Written by: Florent Silloray
Illustrations: Florent Silloray
Coloring: Florent Silloray
Publisher: Casterman
Capa De Vallende Ster – Comic Book Review
Casterman is a publisher that is quite known for its interesting publications. Their comic books tell moving stories, often based on the lives of real people. In Capa De Vallende Ster, we get a closer look at Robert Capa’s life and work. It’s definitely an interesting thought to tell the story of a world renown photographer by means of illustrations in a very specific style, rather than using actual work of the man himself.
The story starts off in 1954 where we first meet Capa, only to see an immediate flashback to 1936, where his life as a photographer really lifts off. Known under his real name Endre Friedmann, he sells photographs to agencies already, but without great success, making it difficult to tie the ends together. His girlfriend Gerda is tired of the constant scraping for money and comes up with a plan. She suggests he pretends to be a wealthy American photographer, called Robert Capa, while she is his agent. She sells his photographs for quite a bit more money than he does now, and by creating an atmosphere of mystery around his persona, they can keep the agencies’ interest. The plan works long enough to make his name, and he and Gerda are sent off to Barcelona to report the military uprising that is going on there. Both him and her make photos to send to the newspaper, and when the battles really start to break loose, they are both on the frontline to report the most true to the facts.
When Capa is back in Paris for a few weeks, leaving Gerda behind, disaster strikes and Gerda dies while reporting about the war. Capa is consumed with grief and eventually decides to go to China, to be part of a team that will make a film on the war between China and Japan, for LIFE magazine. This is not what he expected though, and he goes back to Europe, hoping to find meaning again in life, as well as in the job he’s doing.
De Vallende Ster is brought in quite a special way, as it is mostly Capa himself who tells his story to you, the reader. Every now and then there are conversations, but overall it has quite some characteristics of an autobiography. This makes it all feel very genuine yet, even with the fast pace, it’s difficult at times to keep your focus as there is only one point of view through the entire issue. On top of that, it’s a rather long issue, but overall, the events make an interesting story nonetheless.
Florent Silloray came up with the scenario, as well as the illustrations. These illustrations have a very specific look to them. They are not overly detailed, yet do add so much to the story. They show Capa’s life, but also his photos somehow come to life, due to the combination of the strong illustrations and the story being told by Capa himself. It’s truly a clever piece of art.
The coloring is very simple, as Silloray chose to use only one color: light brown. This simplicity adds to the story rather than pulling it down, and also reminds of old pictures, which were often in tints of brown.
Conclusion
Capa De Vallende Ster tells the true story of Robert Capa’s life. The story only being told from one point of view sometimes makes it a bit monotonous, yet the illustrations and color scheme add cachet to the whole. This album is great due to its simplicity. It’s definitely a recommendation.
No Comments