No Pasaran! Vol. 2 (Spanish Civil War) [Paperback]

Vittorio Giardino (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 18, 2002

The leftist forces are retreating north as Franco's army advances with the help of German and Italian aviation. Max Friedman approaches the front, posing as a photographer in a small group of foreign journalists. He flashes back to battles fought with his old comrade Guido Treves, who has gone missing and is the object of his mission. Amidst the ruin of war, Claire, the pretty Belgian reporter who got Max his press credentials, is developing a strong attraction to him, arousing the jealousy of her fellow reporter and would-be-boyfriend, Phil Lester. Caught in the middle of a retreat, Max and Claire get separated from the rest of their group. They have to cross a mountain pass and take shelter in a hut -- the romantic tension builds, but gets snuffed by the urgent need to press onward.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

The second part of Giardino's Spanish civil war story (volume 1 appeared in 2000) opens with French Swiss businessman Max Friedman at last at the front of the conflict along the Ebro River in northeastern Spain. Posing as a photojournalist, Max continues searching for his friend Guido Treves, missing since early 1938. Traveling with real journalists and a driver who has orders to kill him, Max gets separated twice from everyone except the young female journalist who has taken a shine to him--once to rescue some civilians from bombing rubble, and again to be shot at during a retreat from Franco's Nationalists. Meanwhile, the Communists back in Barcelona are scheming, the Republicans aren't getting reinforcements, and still no word about Guido. Plentiful action compensates for lack of information about what to expect in part 3. Giardino's realistic, cinematic style keeps things interesting, but one still wishes there was more meat on this bone. The third and final helping had better deliver. Ray Olson
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Product Details

• Paperback: 48 pages
• Publisher: NBM Publishing (September 18, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1561633135
• ISBN-13: 978-1561633135
• Product Dimensions: 12 x 8.1 x 0.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,115,974 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A good story that needs more definition, August 27, 2003

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rampageous_cuss (Under Billy Penn's Hat) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: No Pasaran! Vol. 2 (Spanish Civil War) (Paperback)

I've always enjoyed the work of Vittorio Giardino, the best contemporary practitioner of the "Belgian style" of comix illustration. His stories are almost always tales of intrigue, mostly starring Max Bergman, an agent of the French "Deuxieme Bureau."

In this series Max is working on his own, searching for a an old comrade-in-arms, now an officer in Spain's Republican Army, who has disappeared in the Spanish Civil War after falling into disfavor with the Republican secret police.

Max travels to the front with a beautiful young French correspondant and other, more cynical members of the press corps. We see the devastation of the war and get a feel for the political undercurrents swirling around the Republican cause.

Unfortunately, like the previous book this is not really a complete episode by itself, and ends without a clear climax. The subject matter is fascinating, the characterization and attention to historical detail are excellent, but the plotting is weak and the story is simply a kind of picaresque ramble through the war.