth, mother-son bond, and the wallop of a family secret at the end. Really good stuff, very human amidst all the crime, violence, and bad decisions.

[Dave Schaafsma]

Bastard is alt crime comix something along the lines of Charles Forman (I Am Not Okay with This; The End of the Fucking World). It's crime comix with the heart of Jim Harrison and Larry McMurtry. It is not slick or polished in the Big House style. It feels and is hand drawn and gritty and woHe also wrote Moose, a beautiful and disturbing little book I read and loved a couple years ago.
You know road heist stories that often focus on young people--Bonnie and Clyde, Billy the Kid--and stories of father-son road criminals--The Road to Perdition, Criminal, Volume 7: Wrong Place, Wrong Time by Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips, Lone Wolf and Cub--but this one is a mother-son tale.

A crime syndicate pulls off some epic series of heists, but the focus is not on the crimes, but on the mother-son relationship, with a twist in the story I was not entirely prepared for. There are turns within the story that show his savvy at exploring the genre, too. Oh, it has the requisite violence, but this is a cold noir story with a heart.

My review of volume 7 of Criminal by Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillip, which features a father-son road crime story with a heart:

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Rod Brown]

A tight and tidy little crime noir about a big score gone wrong replaces the usual tough guy protagonist with a single mother and her young son who are no less hardboiled. The creator uses some of the cliches of the genre, but his leads are quite engaging and keep breaking things in exciting ways.

I was surprised to find after the fact that I've actually read two other books by Max de Radigues: Weegee and Moose. This book is far better than either of those, though the latter had some oddly compelling aspects too.

[Elizabeth A]

This graphic novel is a fast paced, plot driven heist yarn. Unlike usual stories in this genre, this one features a mother and son on the run after a heist. But this isn't an ordinary heist, it's part of a crime spree that involved "52 simultaneous robberies at the same time, in the same city. "

I liked the black and white sketchy art - though didn't love it. I really liked the unusual cast of characters, but the pacing felt too rushed for me, and I'd have loved more background. There are some touching moments, and there are scenes that reminded me of The Sarah Connor Chronicles -the version with Lena Headey aka Cersei of GOT - so that was fun. The unexpected ending was a nice touch, but overall I was left wanting more.

[Karl]

de Radigues is a seriously great cartoonist. Much the same as his book Moose, this book has a well developed plot and a surprise twist. No spoilers ! Also, the art is great. I’d love to see this made into a film.

[Loz]

I liked it pretty good. Art is clear, with expressive lines. Story is good, but ending felt very abrupt. It was a window to a world that was too fast and left me wanting more but disgruntledly so. I wanted to like it more.

[Yehia Shehata]

قصة مشوقة ولطيفة. فيها اكشن ومشاعر، وكم غير قليل من العري الذي تم حجبه في هذا الطبعة 😁 ولكن هذا غير مؤثر على الاستمتاع. الرسوم بسيطة لكنها معبرة وفيها اجزاء مؤثرة، و في لوحة معينة على صفحتين مبهرة ومفاجأة. عندي فضول لقراءة المزيد من أعمال المؤلف. وكالعادة كل التشجيع لدار المحروسة على توفير قصص مصورة للكبار

[Rick Ray]

A blend of crime fiction with slice-of-life, Bastard follows the adventures of a young mother named April, or possibly May, and her son, Eugene, who are currently on the run. April was once part of a crime syndicate of thieves but for reasons to be revealed, April is avoiding her old gang. The story is pretty easy to follow and paced with immense momentum to keep the action-packed narrative moving along, but at its core, Bastard really is about the tender moments between the action. Max de Radiguès navigates these touching moments of quiet well enough to earn the slice-of-life distinction, but I do think the characterization of Eugene and April could have been deepened to better land the emotional punches.

The artwork by de Radiguès is very expressive and direct - nothing about the story felt obscured by the illustrations. That said, the rather simple artwork felt a little too uninteresting to me - and for a story that already felt quite vanilla this resulted in an further muted impact overall on me. I enjoyed Bastard for what it was - a high-octane plot-driven crime caper - but the overall package still felt a bit lacking overall.

[Przemysław Skoczyński]

Dynamiczny i trzymający w napięciu komiks, czerpiący z całej tradyci opowieści drogi i kryminału. Dwójka bohaterów, których relacje okazują sie bardziej skomplikowane niż się na początku wydaje, zakakujący twist w końcówce oraz surowość i oszczędność środków godna Forsmana (jego rekomendacja zdobi tył okładki). To wszystko wystarczy, by z czystym sumieniem polecić.

[Shourya Gupta]

3.75
nice quick read almost 4 star but it was kinda too short

[abby]

pretty good i suppose! the ending wasn’t what i expected at all, i wish it was longer and more fleshed out :( but the story and the characters were fun!

[Alanoud Talal]

هيا القصة حلوة بس حسيتها مختصرة او يمكن تكون سلسلة مدري لانو احس في شي ناقص ماحسيتها قصة مكتملة الاركان

تنبيه احسها +١٨

[Dean Simons]

I can’t think of anything that could have made this work better. It is wonderful.

[Twitchmatic]

An unexpectedly captivating story with technically amazing framework and storytelling.

[Alasondro Alegré]

★★★½

[Laura]

TODO EN ESTA VIDA ME RECUERDA A LIFE IS STRANGE.

[José Pascual]

La clave para comprender Bastardo en toda su dimensión se encuentra en los agradecimientos que Max DeRadiguès dedica al final de la obra. En ellos, se citan nombres como Jim Harrison, Richard Ford o Larry McMurtry. Todos ellos son novelistas americanos que de una u otra manera han conformado un retrato global de América, esa América infinita cuyo rostro ha sido plasmado en innumerables producciones cinematográficas posteriormente. Max de Radiguès, pese a haber nacido en Bélgica, demuestra la universalidad de ese espíritu americano al captar perfectamente su esencia y trasladarla, con su propio estilo, al medio del cómic.

En «Bastardo» asistimos a una perpetua huida. Los protagonistas son May y Eugene, una joven madre y su hijo adolescente, que viven en constante movimiento debido a su profesión. Son ladrones, y se han visto involucrados en un gran y multitudinario robo. Muchos de los participantes en el golpe están siendo eliminados, y este particular dúo se ve obligado a mantenerse en guardia y escapar al mínimo indicio de sospecha. Así arranca «Bastardo», una verdadera joya del independiente europeo que Max de Radiguès publicó originalmente en una serie de minicómics, y que fueron recopilados por Fantagraphics en octubre de 2018, y que ahora Dibbuks pone a disposición de los lectores españoles. Para poner la obra en antecedentes, hay que decir que «Bastardo» fue nominado en 2018 al mejor cómic en la sección Polar del prestigioso festival de Angoulême.

Reseña completa en "Heraldos de Galactus": https://heraldodegalactus.com/2019/02...

[Mark Schlatter]

This is a heart warming graphic novel that features a young mother and her son on the run from the police after a huge heist *and* nudity and violence. And I just really, really liked it. de Radiguès uses a simple cartoony style to communicate revenge, hope, humor, and change, and his depictions of Eugene (the pre-teen boy) are just staggering at times. He shows Eugene as a son who is all in on whatever his mother is planning, even if it's dangerous, and there are panels showing him face on that just scream innocence. At the same time, de Radiguès never shies away from the sex and gunplay that are part of May's (the mother's) world. It's not a mixture that should work, and yet it does wonderfully.

[Altan]

This book is a case study in how to make an empathetic character that still does really bad things. April / May, a member of an organized crime ring, creates a scheme to try and escape the ring, while bringing her son Eugene along with the ride. Relating to April / May has definitely been a weird experience, but one that I thoroughly enjoyed.

[Rey]

Compelling storytelling.

Seemingly innocuous and simply drawn panels and dialogue, which switch to reveal a sudden plot twist just by the actions.

This is done multiple times over the story which is brilliantly done.

It gets abit graphic, which is unexpected. But overall, its some very good storytelling.

[Connor]

This was a fun adventure. It takes place right after a heist. I would have liked to see the heist, but it was still an exciting journey. I did not expect the twist at the end.
I liked the cartoony artwork.

Read for a graphic novel book club.

[kosi]

AAA CARTOON PP AAA

[Mohammad Saad]

পেজ টার্নার একটা বই। পুরোটাই রহস্য আর সাসপেন্স নির্ভর। শেষটায় এসে আবার জীবনবোধও ফুটে উঠেছে। সবমিলিয়ে ভালো লাগল।

[amanda]

Good story. Some things were unnecessary. This would be a good movie

[Carmen]

Eugene me ha robado el corazón. Ha estado divertida esta historia.

[Kandice]

This was a quick, clever caper story with the added depth of a relationship that isn't what it seems at first.

[Debra Golden]

I flew through this one and look forward t the next, because how it ended can't be the end.

[Mathoux]

sympa

[Mati]

Cool I guess 🤷‍♀️

[Fr. Andrew]

Beautiful, strange, moving.