Frank: La increíble historia de una dictadura olvidada

by Ximo Abadía

Frank, la increíble historia de una dictadura olvidada cuenta la vida de Francisco Franco; de su nacimiento a su muerte, resaltando los sucesos más relevantes de su vida. De forma alegórica, este álbum ilustrado narra una etapa de nuestra historia aún reciente y que se considera tabú en muchas familias. Una obra concebida para que el mensaje que quiere transmitir no sea evidente a primera vista, que se tenga que decantar como un buen vino, que se cree lentamente en nuestro cerebro, que dé que pensar.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, History, Spain, War, Biography Memoir, Nonfiction

48 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2018

About the author

Ximo Abadía is a highly acclaimed artist, living and working in Spain. He has illustrated numerous publications including The Speed of Starlight and his work was selected for the Bologna Children's Illustrator's Exhibition in 2017.

Reviews

[Richard · Rating 4 out of 5]

How do you write a book about a historical figure who polarises opinion and disturbs even unconscious thought.
The author writes. “Our grandparents were forced to fight. Our parents were forced to forget. It is our duty to remember the past so we can look towards the future.”
This book is short on narrative and full of colour. No words wasted, powerful and with meaning. Illustrations telling a thousand words.
A Spanish book for its own, a people tainted by their shared heritage which does not come out in the wash.
I am so pleased the book has been translated into English. Some of the imagery in words and drawings last with you.
The shame is the free world who turned their backs or aided the regime. The world has not learned its lessons as seen with the fate of Syria.
The light illuminating a prison cell was a tremendous image, those who rule in an authoritarian way want to hid the truth and silence opposition voices.
Democracy is being fought for still around the world; it is happening in Hong Kong even now.
This is a book that cannot be ignored and I trust it helps salve the troubled psyche of Spanish people.

[Alex · Rating 3 out of 5]

Frank is an interesting and minimal narration of Franco’s plague upon Spain. They’ll never be enough ways in art and life to depict and condemn regimes such as his.

[Laura U · Rating 4 out of 5]

A graphic novel about a forgotten dictatorship is a wonderful and easy way to learn about history. If I read this without any knowledge about what Francisco Franco did, I don't think it will have such a great emotional impact. It's written in a style that even a child can understand. The way that Frank couldn't accept that other people think in other figures than the square is a great metaphor for the way things were. I wish this graphic novel was longer because the art was fascinating. So many details and metaphors. So much sadness hidden behind an image. It's a great thing that books like these ones are published because people are still unaware of what happened. I had no idea things were so bad in Spain, but I'm glad this book allowed me to learn more. However, I don't recommend people go into this book without knowing anything.

[Klinton Saha · Rating 3 out of 5]

ফ্রাঙ্ক শুধুমাত্র বর্গ পছন্দ করে। তার রাজ্যে সে আয়ত, বৃত্ত , ত্রিভুজ গ্রহণযোগ্য নয়,সে বর্গ বাদে বাকি সব কিছুকে নির্বাসন দিয়ে দেয়। ধীরে ধীরে রাজ্যে সে একনায়ক হিসেবে আবির্ভূত হয়। লোকজন সব পালাতে থাকে।
কিন্তু একনায়কের ত্রাসের রাজ্যও একসময় ভেঙে পড়ে।

রূপকধর্মী একটি বই,যেখানে সংলাপ কম রূপকধর্মী চিত্রের উপর জোর দেওয়া হয়েছে।
ছোট-বড় সবাই যাতে বুঝতে পারে সেভাবেই স্পেনের রাজনীতি, ইতিহাস তুলে ধরা হয়েছে।

[Etienne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very unique illustration and storytelling style. Not sure it really please me but I had to mention the originality. The story does a good job at telling a complex political story with simple visual and word. Interesting exploration of style but not a book that please me much!

[Oneirosophos · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very minimal, almost symbolic, allegorical & fairytale-like depiction of Frank's long dictatorship.

[Radwa · Rating 3 out of 5]

this was such an interesting read after reading marquez's "autumn of the patriarch", as this retells the life story of a dictator in such simple few lines and simple art. i guess the object from it was breaking the taboo of talking about the dictator more than being a complete flushed out story about him.

[Ed Erwin · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story of Franco (or someone like him) as a kids picture book. Maybe useful for teaching kids about dictators?

[Wojciech Szot · Rating 5 out of 5]

Był sobie kiedyś Frank, chłopiec ciemnowłosy i drobny tak, że wołano za nim “Zapałka”. Frank lubił kwadraty. Ale nie lubił okręgów i trójkątów. Gdy wokół siebie zaczął dostrzegać tylko koła, postanowił coś z tym zrobić. Frank został dyktatorem.

Tym razem nie jest to kolejna książka z kategorii “drogo, bo ładnie i tyle”, a niesamowicie zilustrowana opowieść o tym skąd się bierze dyktatura i jakie są jej skutki. Ximo Abadia i Tomasz Pindel jako tłumacz opowiedzą Państwu historię smutną i wstrząsającą, niektóre ilustracje mimo swojej prostoty, a może właśnie dzięki niej, będa silnym doznaniem, a całość rodzi pytanie - dla kogo to? Osobiście uważam, że nie ma co kryć przed najmłodszymi, że na świecie jest wiele zła, a tylko od tego, czy uznają, że obok kwadratów mogą funkcjonować też koła, zależy przyszłość.

Zachwycające są ilustracje zamieszczone w “Dyktatorze” - zgeometryzowane formy, kontrastowe kolory, ograniczona paleta barw… tak można do mnie graficznie mówić. Abadii dałbym się tatuować.

Abadia opowiada nie tylko o tym jak powstaje dyktatura, ale też co się dzieje gdy upada, a nowy świat trzeba budować razem z ludźmi, którzy byli potulni wobec reżimu. I to wszystko robi na zaledwie kilkudziesięciu stronach. Pozostaję pod wrażeniem. Polecam zwłaszcza wszystkim, którzy czytali “Strupa” Katarzyny Kobylarczyk - dla was “Dyktator” będzie jak dodatek specjalny do tej dobrej, choć nie idealnej książki.

[Wayne McCoy · Rating 3 out of 5]

'Frank - The Story of a Forgotten Dictatorship' with words and art by Ximo Abadia is an interesting take on telling the story of famous dictator Franco.

Told in a simple and symbolic way, this is the story of a small man who liked a certain shape. When other shapes start appearing, he does what he can to get rid of them. He gets help from other dictators. He elects a king. The world turned a blind eye.

It's a pretty simplistic way to tell history, but it has a certain elegance and power. The use of colors and shapes makes you think of one type of story, but the subtext says it all.

I received a review copy of this graphic novel from Europe Comics and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this graphic novel.

[Kelly_Hunsaker_reads ... · Rating 4 out of 5]

This graphic novel about Francisco Franco is very short. I read it in only a few minutes. It is very effective, though, in getting its point across to the reader. The author doesn't use the words "prejudice" and "war." In fact, he doesn't demonstrate the themes with people. In the book Franco likes squares and hates all other shapes. It is extremely smart and a simple way to teach the moral. The art is vivid and bright with strong colors and very graphic art. I liked this little history / culture lesson very much.

Thank you to Netgalley, Abadia Ximo and Europe Comics for the digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

[Imran Mahmud · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sometimes, symbols are more powerful then illustrations..

[Noha Bassiouny · Rating 4 out of 5]

The art and the metaphors are just fascinating!

[Catalina Santama · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hablar es entrar en el horror, pero es necesario. Carola Martínez

[Márcio Moreira · Rating 5 out of 5]

tão esquecida que eu mesmo não fazia ideia de que tinha sido tão ruim.
livro lindo demais sobre coisas horrivelmente familiares.

[Carol Tilley · Rating 4 out of 5]

More allegorical picture book than comic but nonetheless powerful.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

Apparently Francisco Franco is a taboo subject in Spain. No one wants to think about the horrid past.

So, this is a very stark, very simple almost picture book quality about it. That doesn't mean it doesn't get to the point, it does, but with simple drawings that might fool the causual observer.





Not sure if I would say this is a good way to introduce someone to Franco, but it does remind you of how horrid life under him was


Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest reivew.

[Veronica · Rating 3 out of 5]

The art in this picture book is INCREDIBLE. The language is very sparse and simple and the pictures do a lot of the work of telling the story. I think if you weren't at all familiar with the context of Franco's dictatorship it might be hard to follow, but the metaphor of making everyone fit into one shape is clear if you know anything about what he did to speakers of indigenous languages, etc., and it would be a good place to start a conversation with a child who didn't know the history. A really beautiful book, I'm glad I stumbled across it.

[Ioanna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Once upon a time, there was a boy named Francisco.

Frank depicts the life and acts of Spanish dictator Francisco Franco. The story is historically accurate. But most importantly, the narration is a combination of stunning visuals and just enough writing to make this story align with the true history: powerful and tragic.

A very interesting read, Frank is a must-have for the fans of graphic novels. Absolutely recommended.

[Anselmo · Rating 2 out of 5]

Estic convençut que, per a assabentar l'alumnat dels darrers cursos de primària que en aquest país hi hagué una llarguíssima i cruel dictadura aquest ‘Frank. La increïble història de una dictadura olvidada’ (2017) és una eina molt útil. Útil i sumament atractiva, ja que les il·lustracions són molt bones. A mi, que ja sóc vell, se m’ha quedat molt curt, la veritat.

[José Mª Navarro · Rating 5 out of 5]

Un álbum ilustrado muy breve. Predomina el dibujo y el color sobre el texto. La sencillez de la imagen y la intensidad del color colaboran para hacer llegar un potente mensaje al lector. Los textos son cortos y muy directos. Una gran obra contra la intolerancia y el olvido.

[Chad · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is presented almost like a picture book. It's abstract to the point that it doesn't really get the point across that it's about the Franco who ruled Spain with an iron fist for decades. He's destroying shapes instead of people in the book.

[Jara · Rating 5 out of 5]

El álbum que faltaba, el que se tenía que escribir. Impecable, implacable. Una maravilla que regalaría una y otra vez.

[María González-Albo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Precioso y maravilloso trabajo de Ximo Abadía, dice tanto con tan pocas palabras!

[Humbert Cumberdale · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very visually interesting.

[Sabrina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Marvelous art and quite a unique form of storytelling.

[Luis RT Ruiz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Simbolismo puro para contar una de las más grandes atrocidades cometidas en la historia con tremenda delicadeza y fuerza a la vez.

[Christian Maestre · Rating 5 out of 5]

Poético, maravilloso y simple.

[D · Rating 4 out of 5]

4+

[Margherita Cardinale · Rating 4 out of 5]

Minimalista ma comunque espressivo. Bellissima scelta dei colori.