Double 7

by Yann, André Julliard, Montana Kane (Translator)

The Spanish Civil War attracted involvement from a wide variety of governments, individuals and political factions, with Italians, Germans, and North Africans helping Franco and his supporters, and the Soviet Union, Mexico, and international brigades aiding the Republicans. Dusting off a little‐known and often forgotten chapter of history, the authors take us back to this remarkable and terrible period of war as only they can, with a tale full of scheming intrigues. The world they uncover is one of no‐holds‐barred plotting to obtain victory at whatever the cost. And in the midst of the backstabbings and despair, one young Russian pilot falls in love with a feisty Spanish freedomfighter. In the hope it will outlast the bitter conflict engulfing them all.

Genres: Historical, Graphic Novels, Bande Dessinée, War

73 pages, ebook

First published October 26, 2018

About the author

Pseudonym of Yann le Pennetier or Lepennetier, who also publishes as Balac, is a French comics writer.

[FR]
Après ses débuts dans la publicité et l’architecture, ce Marseillais s’est lancé dans la bande dessinée en 1974 en dessinant pour Spirou à Bruxelles où il habite désormais.

Remercié par le journal pour dessins irrévérencieux, il avait noué des liens forts de franche camaraderie avec Conrad avec qui il a notamment réalisé les Innommables en 1980 et lancé la Tigresse blanche en 2005.

Ses premiers scénarios l’avaient conduit dans l’univers de Franquin avec le Marsupilami en 1989 et de Goscinny avec Lucky Luke sans oublier son one-shot sur une aventure de de Spirou. Il écrit depuis pour de nombreux dessinateurs comme Berthet (Pin Up, Yoni, les exploits de Poison Ivy), Simon Léturgie (Spoon White), Félix Meynet (les Eternels) avec ou encore Herval (Tiffany), René Hausman (Les Trois cheveux blancs, Le Prince des écureuils), Yslaire (Sambre), Joël Parnotte (Le Sang des Porphyre)...

Reviews

[Richard · Rating 4 out of 5]

A stylised graphic novel that combines some of the politics behind the nationalist side in the Spanish Civil War; mostly the workings of Stalin to continue his purge within the constaints of his rule of terror at home and in Spain. Devoid of support, the fight against Franco was joined by various individuals while the governments of Great Britain & France stood aside to allow German and Italian forces to bring death and destruction from the air.
Taking up various strands of the elements involved the story tries to record in this fiction comic book some of the more salient facts of this appalling conflict that cost the lives of so many innocent civilians.
Great illustrations of aerial combat and small arms fire, the account brings together many issues in an overview that will provide some insight but isn't intended to provide revision material for a history test.
Perhaps Guernica is known to most, regarding the slaughter of civillians by bombing. It is mentioned here in passing within the modern art work by Pablo Picasso allowing some reflection on the heroic stories contained in this graphic novel and the passionate love affair of a soviet airman and a young spanish fighter. It captures the spirit of those drawn to the conflict, their idealism, the evil of extreme ideas and the poison of political control where distinctions between friend and foe are blurred. When in reality we are all the same, life is precious and humankind still have a tendancy towards evil. We may not learn too quickly from history but we owe it to a younger generation to embrace the past and remember. To seek ways of peace rather than the path to war.

[Online Eccentric Librarian · Rating 2 out of 5]

More reviews (and no fluff) on the blog http://surrealtalvi.wordpress.com/

I usually enjoy historicals but this graphic novel had several egregious issues that made for a very unenjoyable read. By the 9th page or so, it became a chore to read; I didn't care about any of the characters, I had very little idea of what was going on, and I felt like I was being hit over the head with a very heavy agenda. This didn't feel like a story so much as the author indulging in his political viewpoints.

Story: The Spanish Civil War. Planes, people fighting, being annoyed, acting irrationally, some City folk walking around decidinge if they want to stay while being bombed or get to safety, Ernest Hemingway being imperious. Russia sucks.

That's about all I got out of the story, which felt like a bunch of vignettes in which nothing happens and people talk about/do things that you have no reference for or understanding of why. It's a confusing mess that skips around while name dropping famous figures like Hemingway and making sure the reader gets the point that Russia screwed over the Spanish.

The artwork has that old fashioned 1940s feel that is appealing. It's a shame there isn't much of a story there and the people behave in a cartoonish way that in no way feels historical. It's like Laurel and Hardy do the Spanish Civil War - but inscrutably in a "My Dinner With Andre" fashion. Reviewed from an advance reader copy provided by the publisher.

[Wayne McCoy · Rating 2 out of 5]

'Double 7' by Yann with art by Andre Juillard and translation by Montana Kane is a graphic novel about pilots during the Spanish Civil War.

The Spanish Civil War had involvement from many factions. This story is about those helping the Republicans who were fighting against Franco. The story has to do with a group of Soviet Union pilots and one who has earned the lucky name of Double 7. Hemingway was also in Spain at this time and shows up as a character in this story.

It should have been more interesting, but I had a hard time staying with the story. I don't know if more backstory might have helped, but I found myself not really caring for the characters. The art is pretty good, and that's what kept me turning pages.

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.

[Alberto Martín de Hijas · Rating 3 out of 5]

Una historia de amor en el marco de los conflictos internos de los republicanos durante la Guerra Civil. Los personajes son un tanto esquemáticos, pero Juillard estaba en plena gloria y brilla especialmente en las escenas de los combates aéreos. La trama principal avanza algo acelerada en ciertos momentos, pero aun así tiene otros muy emotivos.

[Maxine · Rating 3 out of 5]

I usually really like Europe Comics but Double 7 by Yann left me cold. It was about the Spanish Civil War, a subject I find very interesting but, frankly, this graphic novel was, at best, confusing and at worst, hardly more than a treatise of the writer's political beliefs. None of the characters were particularly relatable perhaps because there were too many; there was too many storylines crammed into too small a space, and the ideology behind it was way too heavy handed with little regard to known facts of the conflict - what I got from this graphic novel: Republicans best of a bad lot but apparently not by much, Franco and Nazi Germany not very nice but better than Russia. There were references to the volunteer groups but the story focused on a few (well, actually, quite a few) one-dimensional individuals including but not limited to one good albeit slightly naive Russian and lots of bad ones, a female Republican combatant who becomes the good Russian's love interest while explaining to him frequently why Russian involvement is bad while somehow ignoring that he is a Russian aiding the Republic (I bet you can't guess how his story will end); one good American who is a mercenary because I'm guessing the Abraham Lincoln Brigade was, I dunno, proof that many Americans actually volunteered to try to stop fascism; Hemingway who pops up arbitrarily for no apparent reason but because he's Hemingway; and, at the end, Picasso's Le Guernica being 'critiqued' by people who don't 'get' it. If any of them read this graphic novel, it would be quite understandable why they don't 'get' it - I didn't get it's purpose here and I have read fairly extensively on the Spanish Civil War. To be honest, I wanted to give this graphic novel one star but I liked the art by Andre Juillard so one star for story and two for the art.

Thanks to Netgalley and Europe Comics for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review

[Elia · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ok, maybe I disliked this because I don't know that much about the Spanish civil war, or maybe I am biased because I deeply dislike Ernest Hemingway (and he has a minor role in this story) but this was just not my cup of tea at all.
It's supposed to be a love story wrapped around a backdrop of war, but there is just not much of a "love" story. First, the author spends at least half the book setting up the "hero" as being kind of a jackass who's super full of himself, while the female lead is a total badass awesome chick. Then we are expected to believe that after BRIEFLY glimpsing each other at a bar for mere SECONDS these two are deeply in love and soul mates and all that.
But the worst part was the ending. WTF was that???? It makes NO sense, doesn't actually explain anything and is just so confusing. Aside from the art being really nice, this one needs to be skipped completely.

[Gauthier · Rating 3 out of 5]

Durant la Guerre d'Espagne qui fit rage de 1936 à 1939, chaque camp était soutenu par d'autres pays. Franco avait le soutien de Mussolini et d'Hitler tandis que le gouvernement républicain espagnol, bien que ne pouvant compter sur le Royaume-Uni et la France, bénéficiait de l'aide soviétique ainsi que de la participation de milliers de volontaires venant du monde entier. Pourtant, l'aide soviétique avait un prix élevé: il fallait payer en or et accepter la présence d'agents qui s'efforçaient de supprimer toutes celles et ceux qui constituaient une menace pour le régime stalinien. En effet, on aurait pu croire que Staline soutiendrait les républicains avec enthousiasme mais il s'inquiétait de la création d'un pouvoir socialiste qui serait hors de son contrôle. Un paradoxe bien mis en avant dans cet ouvrage.

L'histoire se focalise autour d'un pilote soviétique, Roman, qui collectionne les victoire aériennes aux côtés de ses camarades français, américains, mexicains, et de bien d'autres pays. Ils attaquent les escadrilles allemandes et italiennes qui bombardent les villes et font des ravages dans la population civile. Roman est un idéaliste mais il n'est pas dupe de l'absurdité des consignes du commissaire politique qui profèrent sans cesse des menaces. Des menaces qui s'avèrent pourtant sérieuses étant donné les rumeurs d'officiers rappelés en URSS dont en devine le sort. Roman fait la rencontre alors d'une jeune espagnole, Lulia, qui se bat pour les républicains et est une farouche défenseuse des droits des femmes. Ensemble, ils traverseront la guerre et sauront trouver une fin heureuse malgré l'issue du conflit.

À travers les 2 personnages, ce sont de multiples éléments de la Guerre d'Espagne que découvre le lecteur. Il s'agit d'une fresque historique où la camaraderie et l'amour mais la mort et la souffrance aussi sont toutes réunies. Le dessin précis manque de dynamisme mais cela ne dérange pas car il apporte un style adapté à la période. J'ai eu l'impression d'ouvrir un album de Blake et Mortimer. Enfin, il est plaisant d'en apprendre davantage sur ce conflit qu'on mentionne souvent mais dont on sait finalement peu de choses et cet ouvrage, bien que trop court comme le sont toutes les bandes-dessinées, permet tout de même de couvrir de nombreux thèmes.

[Ije the Devourer of Books · Rating 2 out of 5]

I thought the artwork was lovely but the story was confusing to follow even with the introduction at the beginning. I think the story loses something in translation and there are quite a few characters on page and off age which make it hard to follow the story. Then there are expletives in the different languages spoken by the different characters and that doesnt make it easy to read either.

This is the first comic I have read from Europe Comics that I havent really liked. The ending was really abrupt too. I would have given this one star but the artwork was good, with colour, clear lines and expressive drawings. I gues the story just didnt work for me.

Copy provided by Europe Comics via Netgalley in exchange for an unbiased review.

[Soobie has fog in her brain · Rating 2 out of 5]

Insipido!

La linea chiara dei disegni è troppo chiara! Disegni piuttosto piatti e colori smorti.

La storia potrebbe anche non essere malaccio ma va un po' da tutte le parti. Nel senso che in una settantina di pagine vuole mostrare sia un parecchie scene di combattimenti aerei sia la storia d'amore tra i due protagonisti, con un pizzico di racconto storico per orientare i lettori. Troppa carne al fuoco e poco spazio per sviluppare tutte le idee.

Senza dimenticare che ci sono almeno ventidue pagine di bozzetti, giusto per aggiungere pagine inutili al volumetto.

[Chad · Rating 2 out of 5]

This story set during the Spanish Civil War was hard to follow. The characters and story kept shifting to something different so that the blurb on the back only really applied to the second half of the story. The first half was about 3 mercenary pilots from France, America and Russia who are in Spain fighting against Franco's forces. Then it turns into a love story with one of the three and a female Spanish fighter he meets. I did like that Hemmingway and Gelhorn made a small appearance.

[GONZA · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wonderful, interesting, well illustrated but so sad....A little story in the big Spanish war against Franco, that I have no idea about.

Bellissima, interessante, ben illustrata ma molto triste. Un piccolo spaccato della guerra in Spagna contro Franco, la cui storia ignoro purtroppo totalmente.

THANKS NETGALLEY FOR THE PREVIEW!

[mikai · Rating 1 out of 5]

I requested this comic hoping to educate me about the Spanish civil war since I didn't know about it. Sad to say my expectation was not met. It was hard for me to follow the story especially at the first few pages, that's why it's also hard for me to finish this one (DNF). I liked the artwork though.

Thank you for the free e-copy provided by Europe Comics via NetGalley.

[Raven Terry · Rating 3 out of 5]

Unfortunately, every copy that I downloaded was without script, however, the artwork was so detailed the story told itself. I enjoyed that much, hopefully I’ll get a chance to read a final copy. Thanks NetGalley for the opportunity to review this ARC, in exchange for an honest review.

[Zany · Rating 4 out of 5]

Zajímavý příběh ze španělské občanské války, děj je celkem zhuštěný, zasloužil by si větší rozkaz. Kresba je realistická, jak mi vyhovuje. Trochu mi uniká smysl epilogu v galerii, nevím, co tím chtěl autor říci.

[stercz · Rating 3 out of 5]

So it's relatively well-drawn and has some educational values regarding the factions of Spanish Civil War, but the dialogues are abysmal and the plot is made completely out of boring cliches. At least it's not too long.

[Theediscerning · Rating 1 out of 5]

Something something something Spanish Civil War. I just couldn't get into this – the exposition-heavy attempts at dialogue didn't help.

[Aurelio · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tiene imagenes bellas pero el guión abarca muchos temas para la extensión de páginas. Puede sacarse una idea generalizada del conflicto.