Le Dernier Assaut - a graphic novel review

On either side are men at the end of their strength. They dig their own grave when they’re digging the trenches. And methodically they kill each other …
There is no dirtier war than a war where the soldiers are stuck in their trenches waiting for certain death.

This describes in a nutshell the last album of Tardi that is about the subject in which he’s best; the first World War. Augustin, a French stretcher barer, takes the reader along a journey along the horrors that the ordinary soldier had to go through. If it were not the enemy that killed him, then it was the psychological damage that made him to a wreck.

Like much of Tardi's work with the First World War theme, 'The Last Attack' is characterized by cynical humor combined with grave drawings. The only bright color Tardi uses here is the red of the blood. Without exception, all protagonists in his comics have anarchist motives, when they get the chance they resist their officers. Although I can assume that many ordinary soldiers had the same idea during the First World War, I think it gives some unilateral view of this war. I think in particular of the 'pals battalions', a battalion that included a whole district or association of men. Because these soldiers were friends before the war and the terrible circumstances in which they ended up, only made their friendship stronger. That is precisely why these soldiers would never let their friends down, almost never, by deserting, for example. But apart from these battalions there will undoubtedly have been soldiers who fought to avenge their fallen comrades.

With this graphic novel comes a beautiful cd from Tardi’s wife Dominique Grange. This CD contains not only songs about characters from the graphic novel, but also two songs that stem from the 1914-1918 period. My French is not so good that I understand all the lirics, but they will undoubtedly contain some cynicism. Music changes from melancholy to up-tempo.
It's not the first time Grange makes a CD with a Tardi comic. Previously she made a CD at the comic '1968-2008 ... N'effacez pas nos traces!'. I find the cd on 'Le Dernier Assaut’ just a bit better, the songs are generally somewhat more up-tempo and somewhat less modern.

I've been idolising Tardi for a long time, but lately it's less. I still do like his cynical humor, but, as I mentioned earlier, he tells a unilateral story about the war. I understand the anarchist impact, though, because he has lost both his own grandfathers and two grandfathers of his wife in this terrible war. I'm still a big admirer of Tardi, but the raving is over.

Jacques Tardi Wikipedia
Jacques Tardi Comiclopedia
Le dernier assaut Catawiki