Joseph Joanovici can feel the war approaching. He’s a Romanian Jewish immigrant in France who has made a fortune in the scrap metal business prior to World War II. Joseph is the hero of the epic graphic novel, “Once Upon A Time In France” (Dead Reckoning). Originally published in six volumes, “Il Etait Une Fois… Read more
Yes, Major General “War is a Racket” Smedley Butler has his own graphic novel and it’s a fascinating, informative and a fun read. The U.S. Naval Institute through Naval Institute Press and Dead Reckoning publishing is looking for new approaches to reach new audiences interested in military history. They achieve their goal with flying colors…. Read more
In June 1941, sixteen-year-old Ukrainian Ekaterina Andreaevna Tymoshenko, nicknamed Katusha, hears on her radio about the German Army’s advance into Russian territory. Eventually separated from her family, Katusha becomes a partisan fighter under the guidance of her Uncle Taras, learning firsthand how to fight and kill the enemy. She eventually joins the Red Army and… Read more
During World War II, the Nazi war machine destroyed its way through the Soviet Union. Desperate times call for desperate measures, so Russia creates a new bomber unit: a unit of women, who will fly outdated and dangerous biplanes on an even more dangerous mission: night bombing of the German invaders. One of the young… Read more
Soviet female fighter pilots, World War II, and silent death from above… Even if you are just a history buff and not a comic book fan, you have a lot of reasons to check out The Night Witches graphic novel from Dead Reckoning. Before I dive into the details of The Night Witches graphic novel,… Read more
As the German army pushes further into the Soviet Union, a new squadron sets out for night bombing raids — a squad of all women. Anna Kharkova quickly becomes a hardened combat veteran. Three stories follow her struggle against the Germans and her own country’s secret police. I was unfamiliar with the Nacht Hexen (Night… Read more
Writer Nury (Atar Gull, 2019, etc.), illustrator Vallée (Katanga, 2019, etc.) and translator Hahnenberger (The Jungle, 2019, etc.) deliver a twisty historical-epic crime saga that follows a Jewish scrap-metal salesman’s relentless dedication to staying alive—and getting ahead—before, during, and after the Nazi occupation of France. As a child, Joseph Joanovici meets his future wife, Eva,… Read more
Dead Reckoning, an imprint of the Naval Institute Press, will publish in September Fabien Nury’s international best seller Once Upon a Time in France, with art by Sylvain Vallee, shedding light on the complicated case of Romanian Jew Joseph Joanovici, who immigrated to 1920s France and became one of the richest people in Europe. When… Read more
Once Upon a Time in France by Fabien Nury and Sylvian Vallee, trans. by Ivanka Hahnenberger (Sept. 18, trade paper, $29.95, ISBN: 978-1-68247-471-6). Nury takes on the controversial life of Joseph Joanovici, a Romanian Jew, who as an immigrant in occupied France of WWII acted both as a Nazi collaborator and inside the French Resistance.
Katusha is a young Ukranian girl who has just turned 18. Her family’s world is upended when Nazi Germany invades Russian. She goes through quite a lot of trials and tribulations culminating in become a tank driver for the Red Army. This is a weighty novel, not only in sheer number of pages, but encompassing… Read more