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REVISTA IEEE 9

http://revista.ieee.es/index.php/ieee 285 Manuel García Ruiz The cartoon, the new weapon of the First World OVERVIEW OF THE FIRST WORLD WAR The real incursion of the Great War into the comic world occurred, however, at a far later date, leaving us with the best works on the conflict being those with the perspective that comes with the passing of time. This work may be subdivided into two major groups. On the one hand, some very personal works, with a desire to express an anti-militarist ideal and to describe the horror to a society living a long time after those who experienced the war. On the other hand, we find some real adventure comics, with no other aim in mind than mere entertainment. We cannot infer what the intentions of the latter group may be, but for the former it can be affirmed that, whether consciously or unconsciously, they generally aim to denounce past events, to awaken the collective conscience of a society that may have neglected this part of its past having only ever heard about it. Description of the Horror The works in the first group clearly pursue an objective: showcasing their anti-militarism, to raise awareness amongst their readers of the senselessness that led half of Europe to face one another on the battlefield due to matters more related to honour than with necessity. Since “the war that will end war41” did not only not end all wars, but was instead transformed into a hotbed which bred the largest of all military conflict, the Second World War. The centenary of the start of this conflict has been accompanied by various works that rather than looking back incite us not to forget. As part of this group we can place the exceptional and prize-winning collection of the Frenchman Jacques Tardi (Adieu Brindavoine, C’était la guerre des tranchées, Putain de guerre! The Astonishing Exploits of Lucien Brindavoine, It Was the War of the Trenches, Goddamn this War!), edited between the end of the 20th Century and the start of the 21st Century, a clearly anti-militarist set of work. One of its recurring themes is the atrocities of the First World War. Continuing with a new version of the so-called ligne claire style and considered to be the father of “new realism”, Tardi attacks the time-worn patriotism of politicians and depicts the disillusion of war, the absurdity of the conflict and stories at the bottom of the trenches. He does not show one main character, but instead many different ones. He did not want to reflect the history of the war but rather “a succession of non-chronological situations experienced by men who, manipulated and caught up in the war, are visibly unhappy to find themselves where they are and with the only hope of living for one more hour, hoping, above all, to 41  Wells, H. G., The War That Will End War, London: F. & C. Palmer, 1914. Title of the work that brings together the articles in which the author of The War of the Worlds argues that only the total defeat of Germany would bring an end to the war. “We fight not to destroy a nation, but a nest of evil ideas”, explained Wells (p. 90).

REVISTA IEEE 9
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