No Pasaran! Vol. 1

I love the conscientiousness of the prologue which sets the historical stage of Franco's coup. The protagonist is fit into relationships with major players with as much authenticity as fiction can afford and that earns tremendous respect. The art is solid in every layer: the backgrounds are well researched and detailed accordingly while avoiding cliche, EVERY person is detailed to individually so that they stand out against the rest and the color is appropriately dulled while retaining its beauty to represent the presence of war in beautiful and nuanced locales. I must remind you that the presence of ANY color should not be taken for granted when a single creator does the rest- whether they do the color themselves or not!

Vittorio Giardino is the best contemporary practitioner of the "Belgian style" of comix illustration, and his stories are always intriguing - because they're almost always about intrigue!Max Bergman, sometime French spy living in Switzerland, is visited in 1938 by the wife of an old comrade-in-arms. Max's friend, an officer in the Republican Army, has disappeared in the Spanish Civil War. Max agrees to return to Spain to search for him.The officer has actually fallen foul of the Communist secret police who are part of the Republican war effort. They are fighting "fifth column" saboteurs, who are trying to undermine the Republican war effort and help the Nationalists to win. The head of the secret police is an old enemy of Max's.Max arrives in Spain with a young French correspondant who is frustrated by the control over the press exercised by the Communists. While Max visits old friends in search of the missing officer, she arranges for him to visit the front under a press pass.This is not really a complete episode in and of itself, and leaves us hanging in many ways. Unfortunately so does part II of the series, in which Max reaches the front in the midst of Republican reverses. The characterization and attention to historical detail are excellent, but the plotting is weak and the story rambles.

Giardino's work is unique for his historical accuracy and the breadth of his knowledge. No Pasaran captures, among other episodes, the tensions between the Stalinists and the Anarchists and Trotskyists in the Spanish Civil war. There are wonderful renditions of the incredible architecture of Barcelona. His work is so rich on many levels. I can't wait until part two.

I first discovered Italian cartoonist Giardino through his series A Jew in Communist Prague and was thrilled to see him tackle the Spanish Civil War in this new volume. Apparently it continues the story of spy Max Friedman from earlier volumes, which I have not seen. Set in the waning days of the Civil War in 1938, disillusioned former International Brigade officer Friedman returns to Barcelona to track down an old friend who's gone missing. Whether this is at the hands of Franco's secret police, Communist apparatchiks trying to control the anti-fascist forces, or some other unknown force is not disovered by the end of the volume. More interesting than the plot is Giardino's strong artwork, which beautifully captures the battle-scarred art noveau buildings of 1930s Barcelona. I look forward to the plot thickening in the next volume.

No Pasaran! returns the comic illustrator's Max Friedman series of spy graphic novels to new audiences with a tale set during the Spanish Civil War. The complexity of plot and presentation will appeal to adults who like a dose of history and intrigue with their graphic novel.