D -Day: What if Anne de Bretagne hadn't married Charles VIII?
From a historical event whose outcome they change, the scriptwriters of the comic book day D imagine different alternatives.And if the English had signed peace with Nazi Germany ... And if the Soviets would have been the first to have set foot on the Moon ...Uchrony - of the noun "utopia" and the Greek khronos (time) - is a fictional genre which is based on a fictitious reconstruction of history, relating the facts as they could have occurred if an initial event would have been different.The oldest known example appears in a text by Titus Livius (59 BC.J.-VS.) nourishing the hypothesis that Alexandre le Grand launched its conquest to the west rather than in the east.The most famous contemporary uchronies are those of American novelists Philip K.Dick and the Englishman Robert Harris who, in their respective novel the master of the High Château (1962) and Fatherland (1992), pose an intrigue in the heart of an alternative world where Nazi Germany would have won the Second World War. Citons également Roma Æterna (2003) de Robert Sylverberg, supposant que l’Empire romain ne se fût pas désagrégé au bénéfice des religions monothéistes : L’exode de Moïse n’a pas eu lieu… LesJuifs n’ont pu quitter l’Égypte…Jésus n’a pas existé en tant que « fils de Dieu »… Et Mahomet a été tué avant son prêche public.
Uchrony was popularized by American science fiction magazines of the 1930s, in the projection of often wacky political hypotheses: and if the Confederate States had beaten the union during the Civil War ...;Or more serious: and if Napoleon had not sold Louisiana in the USA ... These Romanesque courses were then reinterpreted by the comic culture of superheroes;Thus, in Watchmen-published in France under the title Les Guardiens-, the historic bifurcation consists, in 1938, in making real superheroes appear in reality, leading a few years later the victory of the United States at the endof the Vietnam War. La bande dessinée franco-belge n’est, bien entendu, pas en reste grâce à deux séries parmi les plus vendues : Wunderwaffen etJourJ.Let's stop today on the second.
JourJ : Colomb PachaChristophe Colomb converti à l’islam
We hope that it reveals the propos of a modified event in which readers will project themselves in allegory of reality.The more the idea is original and the more difficult its relevance is in the real cogs of history.This is the case of Columbus Pacha, a metaphor pulled by the hair of what could have been the conquest of the Americas. Les scénaristesJean-Pierre Pécau, Fred Duval et Fred Blanchard biaisent l’Histoire, imaginant Christophe Colomb sans le soutien financier de la couronne espagnole.The browser then obtains that of the emir of Cordoba, Mohammed II Nizrad, in return for which he converted to Islam under the name of Columbus.Two Qaribs (Caravelles) go to the Ponant and touched land in the year 897 of the Hegira - 1519 of the Christian era.Like a nose to the current "neo-crusades" between Islamic fundamentalists and Western powers, Muslims take possession of the new world immediately converted to the cause of the prophet.Among the most "weak" themes of the series, Columbus Pacha is inevitably the one who gets out of it best.Only one recommendation: Choose your albums well because the level is uneven.
JourJ : Paris Secteur SoviétiqueParis coupée en deux à la place de Berlin
Historians agree: it was very little that the Soviets delivered Paris before the Americans in 1944. La progression russe à la barbe des Yankees eut rallié l’Allemagne entière à l’URSS lors des accords de Yalta, et fait de la France une nation coupée en deux comme le furent RFA & RDA.In Paris Soviet sector, France is half under the British protectorate in the south of the Loire, and for the other half under Bolshevik occupation to the north;The authors assume that the wall of shame had been built in Paris between the right and left banks of the Seine.This is one of the most famous uchronies, mentioned in many novels, including the famous parj by Eric Faye.The album contains some attempts serving an interesting geopolitical projection;They are unfortunately!too superficial.On the other hand, the police investigation in an apocalyptic Paris is very interesting, and certain historical figures: Duras, Petiot, Sartre…, take place in a judicious way.
JourJ : Lune RougeLes Russes sur la Lune
All the albums in the series are independent of each other, everyone explores a different era and, apart from a few clearly identified dytics or trilogies, the stories can be read in any order.Among these trilogies, note the astonishing red moon, in which we are preparing to celebrate the sixty years of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics in Europe.More than half a century has passed since the Russian Revolution extended to all Europe.The Second World War did not take place and from a scenario once again borrowed from science fiction literature, the moon is, at the beginning of the 1980s, colonized by the USSR.The Union operates the Régolite there, a rare ore which provides its energy needs;But the regime faces unprecedented resistance around lunar mines and production factories associated on earth. Ce sont trois tomes à l’atmosphère oppressante, au fil desquels le dessinateurJean-Michel Ponzio signe parmi les plus belles planches de la série.His illustrations are teeming with surprising details.The atmosphere is dense, built on several atmospheres signified by a formidable mastery of colors, the intrigue effectively immerses us at the heart of the individual issues of each protagonist and in their respective political dimension, we find some surprising roles held by accustomed charactersto history books, in short!A beautiful suspense from the first to the last volume, even if the outcome is predictable in order to know the usual cogs of American politics.
JourJ : Mais 68Mai 68 a dégénéré en guerre civile jusqu’en 1975
Paris, May 1968, a revolt rumbled in the Latin district, the police are on the teeth and the government at the Abois.General de Gaulle who left for Germany will not return.Its helicopter has exploded above Lorraine without any passenger surviving.Meanwhile, a transfer from the Banque de France to the Fort de Vincennes is secretly ordered by the interim government.History revolves around this mysteriously disappeared "treasure" in a context of fragile peace.Political machinations are inspired by real facts, and architectural fantasies pose a decor at least psychedelic.A story in two volumes: Imagination in power?And Paris still burns, who imagine how the situation could have evolved if the "doglit" had managed to take the joysticks of the country.
The second part revolves around an investigation about a famous stolen painting.The authors have chosen an apocalyptic atmosphere with the noise of machine guns for soundtracks.It is - precisely today when the prophets of bad omen promise us a civil war - it is freezing to see France look like Bosnia of the 90s.Certain scenes are however not very credible, even laughable, as the idea of extremist Catholic militias rolling with an open tomb in a customized 404 to go to battle with the Communists ....But !If we consider the reality always higher than the imagination, perhaps, in the end, the writers are right.We regret the choice of two different illustrators while Damien (first volume) and M. Fab (pour la suite) eussent l’un ou l’autre parfaitement satisfait à l’ensemble du diptyque ; l’harmonie visuelle est obtenue grâce au travail deJean-Paul Fernandez, merveilleux coloriste qui parvient à solidariser l’ambiance des deux volumes.
JOURJ : Anne de Bretagne épouse Henri VII d’AngleterreLe jour où la Bretagne devint anglaise
The lutent Bec and nails comic book homes in the face of competition from mangaca (manga authors) capable of producing forty-eight pages in two weeks, and those of comic illustrators doing the same in two months;They opted for thematic collections loyal their readers, even if it means involving several screenwriters, designers and colorists in the same series in order to accelerate the pace of publications.Purists cries out of gold but the formula is generally winning. C’est le cas avecJourJ, immense succès, dont l’intérêt réside autour du choix de fragments historiques réels permettant de composer une fiction dans un espace temporel anamorphosé.Alas!The soufflé often falls too fast (sometimes from the first pages), with the sole common thread a common police or private detective investigation.Let us recognize however that it is hardly easy to revisit the paths of time and history made it hold an uchronia on fifty illustrated pages, which is why the intrigues on several volumes are better constructed.
Formidable to lead the imagination to its climax, uchronia can (and must!) To allow itself all audacity, provided that the starting postulate is judicious.No interest in knowing what he would have happened if Vatel had not invented Béchamel.On the other hand, Anne de Bretagne not marrying Charles VIII, leading to wonder about Brittany retaining his independence, and by what paths of history would she then (perhaps) become French or English if, ignored the promises made to Charles de France, Anne would have married King Henri VII of England, with generous Brittany and its islands as a generous.Ditto in the Berlin Wall if it had not fallen in 1989. Quid de la géopolitique mondiale actuelle ? Qui peut dire à quoi ressembleraient nos atlas ?…Comment seraient nos vies ?…A quelles limites se heurteraient nos idéaux face au Rideau de fer toujours debout ?… Les scénaristes de la série ouvriront peut-être l’anthologie de ses deux folles hypothèses bretonne et berlinoise ; d’ici-là, lisezJourJ, il y a dans la cinquantaine d’albums disponibles immanquablement celui dont la déviation temporelle vous séduira.
Jérôme ENEZ-VRIAD© Novembre 2021 –J.E.-V. & Bretagne Actuelle
JourJUne série de bandes dessinées signéesJean-Pierre Pecaud & acolytes aux éditions Delcourt / Collection Neopolis, 10€ à 15€ pièce en fonction du support : numérique ou Gutenberg.
