Flight of the Raven
Winner of the Best Artist Award at the Angouleme Festival! Lushly illustrated and one of the most stunningly beautiful graphic novels of the 21st century.
The story takes place in Paris during the German Occupation and stars a memorable heroine in the French Resistance fighter named Jeanne. With the help of an apolitical cat burglar named Francois, she tries to save her comrades, including her missing sister Cecile, from the Gestapo. They walk in the places between shadows, as Gibrat uses the evocative Paris rooftops and river barges on the Seine almost as separate characters. The book also includes a portfolio of pin-ups featuring its heroine.
Nominated for two 2018 Eisner Awards, for Best U.S. Edition of International Material and Best Painter/Multimedia Artist (interior art) for creator Jean-Pierre Gibrat.
Title: Flight of The Raven
Author & Illustrator: Jean-Pierre Gibrat
Genre: Graphic Novel
Originally published under the French title Le Vol du Corbeau by Dupuis
Translation: Diana Schutz and Brandon Kander
Paperback: 144 pages
Publisher: IDW Publishing (February 28, 2017)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1631407988
ISBN-13: 978-1631407987
My Review
The illustrator of this novel, knighted in the French Ordre de Arts et des Lettres in 2014 has combined his interest in history with his love to illustrate. After his career as a graphic designer and advertising artist, he made his first debut in comics in 1977, followed by several illustrated shorts in magazines and papers. Between the years 1997 and 1999 he published The Reprieve (Le Sursis) in two volumes, taking place during the German occupation in Paris 1943. These introduced the heroine Cecile, whose sister Jeanne is the protagonist of Flight of the Raven, also published in two parts in 2002 and 2005.
I came to this novel two years ago at a book sale, unknowing of this author/illustrator, nor the publications that preceded this graphic novel. What drew me to make the purchase were the beautiful illustrations of Paris, my love for historical fiction and the beauty of the main female protagonist, Jeanne on the cover.
Always on the lookout for the other sort of ‘comic’ that isn’t filled with superheroes possessing any kind of superpowers, I was pleased in my find of this one to add to my collection. The style of artistry in these graphics strongly imbues a sense for the time and the simple elegance of Paris right before WWII left its mark on it. From the rooftops and markets to the houseboats along the Seine to the gendarmerie, a nostalgic picture shines through this story, highlighting the beautiful city and parts of the countryside most romantically.
The novel opens up with Jeanne, a resistance fighter, locked up in a cell, denounced by an anonymous letter as a traitor to be turned over to the Germans. There, she is joined by the charismatic burglar Francois who becomes intrigued by the gentile albeit feisty Jeanne. Cunningly, he seizes the first opportunity to escape offering Jeanne to come along and together they whisk over rooftops and through the streets of Paris, finding refuge on a houseboat with some friends of his. Though they don’t know the whole truth of each other's crimes, they unite in the effort to evade the Germans to find Jeanne’s sister Cecile, who was taken by the Gestapo, betrayed by a double agent.
The story fills with other memorable characters like the boy who helps Jeanne to retrace her tracks and the sweet couple that owns the houseboat. A kinship, moments of joy, friendship and the reminiscence in the simple pleasures of life, subtly give pause to the events of the war. But a sudden checkpoint inspection by the Germans changes all notions and pace of the story, wherein the moral choices made in the time of war unveil bravery as well as the treachery of the character’s future.
The beautiful graphics of this novel outshone the plot to me, however, Gibrat succeeded to convey deep human emotions and he added some satirical elements to his side characters like the inspector at the gendarmerie and his portrait of the ‘Krauts’. I love the natural beauty of the main character and found her stunningly captivating. The city of Paris, its streets and the houseboat are simply charming beyond measure. Without having read the other novel, I can’t say for sure what the intended emphasis of Flight of the Raven was. Though the occupation is a terrible time in history and played a driving role in this novel, the humanity and other elements of the story stood out to me more overall most fascinating.
A graphic novel of a different kind I’d recommend if you enjoy such nostalgia and captivating imagery.
Happy Reading :)
