2023-09-30 15:01:00
the essentials The third part of the story of the Engels, this Alsatian family struggling with the heartbreaks of the Second World War, is in press. It is co-signed by the designer Espé and the screenwriter Stéphane Piatzszek.
In “The Lost Country”, the first act of the trilogy, the screenwriter Stéphane Piatzszek and the designer Espé, who lives in Pamiers, set the scene for this family of Alsatian winegrowers, settled on a land swallowed up by the Third Reich from the year 40, and torn by the confrontation with the violence of Nazism, the first arrests, the requisitions, the persecution of the Jews. On October 12, the last opus of the trilogy, “Mauvaise Graîne” will be released; the second volume “Jeunes Pousses” was released last spring.
This trilogy is the fruit of an “alchemy” between the designer and the screenwriter Stéphane Piatzszek. “The idea was born during a meal, in Corsica, where we were to accompany the release of “L’Ile des Justes”, remembers Espé. In this comic, we returned to the Corsican particularity, which “did not deport any Jews during the Second World War (1). Stéphane wanted to launch a new project. I didn’t have much time, but I agreed with the scenario immediately.” Between the two men, the flow goes well. “It’s a real collaboration,” confirms Espé. The points of disagreement are few and disappear quickly.
In “A family at war”, Espé and Stéphane Piatzszek tell the story of the Engels, a family of Alsatian winegrowers – wine, a common thread in the production of Espé, which marked the success of Château Bordeaux – in the turmoil of the Second World War, in the heart of a region “already constantly torn between the two cultures”. Today, the story strangely resonates with current events. We think of Ukraine, and its populations whose hearts and roots are torn between Russia and the West. “This series has a very strong resonance with what Eastern Europe is experiencing,” recognizes Espé.
The idea of the series, the neo-Appamean designer (he is originally from Tarn) has been strongly attached to it since his childhood, when he was watching for the new issue of Pif or Spirou… “I like the idea of the trilogy, he confirms. This format allows you to develop and give volume to a story and its characters. I make graphic novels, which are in tune with the times, but I have a strong attachment to series. For me, comics, which open many doors, which allow a lot of things, are above all the art of the soap opera.” And to regret: “Today, too often, we are on “one-shots””. However, series can work very well. “A million copies for the Château-Bordeaux episodes,” recalls the designer.
From now on, “a page has been turned,” continues the designer. Today he works, alongside screenwriter Philippe Pelaez, on “Le Gigot du Dimanche”, the story of which takes place in Gailhac, at the beginning of the 1980s: “The year of Mitterrand’s victory, in 1981”, he specifies. On his work table, documents to immerse yourself in the atmosphere of this era: hairstyles, fashion, archive photos of the central square of Gailhac. Here again, this new graphic adventure is the result of an encounter: “With Philippe, we have Tarn origins, shared memories, about the atmosphere of a rugby match for example,” smiles Espé. Together they carry the much lighter story of a family meal around the grandmother on a Sunday. In the thoughts of the participants, uncles and aunts, only one idea: where did she hide her golden louis? They are convinced that the grandmother, in fact, is sleeping on a treasure (2). In addition to his regular collaborations with Fluide Glacial magazine, Espé is thinking about new projects. A work on migrants is in the works, as well as a collaboration with screenwriter Jean-David Morvan, on the incredible story of a man “who disguised himself as a woman to eliminate Nazis during the Second World War”.
(1) In the Island of the Righteous, Corsica, summer 42, Laurent Piatzszek and Espé tell the story of Suzanne Cohen, a young Jewish woman and her son Sacha, refugees in Corsica. Arrested upon her arrival on the Isle of Beauty, she is separated from Sacha who, thanks to the solidarity of the islanders, is brought to safety (Editions Glénat, 2015).
(2) Published by Bamboo Grand Angle.
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