Elise and the New Partisans

by Dominique Grange, Tardi, Jenna Allen (Translator)

Overview

Fêted French cartoonist Tardi masterfully dramatizes the activist and singer Dominique Grange’s gripping first-person account of the powerful student protest movements that rocked France from the ’60s to the ’70s.

In May 1968, France exploded. Leftist student groups occupied the streets of Paris, riot police clashed with protesters, and a general strike spread across France like wildfire, threatening to grind government and industry to a halt. And at the heart of it all — Elise.

Ten years earlier, Elise came to Paris to try her luck in show business. While she met with success as a pop singer, she soon found herself radicalized by the Algerian War and the poor treatment of Algerian immigrants in Paris. For the next 20 years, she would join the fight against labor exploitation, social injustice, and racism in France — risking it all for progressive causes. The firsthand account of activist and singer Dominique Grange, Elise and the New Partisans is an authentic and exhilarating glimpse into the front lines of the spirited social movements of late-20th century France. Drawn with typical mastery by legendary French cartoonist Tardi, this graphic novel resonates powerfully at a time when the fight against injustice still rages.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781683967552
Publisher:	Fantagraphics Books
Publication date:	09/10/2024
Pages:	176
Sales rank:	400,394
Product dimensions:	9.10(w) x 12.00(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Dominique Grange is a French singer-songwriter, activist, and comics translator whose career was kicked off with her 1968 protest song “Les Nouveaux Partisans” (“The New Partisans”). She and Tardi married in 1983.

Tardi is a pioneering, internationally award-winning European cartoonist. His Adèle Blanc-Sec series was adapted into a feature by Luc Besson, and the animated film April and the Extraordinary World was inspired by his cartooning. He lives in Paris with his wife, the singer Dominique Grange, and their cats.

Jenna Allen is a freelance translator based in Colorado.

Editorial Reviews

09/30/2024

This stimulating graphic autofiction from French singer-songwriter Grange, best known for her protest anthem “Les Nouveaux Partisans,” chronicles a young woman’s radicalization in Paris in the 1960s and ’70s. Drawn by Grange’s esteemed cartoonist husband, Tardi (Farewell, Brindavoine), the account follows Elise, a composite character based on Grange and her fellow activists. In the book’s opening pages, Elise is scorched nearly to death by an accidental explosion of Molotov cocktails in 1972. The narrative then rewinds to her youth in Lyons, when she’s scandalized by the government’s brutal mistreatment of Algerian immigrants. She joins in the 1968 student uprisings and is beaten by police at a protest. Unlike the stereotypical bourgeois radical, Elise and her “comrades” flee the shelter of their university, work in factories and with immigrants, and fight for quantifiable changes. When Elise proclaims that “the class war continues!” it lands as more than just a slogan. Tardi provides lively and grungy art, but the dogmatic tone flattens the contours of Elise’s story even at its most dynamic plot turns (a short prison term, going on the run), and the narrative plays coy with some specifics (where were those Molotov cocktails intended to land?). Still, it’s a dramatic and defiant raised-fist of a story. (Sept.)

Publishers Weekly

"Elise and the New Partisans is the saga of a revolutionary generation. The youngsters were real, in their aspirations, their support for besieged populations everywhere, and just as real in some of their unwise tactics and ideological obsessions. Tardi and Grange have done a great thing bringing their stories back to life."

Comics Grinder - Paul Buhle

"A multifaceted portrait of a person, and of an era [that] feels relevant and timely. ... Tardi’s cartoonlike characters—depicted in realistic, harshly lit, black-and-white Parisian street settings—come to life as he draws on memories of the early activism of his longtime partner, the French singer Dominique Grange."

The New Yorker

"A new Jacques Tardi album is always an event in the world of comics."

Le Telegramme

"Grange’s strong narrative voice is the #1 reason this volume succeeds, but Tardi’s art also plays a key role in that effort. Using ink and wash, he draws backgrounds with sufficient realism that you may think you have jumped into a time machine to tour the contemporary locations where the events take place."

The Arts STL

"A comic with a raised fist."

Actua BD

"Pérez once again invites readers into a world of unknown, cosmic mystery. ... Ocultos leaves the reader beguiled, reflective and wanting more."

Broken Frontier

"This comic is a raw, counter-cultural document. Tardi and Grange reconstruct a history of protest and deliver a testimony."

L’Humanité

"Elise is a tribute to revolutionaries who still believe in the great night. Tardi's line perfectly captures the violence of the clashes with the police and the tumult of those powder years."

Le Monde

"The story of the fictional Elise is a thinly veiled autobiography by Dominique Grange, brought to vivid life by the masterful lines of Jacques Tardi."

Cinema Sentries