Nestor Burma: Casse-pipe à la nation

Nestor Burma (Graphic Novel Adaptation) #4

by Jacques Tardi, Léo Malet

El detective Néstor Burma se ve involucrado en un extraño caso en el que incluso peligrará su vida. Las ferias ya no son nada seguras. Jacques Tardí vuelve a ilustrar un relato del novelista Léo Malet, como ya ocurrió con Niebla en el puente de Tolbiac o Calle de la estación 120. Tardi (Valence, 1946) está considerado como uno de los grandes creadores del cómic francés y con esta obra vuelve a transportarnos a los bajos fondos urbanos en un ambiente de auténtica serie negra.

Genres: Bande Dessinée, Comics, Graphic Novels, Crime, Detective, France, Paris

80 pages, Board book

First published January 1, 1996

About the author

Jacques 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_...

Reviews

[Óscar Trobo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Relectura. Tardi muy bien como siempre, pero lo noto aquí un poco desganado. Están todos los elementos que hacen grandes a Tolbiac y Calle de la Estación, pero brillando un poco menos.

Me han encantado todas las páginas que transcurren en la feria. Me entraron ganas de releer el Ferias y atracciones de Cirlot o la serie de Ed y Am Hunter de Fredric Brown.

[Titus · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the fourth of Tardi’s five Nestor Burma comics (the third one that directly adapts one of Malet’s novels), but it's the first Nestor Burma I've consumed in any medium. That didn't seem to matter much though; this is basically a self-contained story. It's a very classic noir-style mystery, set in 1950s Paris, following a lone-wolf private investigator who gets embroiled in a complex web of conspiracy.

At first I had trouble getting a handle on the tone of the thing. I had the false expectation that it was going to be an over-the-top comedic farce – along the lines of other Tardi comics like “La Débauche”, “Adèle et la Bête” and “Ici Même” – so I was searching in vain for the humour, plagued by a feeling that I must have been missing the big joke, because I wasn’t finding it funny at all. Eventually, however, I understood that – despite Tardi’s cartoony art style lending it some levity – this is basically a straight work of detective fiction, and after this realization I was able to get more immersed in the story.

Obviously Tardi is an excellent cartoonist, but I'm not a big fan of this comic’s extensive use of flat greys in lieu of colouring. I don't think it succeeds in creating a moody film noir atmosphere; I just feel it leaves everything looking drab. I like Tardi’s art in colour, but my favourite mode for it is definitely pure black and white, with nothing to detract from his masterful clear lines.

I also have to say I found the plot quite convoluted, so I struggled to keep up with (or indeed really care about) its developments. I definitely wasn't even trying to guess at the mystery's resolution. I also found the characters all very flat; I didn't have any sense of Nestor Burma’s personality or motivations, let alone those of the other characters. Nonetheless, overall I'd say this comic makes for a fairly entertaining read. It especially helps that there's a very dark, bleak ending that I liked a lot, so I left with a positive impression.

[Nestor B. · Rating 4 out of 5]

This Nestor Burma story kicks off with a chain of coincidences so improbable it almost feels like parody. Hélène doesn’t show up for the train she’s supposed to be on, Burma happens to be seen chatting with a policeman at the station, on a whim he goes to a fairground, on another whim he follows a young woman there, and by pure chance he ends up in the same ride car as her and a man who promptly tries to kill him. At this point, even fate might be thinking it’s laying it on a bit thick.

Fortunately, the story soon pulls itself together into a proper, well-constructed crime mystery, which makes the silly opening easier to forgive. Tardi’s line is as confident as ever, and Paris has never looked better than when he’s drawing it. In the end, this is as much a love letter to the city as it is another case for Burma, and frankly, Paris does most of the heavy lifting anyway.

[Sergio Parra · Rating 4 out of 5]

El dibujo es sublime, sobre todo la ambientación de la feria. Y bueno, todas las calles y casas feas y bonitas de París. Tardi hace un trabajo de documentación y adaptación increíble.
La historia no es la mejor de Néstor Burma; empieza muy muy bien, pero la trama se va enredando y alargando y al final me da la impresión de que faltan páginas para resolverla. La empatía con los personajes secundarios, eso sí, es muy bonita y enternecedora.
La traducción española del título es una m

[Pedro Martinez · Rating 3 out of 5]

La tercera de las adaptaciones al cómic de Tardi sobre las novelas del detective Néstor Burma escritas por Léo Malet. Un retrato del sórdido y criminal del París del año 1957 recreado a la perfección en un sublime blanco y negro.

[L'1'Gos² (Baptiste) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Super initiation à l'univers de Nestor Burma en bande dessinnée ! Hâte d'en lire d'autres ! :)

[Lysergius · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another excellent Leo Malet novel rendered by Tardi

[Sophie Roger · Rating 5 out of 5]

J'aime d'amour passion Tardi. En plus celui-ci se passe chez moi.