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L'Aviateur #1
The Aviator - Volume 1 - Take-off
1917, East Africa. A German pastor—also a doctor, and married to a Frenchwoman—teaches his son Josef to fly the Albatros biplane he uses to visit his rural patients. But the war raging in Europe has spread to Africa, where the Allies are fighting the Germans in their various colonies. Against this backdrop—and strictly against his father’s wishes—Josef dreams of flying the nest, and makes a decision that will have terrible consequences…
74 pages, Kindle Edition
First published May 20, 2016
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
February 12, 2021
This is my unbiased review of The Aviator - Volume 1 and, I thank Netgalley and Europe Comics for giving me an opportunity to read this adventure. The story is set in the World War I era, Josef is the son of a German pastor and doctor who used to visit his rural patients in a biplane. He teaches his son Josef to fly his Albatros. During one such visit he treats an old man who is married to a young girl, Josef develops an infatuation with her. Fate intervenes into the life of young Josef, his lover is killed and how Josef avenges and why he joins hands with his uncle in the war and all these are nicely unfolds in the remaining pages.
The artwork is excellent, especially the jungle sceneries, the graphic novel shows the pitiful living condition of people during colonial days. A beautiful graphic novel, I enjoyed reading it.
Link for the review with images. http://www.chromaring.com/2021/02/the...
The artwork is excellent, especially the jungle sceneries, the graphic novel shows the pitiful living condition of people during colonial days. A beautiful graphic novel, I enjoyed reading it.
Link for the review with images. http://www.chromaring.com/2021/02/the...
February 7, 2021
Full Disclosure: I didn't read the graphic novel in which this character first appears, but now I want to read it. This is the story of Josef or Tanguy. His back story is at once heartbreakingly tragic and filled with adventure. War has reached Africa where Josef's family serves as a missionary and medical support in the tribal plains. Josef's mother is a saint for moving across the world, helping with the mission and raising her family. Josef learns from his father how to help people medically and how to fly his plane.
Josef's young life is marred by tragedy. A married woman takes a shine to the young, innocent boy. She steals his heart and his innocence. Their fates twist together and led to his running away from home. HIs father tries to rescue him. It gets even more tragic from there. A series of unfortunate events leads him to be the hardened pilot he is now.
Josef's young life is marred by tragedy. A married woman takes a shine to the young, innocent boy. She steals his heart and his innocence. Their fates twist together and led to his running away from home. HIs father tries to rescue him. It gets even more tragic from there. A series of unfortunate events leads him to be the hardened pilot he is now.
March 1, 2021
One of the best comic books I have read. Part two wasn't great, but the third book was very good. I hope the series continues with WW2 ,Vietnam and the civil war in the Congo.
January 13, 2021
This is volume one of what appears to be a three-part series. It is a story about a young man who becomes a pilot. Set in colonial Africa in 1917 during World War One, Josef is abyoung man who finds that his actions lead to tragedy for his family but these same actions shape the path of his life.
The focus of the story is how Josef becomes a pilot during the war when the allies were fighting the Germans in Africa. The story is interesting but also very brutal in places and it gives us a view of the discrimination embedded in colonialism, the exploitation of the local people, and the impact of the war on the colonies at the time. It also shows us how women were treated at that time.
It isn't that we don't know about these things, but illustrated stories can emphasise aspects of history in a way that brings the challenges of the time to life. It was an interesting story with good artwork and if you like historical adventure stories then this might be one for you.
Copy provided by Europe Comics via Netgalley in exchange for an unbiased review.
The focus of the story is how Josef becomes a pilot during the war when the allies were fighting the Germans in Africa. The story is interesting but also very brutal in places and it gives us a view of the discrimination embedded in colonialism, the exploitation of the local people, and the impact of the war on the colonies at the time. It also shows us how women were treated at that time.
It isn't that we don't know about these things, but illustrated stories can emphasise aspects of history in a way that brings the challenges of the time to life. It was an interesting story with good artwork and if you like historical adventure stories then this might be one for you.
Copy provided by Europe Comics via Netgalley in exchange for an unbiased review.
October 1, 2020
Dobrodružný komiks se odehrává v koloniální Africe, která byla málo známým bojištěm první světové války. Mladý, značně naivní hrdina, první láska, vzpoura proti despotickému pánbíčkářskému otci, zapojení se do bojů… Četlo se to dobře, realistická kresba dua Arnoux&Millien se mi také líbí.
Není mi úplně jasné je, proč je vyprávěno jako retrospektivní vzpomínání účastníka dálněvýchodních válek v 50. letech, ale to se třeba vyjasní v dalších dílech, kterými budu pokračovat. Určitě se také podívám na sérii „Tramp“ od stejných autorů, na kterou se komiks na začátku odkazuje a která zřejmě dějově spadá mezi „The Aviator“ a onou válkou v Indočíně.
Není mi úplně jasné je, proč je vyprávěno jako retrospektivní vzpomínání účastníka dálněvýchodních válek v 50. letech, ale to se třeba vyjasní v dalších dílech, kterými budu pokračovat. Určitě se také podívám na sérii „Tramp“ od stejných autorů, na kterou se komiks na začátku odkazuje a která zřejmě dějově spadá mezi „The Aviator“ a onou válkou v Indočíně.
November 24, 2022
(English version) This first episode of The Aviator contained some wonderfully well-drawn, atmospheric artwork, for a story set in German East Africa (Tanganyika) during the time of WW1. The subject matter is a little more Cert 15 than Biggles and the translation from French was quite impeccable. I found the story pretty compelling and historically educational too. One of the most grown-up comic books I've ever read. Looking forward to Tome 2. 5/5
December 26, 2020
I loved the art, the story was okay, but not too engaging.
This was a solid intro to something that can be a good story of WWI. I can't wait to see more of it. Hopefully, the story will develop more in the volumes to come.
This was a solid intro to something that can be a good story of WWI. I can't wait to see more of it. Hopefully, the story will develop more in the volumes to come.
July 13, 2021
A hardened old war pilot recounts the story of how he became an aviator to a young officer. The story takes him back to a war in the Congo, where Joseph, the aviator, was growing up as the teen son of a doctor/pastor who made his rounds by flying to patients in a small plane.
November 13, 2025
A young man in World War I Africa learns to fly and learns how to make poor decisions. As with most European comics, this has a frustrating cliffhanger.
January 4, 2021
Aviator is the latest graphic novel that spins out of the pages of Tramp, this time focusing on the character of 'Hard-Knock' Tanguy, a grizzled pilot who was taking part in the First Indiochina War. In this book we go back to his teenage years, to when he was growing up in East Africa during the First World War.
When Tanguy is asked about his past by a young navy commander, but seems to dodge the question, however, a few days later when the commander is getting ready to ship out he receives a package, a journal from Tanguy, filled with the answers to the that question, as well as photographs from his past.
The diary takes us back to 1917 East Africa, which would later become Tanzania, where Tanguy was then simply Josef Schafer, son of doctor and preacher Lothar Schafer. Over the course of the book we discover that Josef had grown up in a rather strict, religious home, yet was afforded some freedoms, such as learning how to fly his fathers plane. A great pilot from a young age, Josef fell in love with flying, and would accompany his father in his work just so that he could get the chance to fly.
One of these tasks was taking his father to the Becker farm, where he would meet Silke Beckert, the young wife of the much older Klaus. Silke is obviously taken with the young Josef, and openly flirts with the young man, trying to encourage him to stay and help fix their tractor, thanks to his knowledge of engines. Both Klaus and Lothar notice this situation brewing, and Joesf receives a stern talking to, whilst Silke receives a black eye. Despite this, the two of them still try to steal some time together, and when Josef is sent to the farm for a few days to fix the tractor the two of them are caught sleeping together.
Josef is whipped by his father, and locked away in a small room for days to think about what he's done; but when he learns that Silke is dead something inside of him snaps. He decides to steal his fathers plane and take revenge on Klaus, before setting out to go and find his uncle, who's a part of the army so that he can lend his flying expertise to the war effort.
This event is clearly a major turning point for the character, and it's really the moment when he matures into a man. Not because he's finally slept with a woman, but because he's chosen to break away from his father and pursue his own life. Sadly, things are rarely that simple, and this is just the beginning of a series of events that would lead to a number of deaths, and a change to Josef's relationship with his father than can't be undone.
Aviator proved to be more interesting than I was expecting, and I quickly came to like Josef as a character. He's a passionate young man, one who feels a strong sense of right and wrong, and believes it's his duty to stick by those principals, even if that means that he comes into conflict with his father; who he sees as being stubborn and behind the times.
The book also has a more interesting location for a story that involves World War One than a lot of stories have, focusing on the conflict in Africa, rather than the one in France and Europe that tends to be more common. Not only does this give readers a more of an interesting setting, but it really showcases the artwork by Erik Arnoux and Chrys Millen, who have managed to create so truly beautiful scenes, especially when you have the characters flying above the African countryside and can see so much wonderful beauty and detail in panels.
This is a book that's going to appeal to fans of Kraehn's other work, particularly those that like Tanguy's character in his appearance in Tramp. But I think that this is a book that anyone can pick up and read. It's got drama and action, it takes readers to a time and place that they might not be familiar with, and it tells an interesting story with engaging characters. I'm certainly looking forward to seeing what happens in later volumes, as Josef has a very interesting story.
When Tanguy is asked about his past by a young navy commander, but seems to dodge the question, however, a few days later when the commander is getting ready to ship out he receives a package, a journal from Tanguy, filled with the answers to the that question, as well as photographs from his past.
The diary takes us back to 1917 East Africa, which would later become Tanzania, where Tanguy was then simply Josef Schafer, son of doctor and preacher Lothar Schafer. Over the course of the book we discover that Josef had grown up in a rather strict, religious home, yet was afforded some freedoms, such as learning how to fly his fathers plane. A great pilot from a young age, Josef fell in love with flying, and would accompany his father in his work just so that he could get the chance to fly.
One of these tasks was taking his father to the Becker farm, where he would meet Silke Beckert, the young wife of the much older Klaus. Silke is obviously taken with the young Josef, and openly flirts with the young man, trying to encourage him to stay and help fix their tractor, thanks to his knowledge of engines. Both Klaus and Lothar notice this situation brewing, and Joesf receives a stern talking to, whilst Silke receives a black eye. Despite this, the two of them still try to steal some time together, and when Josef is sent to the farm for a few days to fix the tractor the two of them are caught sleeping together.
Josef is whipped by his father, and locked away in a small room for days to think about what he's done; but when he learns that Silke is dead something inside of him snaps. He decides to steal his fathers plane and take revenge on Klaus, before setting out to go and find his uncle, who's a part of the army so that he can lend his flying expertise to the war effort.
This event is clearly a major turning point for the character, and it's really the moment when he matures into a man. Not because he's finally slept with a woman, but because he's chosen to break away from his father and pursue his own life. Sadly, things are rarely that simple, and this is just the beginning of a series of events that would lead to a number of deaths, and a change to Josef's relationship with his father than can't be undone.
Aviator proved to be more interesting than I was expecting, and I quickly came to like Josef as a character. He's a passionate young man, one who feels a strong sense of right and wrong, and believes it's his duty to stick by those principals, even if that means that he comes into conflict with his father; who he sees as being stubborn and behind the times.
The book also has a more interesting location for a story that involves World War One than a lot of stories have, focusing on the conflict in Africa, rather than the one in France and Europe that tends to be more common. Not only does this give readers a more of an interesting setting, but it really showcases the artwork by Erik Arnoux and Chrys Millen, who have managed to create so truly beautiful scenes, especially when you have the characters flying above the African countryside and can see so much wonderful beauty and detail in panels.
This is a book that's going to appeal to fans of Kraehn's other work, particularly those that like Tanguy's character in his appearance in Tramp. But I think that this is a book that anyone can pick up and read. It's got drama and action, it takes readers to a time and place that they might not be familiar with, and it tells an interesting story with engaging characters. I'm certainly looking forward to seeing what happens in later volumes, as Josef has a very interesting story.
May 23, 2020
Na África Ocidental alemã dos tempos da I Guerra, o jovem filho de um pastor luterano e médico de moralidade muito restrita vive a sua primeira grande aventura. Aprende a voar, apaixona-se por uma mulher casada, e contrariando em tudo os ditames do pai, rouba o avião do pai para ajudar uma coluna de tropas alemãs a atacar um depósito de materiais inglês. É a história de origem de um aviador aventureiro, queimado pela vida (o seu nome é um trocadilho com o clássico francês Tanguy e Laverdure). O livro distingue-se essencialmente pelas belas vinhetas da savana africana sobrevoada por um biplano Albatros.
February 3, 2022
@Thanks NetGalley for giving me the access to read the first volume of this story. I really love reading these kinds of stories. The author created a new world with new characters like this one. I liked a lot of the story. Furthermore, I give 3 stars to this book.
October 8, 2023
I loved this book, an exciting story, lots of drama, the broad skies and the natural beauty of Africa. What's not to love? And the designs of Chrys and Erik are perfect. The script by Kraehn is clearly brilliant. I recommend this book.
November 4, 2023
The premise sounded interesting, and the artwork was really good....
However, I couldn't really get into the story and found myself just mostly skimming through the pages.
Didn't work for me.
However, I couldn't really get into the story and found myself just mostly skimming through the pages.
Didn't work for me.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews