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Rating: 
Summary: A Real Treat
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: A Real Treat
Review: 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.
Rating: 
Summary: A Nice Start
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: A good story that needs more definition
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: A good story that needs more definition
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: Will appeal to adults who like history and intrigue
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: Recommended: " No Pasaran !" & " A Jew in Communist Prague".
Review: PREFACE: "NO PASARAN!" VOL. 1-2 TPs by Vittorio Giardino, is a good, passable work to ahold, it masterly features talking heads, slow & deliberate pacing, that tells the epical proportion of a spy/espionage thriller of Max Friedman. Still and all, this bulk of a write-up in not for "No Pasaran!", but rather for "A Jew in Communist Prague", which is also raconteured by the same author. I presume this is a grandoise predilection to recommend for No Pasaran! enthusiasts.
"A JEW IN COMMUNIST PRAGUE" VOL. 1-3 TPs by Vittorio Giardino. Insuperable, lofty, & a darn unfaltering imagining of a Jewish boy reckoning's, a coming-of-age signification of a comicbook....in 1950's Communist Prague. A powerful writing, roundly flawless, a guaranteed masterpiece, plus with an eye-filling art. For pertinent browsers-- zealots or neophytes alike.
Vol. 1, the story, obliges within the nimbus of 1950 Prague, Czechoslovakia. Jonas Finkel, the protagonist & the son of a bourgeois. His father, Dr. Finkel is forthwith apprehended & vanishes for no clear cause at all. The Communism order of a government in Prague blindingly renounces all prerogatives going for the Finkels such as freezing their assets, prying their ways, & depriving Jonas of abiding schooling & as well his mother, of procuring estimable jobs instead of odd manual labor, due to hardship they know sans her husband.
Vol. 2 carries on, as Jonas reaches his teen years. His father was arrested for "anti-socialist activities" (counter-revolutionary activities & espionage) from those bygone days of war. Void of realized education, Jonas plods from one menial job to another until he finally found his pinings-- a nigh, lasting pursuit in a small, neighborhood bookstore. On that point, abling found his moment to express his dissidence-- in a way by joining a recalcitrant group of teens who stealthily congregate at Petrin Park to sing & recite forbidden texts. Amid the crowd is a blonde with a blue-eyed girl names Tatiana, who at first sight titillates Jonas' heart.
Vol. 3 gravely picks-up the paces & shines its beacon on the literary movement of which Jonas has gallivated to, with the government on their heels chasing the shadows to ferret them out. Meanwhile, Jonas learns his bookstore owner is deeply in mire in one himself & he has to intrepidly exacts great peril to aid his wishes.
A Jew in Communist Prague-- for me, is a certified one of the bestest graphic novels mustered up & Vittorio Giardino, a snap as one of the arch graphic novelists ever traipses, fornent 2 of my most cherished writers-- the peerless Stan Lee & the conversant J.M. DeMatteis.
It is blasphemous not to adore the artwork for its lone beauty, meticulous panels & perfect presentation. And the colors are sprawl in light, pastel combinations that rebound easy to ones eyes.
A CAVEAT EMPTOR. It contains explicit sexual contents in vol. 1 & has a mild, very short burst of sexual connotation on vol. 3. Still, an appropriate book for young adults upward.
These 3 volumes each sizes at 8.5" width X 11" lenght in format, softcover yet satiably sewn & sturdy, have 48 pages of contents for each vol. 1 & 2, while have 56 pages for vol. 3.
A quick brush to anti-semitism. To my surprise, there is no cue or whatsoever of anti-semitic. Perhaps it is in the murkiest details & in fleeting nuances, & I am not adept enought to place.
This title was at first figured gleefully a quartet-to-be, but the supposed "concluding" installment misses coming out. Still, it can be considered a good enough "finished product" by the 3 volumes themselves.
These others are also the same good readings. "No Pasaran!" vol. 1-2 TPs by Vittorio Giardino; "To the Heart of the Storm" TP by Will Eisner; "Hey, wait.." TP by Jason; "Picture Bible" HC by Iva Hoth; & "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" vol. 1-4 TPs by Andy Seto.
HIGHEST POSSIBLE RECOMMENDATION !!!
EPILOGUE: I mull, No Pasaran! only worth three stars (3 ***) after winding up with this one, & after a few pinches of debating within myself. And please be foretold, that this title should be released as a 3-volume total of a graphic novels. Yet, it terminated with only 2!. Still, a nice repertoire to own & enjoy...
Rating:
Summary: A good beginning
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: A good beginning
Review: 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.
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