Farewell, Brindavoine

Book excerpt: The French cartooning master Tardi’s first solo graphic novel is a riotous action-adventure comedy. Paris, 1914. In one auspicious night, Lucien Brindavoine’s humdrum life is thrown into wild disarray. Out of the blue, a strange old man visits Brinvadoine’s flat and implores him to go to Istanbul to seek his destiny. No sooner are these fateful words spoken than a shot is fired through the window and the man is murdered by a mysterious assailant. Thus kicks off a madcap adventure wherein the mild-mannered dilettante Brindavoine races to the Middle East ― by boat, plane, and jeep ―with cutthroat assassins threatening him at every turn. After much ado, he encounters an iron city in the desert where an eccentric American billionaire will decide his fate. The first solo graphic novel by Tardi, Farewell, Brindavoine showcases the French cartooning master’s signature blend of dark humor, brutal violence, and beguiling mystery. For Tardi fans, an essential early work; for newcomers, a thrilling primer to the Tardi oeuvre.