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Hard Case Crime Comics #12
The Czech Coup
A former actress and spy, Elizabeth Montagu, is tasked with guiding British author Graham Greene around postwar Vienna, as he conducts research for a screenplay. However, the visit of “G.,” a former spy himself, soon proves to be just as mysterious as his best-selling thrillers, winding through Vienna’s shadowy underground before leading to a Prague on the cusp of revolution…
106 pages, Kindle Edition
First published April 14, 2017
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 33 reviews
March 12, 2018
Thank you to Net Galley for a free copy of this book in trade for an honest review.
It’s a heavy read, especially if you are not interested in the post war history. This comic requires a bit of understanding of who’s who and what’s what. Not an easy read, something that you really need to study and might need at least twice to read before really understand the story.
Setting in the post WW II, the story follows the story of former spies who turned into writers and reporter or club owner. There are many characters that I don’t understand and not recognize. But I’m not a big fan of WWII history, so it might also be because of that.
Illustration style is quite ok, with the water color effect and the brownish color tone. It really set the mood of the gloom and mysterious story. What I don’t like is the lack of expression on the character drawings. It’s like every character wear the same gloomy expression. Even when they visit the club, there’s no joy or lust. It’s weird. It’s like reading a mannequin in paper.
Recommend for those who like the post WW II history, gloomy and mysterious characters.
It’s a heavy read, especially if you are not interested in the post war history. This comic requires a bit of understanding of who’s who and what’s what. Not an easy read, something that you really need to study and might need at least twice to read before really understand the story.
Setting in the post WW II, the story follows the story of former spies who turned into writers and reporter or club owner. There are many characters that I don’t understand and not recognize. But I’m not a big fan of WWII history, so it might also be because of that.
Illustration style is quite ok, with the water color effect and the brownish color tone. It really set the mood of the gloom and mysterious story. What I don’t like is the lack of expression on the character drawings. It’s like every character wear the same gloomy expression. Even when they visit the club, there’s no joy or lust. It’s weird. It’s like reading a mannequin in paper.
Recommend for those who like the post WW II history, gloomy and mysterious characters.
April 19, 2021
This graphic novel does something quite interesting -- it draws upon true events and biographical details of the writer Graham Greene (and others) and creates a wholly plausible speculative story around his trip to Vienna in 1948 to research the script for the film "The Third Man." There have been several recent biographies of Greene and the version of him portrayed here does not shy away from his real-life appetite for drink and prostitutes. He also worked for British intelligence during World War II, and the plot here revolves around him possibly continuing that work while in a Vienna occupied by four powers (America, England, France, and the Soviet Union).
The story opens with him arriving in Vienna, where the real-life former OSS agent Elizabeth Montagu meets him to act as his guide/fixer, and also serve as narrator for the story. (It's worth saying that if you haven't seen "The Third Man", you should probably see it before reading the book. I had seen it years ago, then read this book, then watched the film and reread the book.) Greene's travels around Vienna lead to all kinds of ideas that make it into the film, and it's fun to spot them as they arrive (my favorite is the film's balloon-seller who appears in the background of one of the panels).
As someone who reads a lot of graphic novels, I should point out that the artwork is quite special and distinctive. The artist specializes in pastels and/or charcoal with digital colorization. I'm not really sure which technique was used here, but it's a very good fit for the time period depicted. The story is quite convoluted, with CIA and Soviet agents running around, and it's all a little ornate. There is one major plot hole -- Greene has a notebook that people are trying to get, and at one point Montagu has it, has ample time to look through it, and doesn't -- which makes zero sense in the context of the story. Aside from that, it's a pretty good ride through the early Cold War espionage and film history, well worth checking by readers with those interests.
The story opens with him arriving in Vienna, where the real-life former OSS agent Elizabeth Montagu meets him to act as his guide/fixer, and also serve as narrator for the story. (It's worth saying that if you haven't seen "The Third Man", you should probably see it before reading the book. I had seen it years ago, then read this book, then watched the film and reread the book.) Greene's travels around Vienna lead to all kinds of ideas that make it into the film, and it's fun to spot them as they arrive (my favorite is the film's balloon-seller who appears in the background of one of the panels).
As someone who reads a lot of graphic novels, I should point out that the artwork is quite special and distinctive. The artist specializes in pastels and/or charcoal with digital colorization. I'm not really sure which technique was used here, but it's a very good fit for the time period depicted. The story is quite convoluted, with CIA and Soviet agents running around, and it's all a little ornate. There is one major plot hole -- Greene has a notebook that people are trying to get, and at one point Montagu has it, has ample time to look through it, and doesn't -- which makes zero sense in the context of the story. Aside from that, it's a pretty good ride through the early Cold War espionage and film history, well worth checking by readers with those interests.
November 1, 2020
3,5 estrellas.
Mezcla personajes reales con una ficción tan bien documentada que resulta muy plausible. Realmente no es imprescindible saber nada de Graham Greene ni de Elizabeth Montagu para disfrutar de este cómic, que se lee y se ve como una película clásica de espionaje. Pero conocer el trasfondo de esta historia, y muy especialmente de los personajes, es muy recomendable para sacarle todo el jugo. Para ello, Fromental incluye al final de este libro un «dossier Greene» con bastante información (incluida una bibliografía) y su personal hipótesis sobre el verdadero significado del guión para El tercer hombre.
(Veo que este cómic sigue la vieja tradición de «los personajes femeninos tienen que enseñar las tetas». Da igual que seas una aventurera aristócrata inglesa que una refugiada checa: tienes-que-enseñar-las-tetas.)
Mezcla personajes reales con una ficción tan bien documentada que resulta muy plausible. Realmente no es imprescindible saber nada de Graham Greene ni de Elizabeth Montagu para disfrutar de este cómic, que se lee y se ve como una película clásica de espionaje. Pero conocer el trasfondo de esta historia, y muy especialmente de los personajes, es muy recomendable para sacarle todo el jugo. Para ello, Fromental incluye al final de este libro un «dossier Greene» con bastante información (incluida una bibliografía) y su personal hipótesis sobre el verdadero significado del guión para El tercer hombre.
(Veo que este cómic sigue la vieja tradición de «los personajes femeninos tienen que enseñar las tetas». Da igual que seas una aventurera aristócrata inglesa que una refugiada checa: tienes-que-enseñar-las-tetas.)
March 14, 2020
"He betrayed his country—yes, perhaps he did, but who among us has not committed treason to something or someone more important than a country?"
Author Graham Greene travels to Vienna in the winter of 1948 to do research for his screenplay The Third Man, but the trip is also a cover for a covert mission. Greene, who served in MI6, is also investigating a "high ranking bureaucrat" in British Intelligence named Harpo.
His London Films escort in the city is Elizabeth Montagu who used to work for the OSS and still picks up assignments from her old bosses from time to time. She is charged to follow Greene and aid her local CIA contact as needed.
Hard Case Crime has done it again-- this graphic novel is ambitious, multilayered, beautiful, and literate. It not only tells an exciting story--a blend of historical fact and fiction--but it also deals sensitively with human frailty, loyalty, and conscience.
The real-life Graham Greene was a hard-drinking, womanizing spy-turned-writer who had a strange and fluctuating relationship with Catholicism, communism, and patriotism. His life and personality provide the gist for this engrossing mystery.
This story works on two levels. First, it is a compelling spy thriller that is in fact even better than its source of inspiration. It is The Third Man in color, with spicy sex scenes, and with the budget for a third act set in Prague against the backdrop of the fall of the Czech government-- "the last breach in Mr. Churchill's dear iron curtain."
Readers should come to this story armed with a passing knowledge of the life of Kim Philby, the real life British spy-turned-double agent who foiled Operation Valkyrie. This stratagem prolonged the war by one year, giving the Soviets time to arrive in Berlin at approximately the same time as British and American armies, thus setting the stage for the divisions of Europe in the Cold War. Philby was a lifelong friend of Graham Greene, even after he defected to the USSR for the remaining 20 years of his life.
This story also works in the context of the Third Man film. Readers should watch the movie or read the novella if they want to catch all the references. (I recommend the novella because its best scene did not make it into the film. It was the sequence where the four peacekeepers--a Brit, an American, a Frenchman, and a Russian--arrest Anna for false papers. It sublimely captured each country's personality, and it highlighted the difficulties of jointly ruling a conquered city.)
Graham's fictional adventure furnishes him with all the elements that end up in his screenplay: the Sacher hotel, the British Council book club, the black market, jackhammering graves in the ice, the penicillin racket, foot chases down cobblestone streets, underground sewers, the Oriental, the Ferris wheel, a man run down by a car, even the café on Hoher Markt where Inspector Calloway set his final trap for Harry Lime.
Author Jean-Luc Fromental provides an essay on how real life and fiction intersected to create this tale. I was amazed how much of this story was true, and how much could easily have happened just the way it is portrayed here. The only concrete liberty he took was in Elizabeth Montagu's love scene. In history, she is widely believed to have lived a completely celibate life until she married at the age of 52.
Author Graham Greene travels to Vienna in the winter of 1948 to do research for his screenplay The Third Man, but the trip is also a cover for a covert mission. Greene, who served in MI6, is also investigating a "high ranking bureaucrat" in British Intelligence named Harpo.
His London Films escort in the city is Elizabeth Montagu who used to work for the OSS and still picks up assignments from her old bosses from time to time. She is charged to follow Greene and aid her local CIA contact as needed.
Hard Case Crime has done it again-- this graphic novel is ambitious, multilayered, beautiful, and literate. It not only tells an exciting story--a blend of historical fact and fiction--but it also deals sensitively with human frailty, loyalty, and conscience.
The real-life Graham Greene was a hard-drinking, womanizing spy-turned-writer who had a strange and fluctuating relationship with Catholicism, communism, and patriotism. His life and personality provide the gist for this engrossing mystery.
This story works on two levels. First, it is a compelling spy thriller that is in fact even better than its source of inspiration. It is The Third Man in color, with spicy sex scenes, and with the budget for a third act set in Prague against the backdrop of the fall of the Czech government-- "the last breach in Mr. Churchill's dear iron curtain."
Readers should come to this story armed with a passing knowledge of the life of Kim Philby, the real life British spy-turned-double agent who foiled Operation Valkyrie. This stratagem prolonged the war by one year, giving the Soviets time to arrive in Berlin at approximately the same time as British and American armies, thus setting the stage for the divisions of Europe in the Cold War. Philby was a lifelong friend of Graham Greene, even after he defected to the USSR for the remaining 20 years of his life.
This story also works in the context of the Third Man film. Readers should watch the movie or read the novella if they want to catch all the references. (I recommend the novella because its best scene did not make it into the film. It was the sequence where the four peacekeepers--a Brit, an American, a Frenchman, and a Russian--arrest Anna for false papers. It sublimely captured each country's personality, and it highlighted the difficulties of jointly ruling a conquered city.)
Graham's fictional adventure furnishes him with all the elements that end up in his screenplay: the Sacher hotel, the British Council book club, the black market, jackhammering graves in the ice, the penicillin racket, foot chases down cobblestone streets, underground sewers, the Oriental, the Ferris wheel, a man run down by a car, even the café on Hoher Markt where Inspector Calloway set his final trap for Harry Lime.
Author Jean-Luc Fromental provides an essay on how real life and fiction intersected to create this tale. I was amazed how much of this story was true, and how much could easily have happened just the way it is portrayed here. The only concrete liberty he took was in Elizabeth Montagu's love scene. In history, she is widely believed to have lived a completely celibate life until she married at the age of 52.
June 1, 2021
This is an interesting, if sometimes a bit confusing, speculative graphic novel about a couple of weeks in the life of the novelist Graham Greene - when he was in Vienna doing research for his screenplay for the famous movie ¨The Third Man¨ which he also turned into a novel. Greene had worked for British intelligence - MI6 - under the supervision of Kim Philby, who, along with MI6 spooks Burgess and McClean, all later turned out to be Soviet moles. Greene abruptly quit MI6 in 1944 at around the time of D-Day; the book says that later revelations have shown that this was around the time that Nazi officers associated with Operation Valkyrie who were plotting Hitler´s downfall, tried to approach the Allies to effectuate a surrender and thus end the war a year early. According to ¨The Prague Coup¨ Philby managed to squelch the peace overture, possibly by killing the Nazi officer (under some obscure circumstance) thus prolonging the war and thereby allowing the Red Army time to get to Berlin first, even if it meant the deaths of countless more soldiers/civilians in the final year of the war. It somehow reminds me of Nixon´s private diplomacy -- outreach to North Vietnamese gov - convincing them not to agree to a peace deal until he was elected president, so that he could get the credit for ending the war, not the Democrats, even though it meant the war would drag on, costing more lives on both sides.
The drawings in this graphic novel have the burnished look of old enamel plates - with a limited, sepia-based palette, except for depictions of photographs, which are done in grey tones. I did get a bit confused in keeping some of the male characters straight, since they tended to resemble one another - and also thought there could have been more variety in point of view, that is angles of drawings, rather than what amounts to two-shots or scene-setting overall views of cities or depictions of street scenes. The graphic novel is restrained, perhaps intentionally more conventional, in that sense doesn't match the visual originality and starkness of the movie ¨The Third Man.¨
The book contains a number of appended essays which further discuss how the authors arrived at the the possible connections that form the hypothesis of the graphic novel. The idea is Greene was somehow communicating a message to Philby in the film ¨The Third Man" - that he had successfully intercepted and destroyed information that would incriminate Philby as a Soviet spy, or double-agent, because of shared loyalty to higher ideals than the state. The showdown which includes a shoot-out occurs in Prague - while the country was undergoing a revolution in 1948 - which Greene visited after leaving Vienna, ostensibly to meet with the Czech editor of his works. The graphic novel hints that Greene´s editors in both Vienna and Prague were actually part of a shadowy network - spooks of one sort or another, possibly also double-agents and that Greene had more than one purpose in visiting Eastern Europe when he did. Some of the linkages are difficult to prove although the author of the graphic novel certainly has done a lot of research into Greene´s life - including poring over the two definitive biographies of Greene, and consulting numerous memoirs by others who knew Greene, one of the most recent by a fascinating employee of Sir Alexander Korda, the producer who had suggested Greene visit Vienna and write a screenplay set in the then divided city, Elizabeth Montagu, from whose point of view the graphic novel is told. And so the graphic novel puts together shards of information gleaned from accounts of Greene, Green´s bios, the film and novel, to come up with the speculative conclusion that Greene was somehow dispatched to Eastern Europe to find and squelch the release of incriminating information - a file developed by the Abwehr, Nazi intelligence - which could prove, in 1948, that Philby had been recruited by the NKVD in 1934, and that somehow, a number of people associated with Greene in the film and literary world were part of a network who might have been double-agents themselves or ¨Eastern sympathizers¨ collaborating to protect Philby, so that he could continue to betray British intelligence, as he did for decades before he defected to Russia in 1963. This is of course speculative - but nonetheless, the graphic novel is interesting if not intriguing in its thesis that 4 years after Greene quit MI6, the development of the film ¨The Third Man¨ provided the pretext for him to obtain the incriminating file from a contact in Prague and prevent Philby from being exposed as a double-agent. I suppose it´s plausible, but cannot really be proven one way or another. Which is why the graphic novel is fascinating.
A couple of quotes:
From the graphic novel itself:
¨[MP to Ms. Montagu, referring to Baron von Kurtz:] We find him and his peers behind every garbage can in Vienna. The Austro-Hungarian nobility isn't what it used to be.¨
From Fromentier´s essay ¨The Third Man:¨
¨A series of proven facts tends to suggest a secret mission hidden behind [Greene´s] research trip [to Vienna such as] .... the confirmed involvement of Sir Alexander Korda with the world of espionage."
The drawings in this graphic novel have the burnished look of old enamel plates - with a limited, sepia-based palette, except for depictions of photographs, which are done in grey tones. I did get a bit confused in keeping some of the male characters straight, since they tended to resemble one another - and also thought there could have been more variety in point of view, that is angles of drawings, rather than what amounts to two-shots or scene-setting overall views of cities or depictions of street scenes. The graphic novel is restrained, perhaps intentionally more conventional, in that sense doesn't match the visual originality and starkness of the movie ¨The Third Man.¨
The book contains a number of appended essays which further discuss how the authors arrived at the the possible connections that form the hypothesis of the graphic novel. The idea is Greene was somehow communicating a message to Philby in the film ¨The Third Man" - that he had successfully intercepted and destroyed information that would incriminate Philby as a Soviet spy, or double-agent, because of shared loyalty to higher ideals than the state. The showdown which includes a shoot-out occurs in Prague - while the country was undergoing a revolution in 1948 - which Greene visited after leaving Vienna, ostensibly to meet with the Czech editor of his works. The graphic novel hints that Greene´s editors in both Vienna and Prague were actually part of a shadowy network - spooks of one sort or another, possibly also double-agents and that Greene had more than one purpose in visiting Eastern Europe when he did. Some of the linkages are difficult to prove although the author of the graphic novel certainly has done a lot of research into Greene´s life - including poring over the two definitive biographies of Greene, and consulting numerous memoirs by others who knew Greene, one of the most recent by a fascinating employee of Sir Alexander Korda, the producer who had suggested Greene visit Vienna and write a screenplay set in the then divided city, Elizabeth Montagu, from whose point of view the graphic novel is told. And so the graphic novel puts together shards of information gleaned from accounts of Greene, Green´s bios, the film and novel, to come up with the speculative conclusion that Greene was somehow dispatched to Eastern Europe to find and squelch the release of incriminating information - a file developed by the Abwehr, Nazi intelligence - which could prove, in 1948, that Philby had been recruited by the NKVD in 1934, and that somehow, a number of people associated with Greene in the film and literary world were part of a network who might have been double-agents themselves or ¨Eastern sympathizers¨ collaborating to protect Philby, so that he could continue to betray British intelligence, as he did for decades before he defected to Russia in 1963. This is of course speculative - but nonetheless, the graphic novel is interesting if not intriguing in its thesis that 4 years after Greene quit MI6, the development of the film ¨The Third Man¨ provided the pretext for him to obtain the incriminating file from a contact in Prague and prevent Philby from being exposed as a double-agent. I suppose it´s plausible, but cannot really be proven one way or another. Which is why the graphic novel is fascinating.
A couple of quotes:
From the graphic novel itself:
¨[MP to Ms. Montagu, referring to Baron von Kurtz:] We find him and his peers behind every garbage can in Vienna. The Austro-Hungarian nobility isn't what it used to be.¨
From Fromentier´s essay ¨The Third Man:¨
¨A series of proven facts tends to suggest a secret mission hidden behind [Greene´s] research trip [to Vienna such as] .... the confirmed involvement of Sir Alexander Korda with the world of espionage."
July 6, 2018
I want to thank Netgalley for providing me with a free ecopy of my first graphic novel of the year. I highly enjoyed this one, which is pretty rare♡
A review may be coming to my website soon :)
A review may be coming to my website soon :)
May 12, 2019
The Prague Coup is an intelligently written and well drawn graphic novel. To my surprise the late Graham Greene is a prominent character in this work. (Other historical figures are also present but I suspect you will enjoy this book more if you discover who those people are yourself Constant Reader.) Greene was a man of many contradictions-to put it mildly-and reading this book has gotten me thinking seriously about picking up some of his work. Bonus: extremely meticulous research was done to produce The Prague Coup, and the result is fascinating.
September 6, 2019
The dramatized attempt at a true story of Graham Greene's adventure to research and write what would become the film The Third Man. Interesting premise and connections. No characterization. Heavy on the talking heads spilling the plot for you. What would a wikipedia article turned comic book look like? This.
January 1, 2019
I'm a huge fan of The Third Man and couldn't get enough of this. Some of the backmatter essays overlap but it helps add context. I really want to check out The Human Factor by Graham Greene now (both book and movie).
The art was splashy but the drab coloring added to the atmosphere.
The art was splashy but the drab coloring added to the atmosphere.
September 4, 2019
Heavy storytelling, bad flow, very average art.
March 25, 2019
Une bande dessinée très intéressante et aux illustrations très réussies autour d'une affaire d'espionnage à Vienne puis à Prague en 1948, au moment du fameux "coup de Prague" qui précipita la Tchécoslovaquie dans le camp soviétique dans les premières années de la guerre froide.
September 9, 2022
Set in the Czech Republic, written in Tunisia, painted in France (by a guy from the States) and published in England makes this quite an international offering!
Narrative:
After beginning my 2015 "comics" renaissance with a gross overdose of Ed Brubaker, I had my share of crime and have read them sparingly since but, of the 187 vintage film noirs that I'd seen between April 2011 and June 2013 (which led me into Broob), "The Third Man" was my first so this couldn't be missed.
That masterpiece film was the "tester" of my elder noir-mentor to get me addicted to the era-genre and it sure did! I thought that this would be a sort-of adaptation but I didn't work out that way for me. Instead, I got a very confusing story about Graham Green conjecture that was ok but probably only got stars three from me because of the->
Art:
Hyman has one of those brush strokes that makes certain frameable and with this one he excelled with the setting and atmosphere.
The first few he chose that sparked a two-year obsession?
1. "The Third Man" Joe Cotton & Welles!
2. "The Killing" Sterling Hayden!
3. "Key Largo" Edward G. Robinson & Bogart & Bacall!
4. "Touch of Evil" Welles & Heston!
5. "The Big Sleep" Bogart & Bacall!
Narrative:
After beginning my 2015 "comics" renaissance with a gross overdose of Ed Brubaker, I had my share of crime and have read them sparingly since but, of the 187 vintage film noirs that I'd seen between April 2011 and June 2013 (which led me into Broob), "The Third Man" was my first so this couldn't be missed.
That masterpiece film was the "tester" of my elder noir-mentor to get me addicted to the era-genre and it sure did! I thought that this would be a sort-of adaptation but I didn't work out that way for me. Instead, I got a very confusing story about Graham Green conjecture that was ok but probably only got stars three from me because of the->
Art:
Hyman has one of those brush strokes that makes certain frameable and with this one he excelled with the setting and atmosphere.
The first few he chose that sparked a two-year obsession?
1. "The Third Man" Joe Cotton & Welles!
2. "The Killing" Sterling Hayden!
3. "Key Largo" Edward G. Robinson & Bogart & Bacall!
4. "Touch of Evil" Welles & Heston!
5. "The Big Sleep" Bogart & Bacall!
February 12, 2018
This is a mixed review... the artwork is made up of a lovely watercolor type effect. The impact makes the images fit the era's feel. But my complaint is that the result is the the persons all look alike. Especially all the male characters - making the story difficult to follow. The story line itself is complex and the lack of distinction in the forms just makes it more cumbersome.
Really wanted to like this book but I just couldn't.
Thank you NetGalley and publisher, Europe Comics, for the opportunity to read this ARC.
Really wanted to like this book but I just couldn't.
Thank you NetGalley and publisher, Europe Comics, for the opportunity to read this ARC.
June 9, 2023
The Third Man is a 1949 British noir directed by Carol Reed, written by Graham Greene and starring Joseph Cotten, Alida Valli, Orson Welles, and Trevor Howard. In 1999, The British Film Institute recognized the film as the best British film of all time. Greene wrote the screenplay, and then a subsequent novella based on the script. And later, he wrote his novel The Human Factor, which was one of several books written about his friend and former colleague (and double agent) Kim Philby.
I am intrigued about just how many people (besides me) in the world would be interested in an artifact like this, given that it concerns a 1949 black and white film and a British author, but the film remains popular and so does Greene. And although, even with my background knowledge, I found it hard to follow at times, I finally did like this book, a graphic novel, calling on background about Greene--his novels, his MI6 spy background, his various “infidelities” in spite of his Catholicism, his friendship with the WWII spy and former M16 colleague Kim Philby.
The Prague Coup (2017) is a curious artifact published by Titan Comics in their Hard Case Crime imprint. It was written by Jean-Luc Fromental and illustrated by Miles Hyman. Deeply researched, it is a fictionalized backstory theory of how The Third Man (also published in 1949, when the film came out) came about, and all the intrigue surrounding it. In other words, it is itself a kind of noir thriller. The book has short background pieces on the film, Greene, and a woman through whom we view the events of the book, Elizabeth Montagu, who guides Greene for a couple weeks through 1948 Vienna, helping him meet various sketchy people, taking him on a “sewer” tour of the city, and so on. Greene was writing a noir screenplay, and wanted local color and realism. But there’s also the implication that former spy Greene was in Vienna to do an espionage mission, possibly involved with Philby.
Ach, there is so much in this book! The authors and editors delve into principally two biographies of Greene, and try to split the difference on him between undying admiration and harsh criticism: He’s a Catholic and he cheats on his wife; he’s a great writer and also a one-time spy. He is loyal to his friends and certain political commitments and also defends a superspy traitor (Philby) who may have almost single-handedly lengthened WWII (and costing thousands of lives) by thwarting attempts tor a peace agreement so that the Soviet Union could get to Berlin first and take credit for winning the war. It’s a theory that the team here backs up with some facts and speculation. We can’t know all of this, but the team makes a pretty interesting case.
Philby (Harold Adrian Russell Philipy, also nicknamed Harpo, and himself a student of Karl Marx) is in this book identified as “the third man,” that Greene was somehow communicating a message to via the film ¨The Third Man," according to this novel’s team. He was one of three British super-spies identified for committing treason against the state, too. This is a key (and maybe shaky?) line of defense for Greene as he speaks of Philby:
"He betrayed his country—yes, perhaps he did, but who among us has not committed treason to something or someone more important than a country?"
So Greene is loyal to friends and especially (Marxist) friends such as Philby. And he himself also may have helped Philby, which makes him a party to treason. And also, he was unfaithful to his wife, a fact that tormented him and becomes the subject of two of his most famous novels, The Heart of the Matter and The End of the Affair. So there's that to consider and debate.
The art is period-appropriate, sepia-toned, lovely. I did have a hard time sometimes distinguishing male characters from each other. As a story its so packed with information that it is mainly explication; it’s not as edgy as the film, by any means. But I still enjoyed digging into it. It made me want to read Philby exposes and Greene’s The Human Factor again. But if you haven’t seen The Third Man (shame!) or haven’t any experience with Graham Greene, I certainly wouldn’t recommend it. It would just be too confusing, probably.
PS: I saw again, for maybe the third or fourth time, the terrific film by Carol Reed, much lauded. Robert Krasker won the Academy Award for cinematography for his black and white, atmospheric use of lighting and "Dutch angles." Seeing it through the perspective of this book, the late scene in the sewer system where Hollis (Holly) Martins confronts his friend, Harry Lime, for unforgivable crimes; well, Greene himself did not do the same to his friend and traitor/spy Kim Philby. So it's a complicated message.
Trailer for Carol Reed’s justifiably famous film:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r9yyD...
I am intrigued about just how many people (besides me) in the world would be interested in an artifact like this, given that it concerns a 1949 black and white film and a British author, but the film remains popular and so does Greene. And although, even with my background knowledge, I found it hard to follow at times, I finally did like this book, a graphic novel, calling on background about Greene--his novels, his MI6 spy background, his various “infidelities” in spite of his Catholicism, his friendship with the WWII spy and former M16 colleague Kim Philby.
The Prague Coup (2017) is a curious artifact published by Titan Comics in their Hard Case Crime imprint. It was written by Jean-Luc Fromental and illustrated by Miles Hyman. Deeply researched, it is a fictionalized backstory theory of how The Third Man (also published in 1949, when the film came out) came about, and all the intrigue surrounding it. In other words, it is itself a kind of noir thriller. The book has short background pieces on the film, Greene, and a woman through whom we view the events of the book, Elizabeth Montagu, who guides Greene for a couple weeks through 1948 Vienna, helping him meet various sketchy people, taking him on a “sewer” tour of the city, and so on. Greene was writing a noir screenplay, and wanted local color and realism. But there’s also the implication that former spy Greene was in Vienna to do an espionage mission, possibly involved with Philby.
Ach, there is so much in this book! The authors and editors delve into principally two biographies of Greene, and try to split the difference on him between undying admiration and harsh criticism: He’s a Catholic and he cheats on his wife; he’s a great writer and also a one-time spy. He is loyal to his friends and certain political commitments and also defends a superspy traitor (Philby) who may have almost single-handedly lengthened WWII (and costing thousands of lives) by thwarting attempts tor a peace agreement so that the Soviet Union could get to Berlin first and take credit for winning the war. It’s a theory that the team here backs up with some facts and speculation. We can’t know all of this, but the team makes a pretty interesting case.
Philby (Harold Adrian Russell Philipy, also nicknamed Harpo, and himself a student of Karl Marx) is in this book identified as “the third man,” that Greene was somehow communicating a message to via the film ¨The Third Man," according to this novel’s team. He was one of three British super-spies identified for committing treason against the state, too. This is a key (and maybe shaky?) line of defense for Greene as he speaks of Philby:
"He betrayed his country—yes, perhaps he did, but who among us has not committed treason to something or someone more important than a country?"
So Greene is loyal to friends and especially (Marxist) friends such as Philby. And he himself also may have helped Philby, which makes him a party to treason. And also, he was unfaithful to his wife, a fact that tormented him and becomes the subject of two of his most famous novels, The Heart of the Matter and The End of the Affair. So there's that to consider and debate.
The art is period-appropriate, sepia-toned, lovely. I did have a hard time sometimes distinguishing male characters from each other. As a story its so packed with information that it is mainly explication; it’s not as edgy as the film, by any means. But I still enjoyed digging into it. It made me want to read Philby exposes and Greene’s The Human Factor again. But if you haven’t seen The Third Man (shame!) or haven’t any experience with Graham Greene, I certainly wouldn’t recommend it. It would just be too confusing, probably.
PS: I saw again, for maybe the third or fourth time, the terrific film by Carol Reed, much lauded. Robert Krasker won the Academy Award for cinematography for his black and white, atmospheric use of lighting and "Dutch angles." Seeing it through the perspective of this book, the late scene in the sewer system where Hollis (Holly) Martins confronts his friend, Harry Lime, for unforgivable crimes; well, Greene himself did not do the same to his friend and traitor/spy Kim Philby. So it's a complicated message.
Trailer for Carol Reed’s justifiably famous film:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r9yyD...
August 19, 2019
Graham Greene, former spy, heads to Europe, claiming to need to research locations for his newest project. There's more up his sleeve than just a penchant for words and disreputable people, however, as Elizabeth Montagu, herself also involved in intelligence, finds that Mr. Greene's plans take him into the heart of a country plunging behind the Iron Curtain in a speculative look at what might lie behind the truth of Greene's relationship to actual counter-intelligence figures.
The writing by Fromental, translated by Lara Vergnaud, is quite good. There's a very noir feel, and he captures the mystery and disgust of Montagu as she follows Greene around, trapped between her CIA contacts and her current handlers. He gives all the side characters strong voices, and hits just the right notes of an espionage story.
Unfortunately, however, the art by Miles Hyman is just not good enough to keep pace with the writer. The scenes are stiff and lifeless, with people dying in the most pedestrian poses possible, staring at each other as they relay dialogue back and forth, and generally look as though they'd rather be anywhere but in this comic. There are several moments where eroticism is needed and instead we get an incredibly un-sexy series of awkward poses and unmoving breasts. It's a shame that such a good script got saddled with art that often gets in its way, making this something I just can't recommend.
The writing by Fromental, translated by Lara Vergnaud, is quite good. There's a very noir feel, and he captures the mystery and disgust of Montagu as she follows Greene around, trapped between her CIA contacts and her current handlers. He gives all the side characters strong voices, and hits just the right notes of an espionage story.
Unfortunately, however, the art by Miles Hyman is just not good enough to keep pace with the writer. The scenes are stiff and lifeless, with people dying in the most pedestrian poses possible, staring at each other as they relay dialogue back and forth, and generally look as though they'd rather be anywhere but in this comic. There are several moments where eroticism is needed and instead we get an incredibly un-sexy series of awkward poses and unmoving breasts. It's a shame that such a good script got saddled with art that often gets in its way, making this something I just can't recommend.
January 19, 2020
This is a elaboration on the events behind the creation of Carol Reed's brilliant movie "The Third Man" wrapped in a fictional spy story. Of course the movie exploits the noir of post WW2 Vienna to the max, in lovely black and white, while "The Prague Coup" tells of the way that a unique set of characters and circumstance give rise to Greene's screenplay and the film.
Even for someone acquainted with the movie, it is a good idea to read the "afterwords" at the back of the book first, as the way in which the characters fit into the scene is made clear here. A small example is the fact that the movie producer, Hungarian Alexander Korda, was well familiar with Vienna, Berlin, Paris of the time (1948) and spoke Yiddish, German, French and English, and so his acquaintance with the intrigue of the post war European scene was considerable.
The novel is really a very clever play on the way that Graham Greene researched the territory, possibly doing more than just research. His guide around Vienna (assigned to the task by Korda) is Elizabeth Montagu, who had, as a member of a spy network, interrogated the vice-consul of the German legation in Zurich (Hans Bernd Gisevius, who was opposed to Hitler and in possession of Nazi manuscripts). Greene complains of "long solitary nights in the bars and night clubs of the occupied city" while Elizabeth's recollection is of being "dragged around the most sordid and lugubrious places in Vienna."
Even for someone acquainted with the movie, it is a good idea to read the "afterwords" at the back of the book first, as the way in which the characters fit into the scene is made clear here. A small example is the fact that the movie producer, Hungarian Alexander Korda, was well familiar with Vienna, Berlin, Paris of the time (1948) and spoke Yiddish, German, French and English, and so his acquaintance with the intrigue of the post war European scene was considerable.
The novel is really a very clever play on the way that Graham Greene researched the territory, possibly doing more than just research. His guide around Vienna (assigned to the task by Korda) is Elizabeth Montagu, who had, as a member of a spy network, interrogated the vice-consul of the German legation in Zurich (Hans Bernd Gisevius, who was opposed to Hitler and in possession of Nazi manuscripts). Greene complains of "long solitary nights in the bars and night clubs of the occupied city" while Elizabeth's recollection is of being "dragged around the most sordid and lugubrious places in Vienna."
November 20, 2018
This is a review for the English language edition.
I always find espionage hard to follow, and so it's not my favourite genre, but I love the movie of The Third Man, and so I found this tale intriguing. This is a speculative mystery narrated by a fictional version of Elizabeth Montagu, an actress, writer and spy who accompanied Graham Greene during his five days of research in Vienna to prepare his script for The Third Man, but which may have had more clandestine purposes. Comics often suffer stilted dialogue, and this is a little clunky, but I was gripped nevertheless. Miles Hyman's artwork is very bold. Though his characters are a little lacking in expression and suffer too much furrowed brow, his frames are dramatic, his Vienna atmospheric, his colours masterfully controlled. There is a sustained tension in his seven frame pages of chases through snow blanketed streets at night, liaisons in illicit nightclubs, confrontations in opera houses, and conflicts in a candlelit cathedrals. His scene setting and pace keeping frames of incidental details are very cleverly used, giving the whole work a strong cinematic tone. There's a thirteen page essay and bibliography at the back of the book to help the poor souls like me, hooked by this tale, to try to find some truth.
I always find espionage hard to follow, and so it's not my favourite genre, but I love the movie of The Third Man, and so I found this tale intriguing. This is a speculative mystery narrated by a fictional version of Elizabeth Montagu, an actress, writer and spy who accompanied Graham Greene during his five days of research in Vienna to prepare his script for The Third Man, but which may have had more clandestine purposes. Comics often suffer stilted dialogue, and this is a little clunky, but I was gripped nevertheless. Miles Hyman's artwork is very bold. Though his characters are a little lacking in expression and suffer too much furrowed brow, his frames are dramatic, his Vienna atmospheric, his colours masterfully controlled. There is a sustained tension in his seven frame pages of chases through snow blanketed streets at night, liaisons in illicit nightclubs, confrontations in opera houses, and conflicts in a candlelit cathedrals. His scene setting and pace keeping frames of incidental details are very cleverly used, giving the whole work a strong cinematic tone. There's a thirteen page essay and bibliography at the back of the book to help the poor souls like me, hooked by this tale, to try to find some truth.
January 2, 2020
In 1948, Graham Greene visited Vienna to begin researching the film script for The Third Man. He was met by Elizabeth Montagu, an assistant to the film producer Alexander Korda. Montagu, an English aristocrat, had worked as a spy for the Americans during World War II. The creators of this graphic novel use these facts as the springboard for their fictionalized account of Greene’s time in Vienna and beyond. Guided by Montagu, Greene meets people of note, visits various city location (both sleazy and non), including the famous Vienna sewers, and becomes increasingly involved in political intrigue, culminating in participation in the events surrounding the communist takeover of Czechoslovakia. Hence, the title.
Being an admirer of Graham Greene’s work, I found the story both captivating and plausible. Besides being a world famous novelist, Greene himself was himself a spy, and friend to the great British traitor Kim Philby.
Being an admirer of Graham Greene’s work, I found the story both captivating and plausible. Besides being a world famous novelist, Greene himself was himself a spy, and friend to the great British traitor Kim Philby.
November 10, 2019
This is an intriguing fictional account of a trip made to Vienna in 1948 by Graham Greene to research what would become his script for "The Third Man", told from the point of view of Elizabeth Montagu, his entrée into the local scene. They encounter various shady characters and eventually find themselves travelling to Prague just as the Communists are taking over there. The book is intriguing and atmospheric but I found it marred somewhat by the flatness of the facial expressions - people seemed to be continuously uttering long lines of dialogue with their mouths closed and faces seemingly in repose. Nevertheless an interesting window into a strange time, lent a certain frisson by Greene and Montagu (also a real person) both being former spies, with both of their pasts continuing to hang over them.
April 19, 2023
This is one of the better graphic novels I've read in some time. It blends the paranoia of the Post-War/Cold-War Europe depicted in the classic film, The Third Man, with a biographal speculation of just what author Graham Greene may have been up to on his research trip to Vienna in 1948. Elizabeth Montagu, Greene's studio contact, herself a real life intelligence agent, makes for an intriguing narrator.
Some excellent backup material gives historical context to the story's speculations.
The only disappointments were the inclusion of an ablist character, which isn't ok for a book written in 2017, and a couple too many gratuitous nude panels.
I thought reading a story about Graham Greene might shed some light on the lyrics to John Cale's song about him: it didn't, but actually reading the CD liner notes did 😏
Some excellent backup material gives historical context to the story's speculations.
The only disappointments were the inclusion of an ablist character, which isn't ok for a book written in 2017, and a couple too many gratuitous nude panels.
I thought reading a story about Graham Greene might shed some light on the lyrics to John Cale's song about him: it didn't, but actually reading the CD liner notes did 😏
March 22, 2018
Un croisement entre la histoire et la fiction, entre le roman et le cinéma, autour de la figure romanesque de Graham Greene, dont certains pans de sa vie auront été aussi palpitants que ses romans. Le tout se situe à Vienne (et Prague), en pleine montée de la guerre froide, autour de la création du film le Troisième Homme. Un hommage à des oeuvres qui sont aujourd'hui des classiques. Le scénario est construit comme un polar des années 50, beau, suranné, et un peu hiératique, magnifié par le dessin et les couleurs. Si l'on ne saisit pas toutes les allusions historiques et fictionnelles au départ, qu'il aurait peut-être été utile de situer au début du livre pour le lecteur néophyte, on a envie de se replonger dans cette époque trouble.
February 21, 2018
Being a fan of Graham Greene, I should have lapped this book up - it suggests a real-life series of shenanigans with the unrepentant sinner and spy carrying on his, er, duties, while researching what would become The Third Man. And I did enjoy the book - beyond the blokes looking a little similar, and a peculiar scene where the artist seems to have given us the wrong character entirely, it looks great. But the problem was that it was a little unlikely - and the hokum certainly made for a poorer example of the 'diversions' some very clunky dialogue reminded us of. I wouldn't object to the idea of recommending it, but it's never going to be of a kind with what inspired it.
March 24, 2019
A fantastic Cold War graphic novel featuring Graham Greene looking for movie ideas in occupied Czech capitol. Espionage filled with spies with questionable allegiances, it is hard to tell the good guys from the bad guys. The art work is masterful and does a lot to convey the "noir" feel. The pages at the end tell the real life story of Greene and his work and Elizabeth, his guide in this book. These characters are based on real people. If the cold war is of interest, don't miss this book.
March 8, 2020
Un bon scénario à la Graham Greene ou John Le Carré, les choses ne sont jamais très claires et apparaissent par touches. Ca marche bien mais c’est un peu embrouillé pour qui ne connait pas bien le début de la Guerre Froide (la trahison de Philby ayant par ailleurs inspiré Le Carré dans la Taupe est le minimum requis).
Les dessins paraissent intéressants au premier regard, et les couleurs sont très réussies pour donner l’ambiance. Mais les dessins sont en fait figés, l’action passe difficilement et les expressions des personnages sont parfois ratées.
Les dessins paraissent intéressants au premier regard, et les couleurs sont très réussies pour donner l’ambiance. Mais les dessins sont en fait figés, l’action passe difficilement et les expressions des personnages sont parfois ratées.
September 23, 2020
A decent spy thriller based on real people and real events taking place shortly after WWII with the author Graham Green, who was also behind some of the most popular films of the era. Using trips to scout locations for these movies and his books, he was secretly embroiled in a world of secrets no one was aware of until years after his death.
September 1, 2021
A highly recommended entertaining Graphic Novel of Historical Fiction.
Story finds the enigmatic author and former MI6 mole, Graham Green visiting a Post War Vienna to put together the script for the Orson Wells film "The Third Man". His chaperone/ guide is the equally mysterious Elizabeth Montagu, a former CIA recruit during WW ll currently living in Vienna.
Jean-Luc conjectures a story of cold war intrigue which is drawn by Miles Hymen in a style to evoke the time period and the mood in Europe.
Really Enjoyed this Book.
Story finds the enigmatic author and former MI6 mole, Graham Green visiting a Post War Vienna to put together the script for the Orson Wells film "The Third Man". His chaperone/ guide is the equally mysterious Elizabeth Montagu, a former CIA recruit during WW ll currently living in Vienna.
Jean-Luc conjectures a story of cold war intrigue which is drawn by Miles Hymen in a style to evoke the time period and the mood in Europe.
Really Enjoyed this Book.
September 23, 2023
A graphic novel thriller set in the ruins of 1948 Vienna featuring Graham Greene as one of the characters. A solid noir atmosphere is maintained. Recommended especially for fans of Graham Greene like myself. There are several afterwards and essays at the end that give this a touch of an academic feel.
January 3, 2023
Gorgeous art. Just enough historical fact to make it all work. Background and reference material (including a bibliography!) at the end make this a five-star package.
Please consider:
https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-prag...
Please consider:
https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-prag...
January 21, 2019
This one would have been better suited to a full novel than a GN. Too big of story in terms of the history on the times for this medium to do it null justice.
January 14, 2023
Janvier 2023. J’ai eu du mal à m’y retrouver dans cette histoire d’espionnage.
Ce n’était pas inintéressant mais plutôt plat de mon point de vue.
Ce n’était pas inintéressant mais plutôt plat de mon point de vue.
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