Notes for a War Story

by Gipi

"The war arrived in our village on the 18th of January. Obviously there were other wars going on, but they didn't have anything to do with us. There were wars for blacks. Wars for Arabs. Wars for Slavs. Our war started on the 18th of January, and in a few days, everything had changed."

So recounts Giuliano, a loner among outsiders, one of three young drifters caught up in the whirlwind of a war in the Balkans. The three boys are like passing shadows; they live in abandoned houses, dodge the occasional bomb, and steal car parts for money. Meeting Felix—a powerful, fast-talking mercenary—changes everything for them. Felix is an expert manipulator; he speaks to their ambition and to their desires for power, wealth, and purpose. They're instantly hooked, especially the trio's unofficial leader, Stefano, and they soon escalate from petty crime to working on behalf of a mafia-style militia, bullying and extorting money in Felix's name. But as Giuliano comes to realize, they don't know what they're fighting for—if they're even fighting for anything.

Notes for a War Story is an astonishing look at life in a lawless, war-torn nation, heightened by the harsh, moving, pencil and watercolor artwork of Italy's best graphic novel author.

Genres: Graphic Novels, Comics, War, Fiction, Young Adult, Graphic Novels Comics, Historical Fiction

128 pages, Paperback

First published December 2, 2004

About the author

Gianni Pacinotti, better known by his pen name Gipi, is an Italian illustrator and comic book author. Gipi is regarded as one of the most influential Italian cartoonists of his generation. His graphic novels are perennial best-sellers in Italy and have received international acclaim.
Pacinotti was born in 1963 in Pisa, Italy, where he still lives. He started his career as an illustrator for the publishing and advertising fields. Since 1992, Gipi has created illustrations and comics for several Italian magazines and newspapers, such as Cuore, Il Clandestino, Il Manifesto, La Straniero, Internationale, La Repubblica.
Gipi's graphic novel Note per una Storia di Guerra (Notes for a War Story) won the 'Best Book Award' at the 2006 Angoulême International Comics Festival in France. His other notable works include: LMVDM, La mia vita disegnata male (2008, translated as MBDL, My Badly Drawn Life), unastoria (2013, translated as One Story), La terra dei figli (2016, translated as Land of the Sons), Momenti straordinari con applausi finti (2019).
He also teaches and has directed the film The Last Man on Earth (2011).

Reviews

[Orsodimondo · Rating 5 out of 5]

FUORI SEMBRANO PIÙ GROSSI, DENTRO SONO PIÙ PICCOLI



I tre protagonisti di questa storia, Giuliano, Christian e Stefano il Killerino, fuori sembrano più grossi, ma dentro sono più piccoli.
Come tutti quelli che sono cresciuti troppo in fretta, hanno dovuto indossare una divisa che li mostra tosti, duri, scafati, pronti. Grossi.
Ma dentro rimangono cuccioli. Adolescenti. Emotivamente ancora piccoli.



Un’altra meraviglia made in Gipi, se ho capito bene la sua prima vera e propria graphic novel.

Una bellissima storia d’amicizia e romanzo di formazione raccontato con bellissimi disegni: infinite tonalità di grigi, china, penna fine, visi aguzzi...
La trama progredisce, l’intreccio si spessisce, ma senza evitare pause, osservazione, sviluppo dei caratteri, riflessione.
I cattivi non sono mai solo cattivi, e neppure ‘troppo’ cattivi.
Il cinema è nel sangue del Gipi, si vede: ma si legge pure, visto che un documentario è parte essenziale di questo romanzo a disegni.



Provincia italiana, direi toscana, quella che il Gipi conosce bene (è pisano). Tutti i paesi hanno nome di santi, altra trovata geniale.
Ma la situazione ricorda molto una guerra recente e prossima, quella nell’ex Jugoslavia. Una guerra sporca (come se ne esistessero di pulite… forse le guerre pulite sono quelle fatte con le bombe intelligenti…)
La guerra, però, Gipi la racconta senza mostrarla se non marginalmente: sono gli aspetti collaterali che lo interessano di più, le conseguenze, più che gli eventi bellici in sé, più che l’azione e gli scontri armati.

Finale eccezionale, un bellissimo colpo di scena, e di coda. Ma niente spoiler.



PS
Con questa opera Gipi ha vinto nel 2006 il premio al Festival International de la bande dessinée d’Angoulême, il più importante e prestigioso comic festival d’Europa.

[Uroš Đurković · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sjajan je Đipi! Njegov vešti gvaš reže tačno gde treba, otvarajući ceo strip ka teretu granice. Taj teret je i beskrajan teror – a nekad je predsoblje užasa od užasa užasnije.

I inače, dok sa jedne strane, kroz medije, imamo navalu agresije i smrti, mnogi su se sasvim odvikli od ideje da rat može da im se ušunja. A ratno stanje se proširuje daleko van okvira samog rata i postaje način odnošenja prema svetu. Ne morate biti u ratu da biste ratovali.

A s obzirom na to, provlači mi se jedna uznemirujuća misao – šta ako je jedina suština mladića u delu to što je nesporazum sa svetom jedina njihova mogućnost? Znam da je to daleka asocijacija, ali pao mi je na pamet spot Arcade Fire za pesmu „The Suburbs”.

Đipijeve „Beleške” imaju, vredi istaći, i zanimljive autoironične momente (obratiti pažnju na snove i na kraj), a u celini pokazuju kako strip funkcioniše kao samostalna umetnost – nesvodljiva na književnost ili slikarstvo.

[Dave Schaafsma · Rating 4 out of 5]

I hadn't loved Gipi's follow up to this, Garage Band, which is about boys drifting optimistically into getting together a rock band, eh, nice art, though… so didn't anticipate liking this that much and ending up liking it quite a bit more. Darker, someone else here (Sam Q?) said it reminded of The Lord of the Flies, because it involved teenaged boys that drift somewhat optimistically into an opportunistic life at the edge of a gang during an endless war. Three boys, one of them from a bit more money, two poor, they are friends and they just sort of want to be friends and part of what each other are part of, and with something that helps ten get out of their spinning the wheels young life, and they drift into this gang life which is violent and dangerous. And they do at some point get into the war as kinds of mercenaries of sorts, people who fight without political purpose, they don't know anything about that, they are just moving along into possible terror. So this isn't about battles but the edge of war, and lost youth and it is totally compelling and sad as the boys and the gang come to life. They are just boys without ambition beyond getting nicer clothes and maybe someday a motorcycle or something. The edge of war, not in it. Beautiful pen and oils work that puts a kind of romantic, nostalgic, melancholy feel to the story. Powerful. Memorable. But totally a guy's close-lipped world, very reticent and subtle, not glamorous in any way except in the art. I might have even liked it more than 4 stars, but I just finished it; let it simmer a bit and see how it lingers in my memory. I really liked it, though.

[Nazım · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gipi benim için her zaman özel. Onun olaylar ya da durumlardan ziyade duyguları ve duyguların etkilerini binbir çeşit metaforla anlatmasını çok seviyorum. Çizgileri, kelimeleri hacminden çok farklı boyutlara dönüştürebiliyor.

"Bir savaş hikayesi için notlar", Gipi'nin Lokal gibi ilk dönem işlerinden. İtalya kırsalında gerçek(!) olmayan bir savaşı gayet gerçek durumlar ve hislerle anlatıyor. 2si kayıp ve biri kaybolmaya razı 3 gencin paralı asker olma hikayesi özetle. Ama camdan atlayan adam, küçük katil, vatanseverik kısımlarını göz önüne alınca çok daha fazlasına dönüşüyor.

Türkçe Gipi külliyatının en güzel parçalarından biri olacak. Nefis.


*Baskı konusunda ise Karakarga'nın bir miktar özensizliği mevcut. 4-5 yerde hatalı balon sıraları, titrek/flu baskı vs. Basit bir son okumayla bile çözülecek basit hatalar. İnsan hayret ediyor.

[Dov Zeller · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a story about young men and desperation and I would go so far as to say, about what happens in a bleak masculine landscape of emotional and spiritual starvation.

Three young men Giuliano, Stefano and Christian, are stalking a brutalized territory for any sign of nourishment. They may not see it this way, but what they are really starving for is a community with a clear hierarchy, one in which they have a clear role to play, in which they are valued, contributing members. The moment they find approving male attention, they are drawn in with uncanny ease. And Felix, this charismatic gang leader, in classic fashion, chooses one of the three friends, Stefano, the Little Killer, over the others, and takes him under his wing, teaching him very quickly to dehumanize his friends (a necessary skill in Felix's view of leadership.) Of course, in the end, Stefano is just as disposable to Felix as the rest. This sequence of events does not seem out of place in any way in the world of this graphic novel. Gipi seems to say, while gang violence is not unique to war-torn places, it can flourish uniquely in them.

Maybe it is because I am reading "The Bonobo and The Atheist" right now, that I am thinking so much about primates and power structures and the importance of authority and hierarchy. These power structures can be the cause of war, but they can also be the reason so much peace is kept so much of the time. It is not that the powerful men in this story (Felix and Stefano are the two characters I am thinking of) are providing adequate primate leadership, the kind that values empathic, productive connection, but that they are providing any structure at all is a great relief to Giuliani and Christian. The approbation/abuse (in some ways one and the same) and income Felix and Stefano provide is enough to win the loyalty, and in moments the love and respect of their "followers."

At the start of this story, Giulino, Stefano and Christian are restless, aimless kids, their lives ravaged not only by living, as a goodreads friend so beautifully puts it "at the edge of war" or, I would say on the very fringes of a war-torn landscape, but by not having a way to see themselves as valued community members with any kind of agency. Once Felix provides them with a sense of belonging, they three friends very quickly acclimate to criminal activities. In the end, only Giuliano, whose birth-family is stable and relatively nurturing, can see Felix for what he is: a dangerous, manipulative thug who doesn't value people at all, except as pawns.

One of the thing I think sets this book apart from other similar stories is the mood created by the art, which is both sharp and dulling, somehow offers a window into the bleakness with an incredibly richness that both invites and keeps that insolent distance we see, so often, kept within the story in each of its layers. The stunning dream sequences folds the story in a literary embrace that makes it more emotionally rich and also more chilling.

[Sam Quixote · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the story of 3 young men in an unnamed war-torn country trying to survive the conflict. They meet a local gangster and begin working for him. The narrator is a middle class boy who's left his family to be with his friends, both of whom are orphans. One of the orphans called Little Killer becomes leader of their small group as they become gangsters themselves. Eventually they become involved as freedom fighters in the conflict but the narrator is separated from his two friends. He returns home to his family rather than fight. He never sees his two friends again.

The story is well told and the blasted, barren landscapes of endless country with a tunnel of smoke coming from it and the empty, damaged cities add a sense of doomed apocalypse to the story. The landscapes reminded me of "Waltz with Bashir" and Joe Sacco's work, but it tells a different story of survival away from the armed conflicts. It's a story of lost youth and misplaced optimism as the narrator realises there's no escaping the war. The images of headless men first in a dream then glimpsed in the returning prisoners who pull their coats up over their heads to avoid the international press, is a haunting one and very powerful. Gipi tells a tragic but gripping tale that's a fantastic graphic novel.

[etelium · Rating 4 out of 5]

+ şunu düşünsene: bir ülkeye giriyorsun ve senin oluyor. her istediğini alabiliyorsun. kadınların hepsi senin. evler arabalar motorlar.
- eh karşılığında ne yapılması gerek?
+ üzerine arma dikilmiş bir ceket giymek. bir bayrağa selam vermek. iki dakikada öğrenilen bir marş söylemek. vatanseverlik yapmak.
- vatanseverlik mi? ne demek olduğunu bile bilmiyorum…
+ canın ne istiyorsa onu yapmak demek. ama bunu vatan için yaptığını söylüyorsun.

[Hillary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Maybe I should just find the list of what's won best book at Angouleme each year and go by that for a while because they certainly seem to have taste. I wasn't really looking forward to reading this, with its William Steig-esque art and its serious subject matter (war in an unidentified Balkan country), but it really grabbed me. For one thing, Gipi's art has a real depth to it. The drawing bit might be scritchy-scratchy, but the oils (yes, oils) that overlay it suggest night and rain and Europe and darkness in a beautiful way. The repeated dreams may have a fairly obvious symbolism to them, but the character development, even in a relatively short book, is impressive. The three main characters are easily distinguished from one another, not only visually, but in terms of background and motivation, and the narrative provides new insight into what, exactly, feeds wars these days (self-interest rather than misguided patriotism; the patriotism is, for the most part, a front). Really interesting stuff.

[Fra · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Quanto ti devono scoppiare vicino le bombe, per farti dire che una guerra è tua?”

Universalmente valido, a prescindere da distanza temporale e distanza geografica dall'ambientazione della storia.

[Murat · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mükemmel!

Bazı eserlerde (kitap olur/grafik roman vb.), tüm teknik açıklamaların ve eleştirel şablonların ötesinde tarifi zor bir lezzet oluyor. Genellikle yaratıcılarının ilk dönem eserlerine ait bu lezzet; okuyucunun eserde, eserin atmosferinde, kahramanların kişilik ve edimlerinde kendisini bulmasından kaynaklanabileceği gibi... eserin yaratıcısının iç dünyasından damıttığı saf bir akışkanı çevrilen her sayfada okuyucuya zerk etmesinden de kaynaklanabilir. Okuyucu uyuşur ve gülümser bir şekilde başka bir gerçekliğin içine yol alır.

Bir Savaş Hikayesi için Notlar, benim için böyle bir eser.

[John Blacksad · Rating 4 out of 5]

#gipi işte…

Türkçe basılan tüm kitaplarını aldım. Pişman değilim. Ama hem ülkemizde hem dünyada bir “overrated” durum var hissine kapılmadan edemiyorum. “Gipi çıplak” diyesim geliyor zaman zaman. Tesadüf bu ya, kitabın sonunda Gipi de Angouleme’deki bir ödülün hayatında nasıl bir kırılma yarattığını, öncesi sonrası müthiş farkı anlatıyor. Hülasa bir yetenek elbette var. Sembolik ve güncel sanat paradigmalarına, beklentilerine uygun bir anlatım da var. Ama bu çıkardığı sesi karşılıyor mu emin değilim.

Bu kitap özeline gelirsek yine zamansızlık, zamanda müphemlik, alternatiflik tercih etmiş. Başta benim gibi okuru huzursuz ediyor. Çünkü kitabın bir arka kapak yazısı dahi yok. (Spoiler olmaz kanaatindeyim) okumaya başlıyorsunuz, bir savaş atmosferi var, İtalya gibi. Ama zamanı anlamak hemen mümkün değil. Eski gibi de, günümüz gibi de… Türk okur olarak Avrupa/İtalya geçmişinde bir savaş/dönem mi işaret ediliyor derken görüyoruz ki bu olmayan bir zaman dilimiymiş. Bugünlere de yakın sanki. Bilgisayar falan var :) Bu savaş atmosferinde üç arkadaşın (orada da yaşlarda ve tiplerde bir kargaşa var ama toparlanıyor, yahut oruç/hipoglisemi de beni biraz blurluyor 😅) kimsesiz bir üçlünün başından geçenleri okumaya başlıyoruz.

Savaş bölgeleri var, savaştan daha az etkilenen bölgeler var. Arka plan ve travmaları farklı üç karakterimiz var. Aslında savaşa, aileye, suça, duyarlılığa, ait hissetmeye dair güzel mesajları var hikayenin buralarını sevdim. Fakat iş bir noktada ve de hızla başlık ve temadaki savaştan daha klasik bir suç örgütü hikayesine dönüşüyor. Ben diyeyim Tarantino, siz deyin Scorsese tipinde. Ama bu noktada da eserin tüm altlığını yaptığı savaş atmosferi mantığı (bana göre) boşa düşüyor? Bu tema olmasaydı da, pekala bu üç kader arkadaşının suça giden öyküsünü okuyabilirdik?

Gipi suluboyayı keyifli kullanıyor. Kitap büyük boy ve kuşe basılmış. Son dönemde bu keyfi bulmak kolay değil. Kitap sonunda Gipi’nin yazısı, eskizleri ve karakter tasarımlarıyla baskı olarak başarılı bir iş çıkarılmış. Bu değiniler sonrasında tercih size kalmış. Kitaptan çarpıcı bir alıntı ile bitireyim;

“Söylesene, senin savaşın olması için bombalar senin ne kadar yakınında patlamalı?”

[ComicNerdSam · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gipi's art is wonderfully loose and seems to have pure menace behind it. I don't think you could read any page of this without feeling uneasy. It heightens the story, which is fantastic. A fucked up coming of age story that never drags or rushes. It's just perfect, and the ending hits like a ton of bricks.

[Colleen AF · Rating 4 out of 5]

The last page of this book seriously put chills up my spine. I was luke-warm to the story up until that point, but the ending was stellar. (No cheating and just reading the ending now!)

[alex ✧ · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Cristian, il Killerino, Giuliano. Loro stanno ancora là, ancora in bilico verso il finale. Se ne fregano di me e dei miei cambiamenti, dei diminutivi, del paraculismo, del mio essermi indurito con l’età. Sono in fuga da una guerra. Vogliono trovare da mangiare. Farsi un nome. Trovare una casa. Lo faranno per sempre. Sono migliori di me” - Gipi

Appunti per una storia di guerra è il capolavoro che porta Gipi al successo e per cui ottiene numerosi riconoscimenti internazionali. Ho amato questa veloce, velocissima lettura.
Le tecniche utilizzate riflettono il tono della storia, cupo, tetro e drammatico: l’inchiostro dai toni del blu scuro dona ad Appunti per una storia di guerra sensazioni ancora più intense. Questa guerra senza nome e senza senso fa quasi da sfondo alle vicende che tre ragazzi, diversi per il loro passato ma accumunati dal drammatico quanto reale destino di essere cresciuti troppo in fretta, sono costretti a vivere e, uno di loro, Giuliano, anche a raccontare. Di una profondità grezza e delicata allo stesso tempo.

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gipi riesce a raccontare questa storia con immenso tatto e una straordinaria umanità. Il Killerino, Christian e Giuliano esistono, sono reali. Ogni tratto viene delineato con precisione, li vediamo per come sono esattamente.

“Appunti per una storia di guerra” è molto di più di un racconto per tavole - sono tre ragazzi che vivono la guerra visti attraverso delle lenti che ne mostrano la parte più umana, quella che non può che arrivare a tutti. Un libro emozionante realizzato con grande maestria.

[Simone Cerino · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pazzesco, un capolavoro.

[Emre Yavuz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Son zamanlarda okuduğum en iyi grafik romanlardan biri.

[Matt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Unless there are any last minute surprises, Gipi's Notes for a War Story is my book of the year.

Kept me thinking long after I put the book down.

[Raina · Rating 1 out of 5]

I just don't find Gipi's humans appealing or relatable at all. Too many sharp noses and unibrows. Or maybe I was feeling lazy the night I picked it up. I like his landscapes.

[Stephane · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the story of three boys and the chaos/opportunities inherent to a war zone. Two of the boys come from broken families, one lost his parents when he was young, and the other only knows his mom from a signature at the orphanage... The third, the narrator, is different. He has a family, he has options, yet he decides to tag along. It is unclear why, but again the immature mind will often err, as they say...

We will witness the progression, as the kids are drifting from larceny, to petty crimes, to more violent endeavors, but at the end, its all about the people you meet and the relationship your forge, and one day, trying to sell car parts, the boys are going to meet one person that is going to chart a path forward for them.

It was a great story, very engaging. Don't skip the short afterword, it is worth your while, providing insights into the behavior of the boys. Indeed, when you are just a kid tangled up in a unpredictable and chaotic environment, imagine the attraction that a tool like a gun might have, a tool that immediately gives you so much power and control... how could you not want it?

I do not enjoy the practicality of massive, heavy coffee table books when it comes the time to actually read them (I prefer to read laying on my back) but this was even worse, this was much too small! Obviously this is the editor's fault, but that's too bad, really. Cramming so many panels in a format hardly bigger than a pocket book doesn't facilitate the enjoyment of the art...

[Kelly Furniss · Rating 4 out of 5]

Grovel Review.
These boys live in a war-torn country, where entire towns and villages can disappear overnight. They’re rootless, with no obvious family and no way of finding support or friendship outside their own small circle. The country is nameless though the region seems based on those embroiled in the Eastern European conflicts of the 1990s.
The three boys, Stefano, Giuliano (the narrator) and Christian (who prefers to go by the name of Little Killer), inevitably fall under the spell of a mercenary called Felix, who is running a local crime syndicate and fighting on the side. They boys get well paid to do jobs for him, starting with simple package delivery and leading to extortion and heavy-handed debt collection. Little Killer becomes their de-facto leader, slowly turning into a little Felix in his own right.
It’s an immensely powerful story on the cost of war. Without showing any violence it subtly demonstrates how a war can destroy the lives of innocents, especially in the context of Gipi’s other works.

[kübra terzi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yalnız hisler.

[Phyllis · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one is great, but Land of the Sons by Gipi is even better (and darker). The art in Notes for a War Story is great. The size of the page (paperback) is too small to do it justice.

[Roberto · Rating 3 out of 5]

Gioventù bruciata

Come si comporterebbero adolescenti di diverso carattere e estrazione sociale se lasciati a loro stessi durante una guerra improvvisa? Da che parte starebbero? Come sopravvivrebbero?

Si approfitterebbero dei più deboli o starebbero dalla loro parte? Cercherebbero di combattere i soprusi o sarebbero i primi a perpetrarli? Seguirebbero gli amici anche se questi si comportassero in modo scorretto? In altre parole, seguirebbero le leggi del branco o penserebbero con la loro testa?

Gli adolescenti vogliono essere apprezzati, accettati dal gruppo, vogliono assomigliare al più forte, vogliono dimostrare di essere insensibili e spietati, anche se dentro di loro non lo sono affatto.

Difficile sfuggire alla logica del branco; per farlo bisogna essere maturi, bisogna pensare con la propria testa, bisogna saper pesare gli avvenimenti secondo una scala personale propria.

Questo è il tema di questa graphic novel, dove Gipi ci mostra un mondo in cui la debolezza della struttura sociale, le disparità, il consumismo creano un vuoto di valori difficilmente colmabile che può purtroppo idealmente confluire in una insana attrazione per la guerra.

Cosa ci differenzia uno dall'altro? L'educazione? L'istruzione? Il bisogno? La morale?
Probabilmente si diventa "grandi" solo quando si inizia a pensare con la propria testa. Ma "come" pensare, chi ce lo insegna?

[Dario Malic · Rating 2 out of 5]

Postaje očito da meni Gipi jednostavno ne leži. Bilješke sam prvi put čitao kad je izašlo hrvatsko izdanje i gotovo u potpunosti zaboravio strip. Ostalo je samo sjećanje da je dojam bio slab. Sad, nakon drugog čitanja, mogu to i potvrditi. Prije svega tu je specifičan Gipijev crtež koji mi nikako ne odgovara, ali s vremenom sam uvidio da njegovi akvareli mogu posjedovati određenu draž i kad bi me priča uvukla i obuzela mogu zamisliti da bi mi i crtež postajao sve bolji. No ovdje to nažalost nije slučaj. Priča o tri tinejdžera u području zahvaćenom ratom funkcionirala bi puno bolje kada bi njeni glavni likovi bili kompleksniji i kad bi Gipijeve misli i poante bile suptilnije iskazane. Ovako mi to sve djeluje nekako umjetno i čak i autorov pogovor, koji nam otkriva svojevrsnu autobiografsku komponentu, ne pomaže. Dapače. Imam osjećaj da je promišljeno napisan s namjerom da dotakne čitatelja i da, u vidu emocija, u njemu nema ništa stvarno. Naravno, lako moguće da sam ja u krivu i da je sve to skupa super, pogotovo s obzirom na ugled koji Gipi uživa i kod publike i kod kritike. I sama činjenica da ovoliko razmišljam i pišem o stripu ukazuje da tu očito nešto ima, no Gipijev snažan autorski pečat za mene i dalje ne predstavlja znak kvalitete.

[Mike Fiore · Rating 2 out of 5]

Gipi's "Notes for a War Story" recounts the tale of three friends in a country torn by civil war. The friends start out as the run-of-the-mill ruffians you would expect to find in a previous warzone, trying to find ways to get by. They stumple across a set of jumper cables and other miscellaneous car maintenance materials and decide to try to find a buyer. That buyer changed their lives. A militia soldier named Phoenix not only bought the car parts, but took the three under his wing as militia trainees. Doing what is essentially mob work, collecting debts, making drug runs, etc., the three friends work their way up Phoenix's respect until they eventually join the militia forces and are separated. One of the three abandons the militia and tells his story to the media, giving us the tale of these three friends.

Overall, it was a decent read. It was a bit hard to follow at some points, which explains my lack of a clear explanation, and most of the graphic novel was just plain boring. I wouldn't really recommend it to anyone.

[Swampy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Blown away.

Fabulous artwork, yes it is oils, amazing dialogue and a truly eye opening account of youth in war. The three main characters represent the very worst of an impressionistic youth and how we as humans try to survive abandonment, false unity and ideology. Anorexic in detail and unashamedly masculine throughout the book, Gipi portrays pain, isolation and tragedy of conflict on society without ever really going in to detail of a / any / the war beyond three young boys lives.

Brilliant!

[Derek Royal · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wonderful, stark look at the war-torn Balkans during the 1990s. Gipi doesn't particularize the location or country, but what we have in Notes for a War Story could have taken place at any location in that region. The book also has a self-reflexive tone, which I particularly appreciate. And Gipi's use of color interspersed with black-and-white are effective in establishing both temporal location as well as mood.

[Twan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gorgeous monochrome artwork with what I thought was done in watercolour until I read the afterword, turns out is was all done in oils(?!!) compliments the harsh tale of 3 teenage lads trying to stick together and fit in as an unnamed civil war takes place around them.

I'm off to buy more of Gipi's stuff.

[Deji · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best graphic novels that I have ever read. Taught me a lot about the power of the medium. It's a totally unique tone that I have never felt before, even if the drawings lack the deft hand of a master cartoonist. Phenomenal.