Black Paths
In the aftermath of WWI and the fall of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the port city of Fiume was occupied by a small army of Italian nationalists led by the eccentric poet Gabriele D’Annunzio, a proto-Fascist whose goal of a utopian city-state swiftly descended into anarchy and violence. Against this backdrop, French comics artist David B. portrays a love affair between a young soldier haunted by the ghosts of his fallen comrades and a nightclub singer adrift in the chaotic city. By night, Lauriano and members of his former regiment loot the town, and by day, he evades rival gangs and writes for a Dadaist newspaper. David B.’s expressive, colorful drawings and vivid character designs help maintain interest, even when a surfeit of dialogue bogs things down; the tale truly comes to life when depicting Lauriano’s nightmarish experiences in the trenches—a surreal horror reminiscent of the fantasies depicted in David B.’s acclaimed graphic memoir, Epileptic (2005)—and during a climactic heist conducted as D’Annunzio’s insane dream verges on collapse. --Gordon Flagg