Emmanuel Guibert

I'm currently reading the Danish edition of Emmanuel Guibert's 250 page graphic novel "The Photographer", about a (real life) French photographer who traveled Afghanistan in the 80s during the Soviet Invasion. It's a must read, especially for fans of books like "Maus" and "Persepolis". It's not out in English yet, but apparently it will be before long.

Guibert is another one of the major new wave French graphic novelists, along with Lewis Trondheim, Joann Sfar and Marjane Satrapi.

Two of his (less serious) collaborative projects with Joann Sfar are already out in English, and they're a lot of fun. The popular kids series "Sardine in Outer Space" is about a little girl who's a space pirate. "The Professor's Daughter" is set in London in the 19th century and is about a mummy who falls in love with an Egyptologists daughter.


Before "The Photographer" will be released in English, another of his 'serious' graphic novel projects will be out in October, it's called "Alan's War", and it sounds like it will be interesting:

"“When I was eighteen, Uncle Sam told me he’d like me to put on a uniform and go off to fight a guy by the name of Adolf. So I did.”

When Alan Cope joined the army and went off to fight in World War II, he had no idea what he was getting into. This graphic memoir is the story of his life during wartime, a story told with poignant intimacy and matchless artistry.

Across a generation, a deep friendship blossomed between Alan Cope and author/artist Emmanuel Guibert. From it, Alan’s War was born – a graphic novel that is a deeply personal and moving experience, straight from the heart of the Greatest Generation – a unique piece of WWII literature and a ground-breaking graphic memoir."


Further reading: The Guibert page on the First/Second homepage links to one complete story from each of the "Sardine" books, plus an excerpt from "The Professor's Daughter".