Notes for a War Story (Paperback)

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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Award-winning Italian graphic novelist Gipi (Garage Band, The Innocents) returns with this bleak tale of three young drifters making their way across the war-torn landscape of an unnamed Balkan country. Told from the point of view of protagonist Giuliano, the narrative traces his path as he is forced to go through the peripheral results of war as a deadening day-to-day struggle to find food and shelter while avoiding the occasional stray bullet. Falling in with Felix, a sleazy criminal kingpin, Giuliano and his companions soon serve as executors for Felix's extortion racket and later move up the underworld food chain into endeavors in a city removed from the hardships of the war, petty thuggery slowly escalating to murder. Gipi keeps the war itself off screen, instead allowing the conflict's effects upon the young men to play out in numb, soulless detail, a storytelling device that affords the tale a stark and depressing realism further driven home by the cartoony illustrations. While not easy reading, the affecting story is made even more powerful by the understated execution. Winner of the Best Book prize at the Angoulême Comics Festival in 2005. (Aug.)
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From Booklist

Revisiting themes from his first American release, Garage Band (2007), Italian writer and artist Gipi tells a much darker story of disassociated youth and the bonds of friendship. Giuliano, Christian, and Little Killer wander aimlessly about an unidentified Balkan country, avoiding the militia and the shelling that a ubiquitous war has brought to their homeland. When they get into the good graces of Felix, a charming and dangerous war profiteer, they become embroiled in his crime operations and sent to the big city, where their friendship and mettle are put to the test. As grim as could be, from the bleak narration to the intentionally gruesome, black-and-white art, War Story never loses track of the fact that these are children, swept up in a situation too difficult for most adults to grasp. Their youth—evidenced by their covetous enthusiasm for motorcycles and video games—exacerbates the class jealousies, which flare up repeatedly, and the braggadocio with which two of the trio head toward their disturbing and inevitable end. Karp, Jesse

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Product Details

• Paperback: 128 pages
• Publisher: First Second; 1st edition (August 7, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1596432616
• ISBN-13: 978-1596432611
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 6.3 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #190,521 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Gritty Reality of War Torn Life, September 23, 2008

By	Matthew Hundley "Matthew Hundley" (Saint Louis, MO USA) - See all my reviews

I read this on the heals of watching "Children of God." In some ways there were similar themes of children turned to a life of guns, crime...war. This novel also brought to mind tales of my friends who experienced the war first hand in Bosnia and Croatia. And even of those who now have had to live with the war in Iraq on their turf. Gipi never stipulates place...because this could be anywhere. The style is unique. The story is gripping. A graphic novel which certainly stays with you long after you've set it down.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Master of storytelling, July 9, 2009

By	Martin - See all my reviews

Its really hard to find a comic artist in the magnitude of the old masters in this pile of superhero and manga garbage of today but Gipi really gets close to the likes of Hugo Pratt, Moebius and the other gods imo. Not only he is as good but he lacks the superficialims and narcissism that some of these great artists had (Manara comes to mind). He doesnt draw just to make beautiful pictures but to make his characters and stories jump of the page.

His lines are simple and flow incredibly with the motion, feelings and mood of his characters. His watercolors blend magically and add depth and atmopshere in a natural way. Storytelling and pace is excellent and I do love his complex characters and imaginative and lively dialogue. A true genious.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing, July 18, 2008

By	Andre P. Szymanowicz - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This is probably one of the most amazing comics I've ever read. The watercolors are gorgeous and the story is compelling. Gipi is truly a master of his craft.