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Le Petit Bleu De La Côte Ouest (2000)

by Jean-Patrick Manchette(Favorite Author)

3.84 of 5 Votes: 5

ISBN

2754801987 (ISBN13: 9782754801980)

languge

English

genre

Graphic Novels & Comics

review 1: It seems that this novel is one of those moments that make me think that the European style is doomed to fail in comparison to the American comics school. When it comes to comics and illustration, there are enough Frenchies that can blow Tardi's caricatural yet soulless style sky high - take Franquin and Uderzo and Goscinny, for example. Those are truly masterful comics artists, and this book serves as an excellent example for "don't"s in comics. It's sloppy in execution (especially the violence scenes appear as rather contrived and tasteless, save for the headshot delivered to Gerfaut's newly acquired girlfriend), and unbelievably insipid and minor in scope. The slang doesn't help too much either in making things flow more easily. Initially, I was tempted to flame this al... moreso for the jazz references, thinking that the narrator sought desperately to make the atmosphere more "groovee", but after seeing more of the objects implied in the scenery (Cutty Sark bottles and so on) I prefer to think that the jazz thing is well integrated into the social melting pot that seems to be on subtle display over the course of the novel. Tardi's options in approaching human physiognomy are something of a knife sharpened on both edges - one could praise him for the tiny differences that he manages to draw between very similar faces of different characters, or could criticize his creations for the very same reason, the all too striking similarity between character's faces. All in all, a disappointing read. I don't know where the "mordant wit" vanished in this novel, but I do know that it lacks any power of making more seasoned readers want to read it again.
review 2: I'm always so excited to find more Tardi books that have been translated and this is a really interesting one. It's actually a graphic novel that has been adapted from the original novel by Jean-Patrick Manchette. I haven't read the original so I am not sure how this compares in terms of accuracy but the best part about this one is the mood. In many ways, the plot is far fetched and yet a little formulaic, though somewhat reminiscent of Cohen Bros. It starts with a late night 90mph drive and an accident..wrong place, wrong time then running for one's life. The protagonist is married with kids but certainly doesn't act the part for one frame of the novel. He meets a whole set of characters on the run from the hired assassins and one gets the impression that he's able to handle everything and everyone that comes to him until his life returns to normal..and if by chance he doesn't really have amnesia about the whole thing, he'll just take his Five Roses Bourbon and his barbiturates before hitting the road again. This is much less whimsical than the Adventures of Adéle Blanc-Sec and the narrative is more an outlandish crime fiction. Still, the drawings are great and it's engaging enough to make it worthwhile reading. less

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