BOOKS Pagine Ebraiche Illustrator Albertini in the Selection for the Grand Prix in Angoulême

By Ada Treves

“It has been a real a surprise. Obviously, we were hoping for this, but not immediately… maybe the following year, after the release of the other volumes of Chronosquad.” Giorgio Albertini, the illustrator who’s been working for Pagine Ebraiche since the very beginning, is at a loss for words: to be in the official selection for the Grand Prix in Angoulême is not a small matter, and if you get there as your first time as an author, together with the well-known Grégory Panaccione (author of the drawings), the satisfaction is even greater.

The Festival International de la Bande Dessinée de Angoulême, whose 44th edition will be held at the end of January, just made public the list of the comics selected for its four categories: Sélection officielle (where Chronosquad is), Sélection Patrimoine , Sélection Jeunesse and Sélection Polar. Among the candidates only two authors are Italians: besides Albertini there is the famous Zerocalcare, with the French translation of “Kobane Calling” published by Cambourakis, in Italian by Bao Publishing.

Last November, Pagine Ebraiche special section Comic & Jews, dedicated to the relationship between comics and Jewish culture, presented the first album of Chronosquad – Lune de miel à l’âge du bronze – that had just been released and had already won excellent reviews by many critics.

Published in France by Delcourt, it is a book so full of subtle references that it would deserve an apparatus of notes, necessary to appreciate, as an example, that the dialogues that take place at the time of the ancient Egyptians are faithful transcriptions, no letters in casual order. Many are the references to Jewish culture, starting with the name of the protagonist, who is called Bloch, as the historian Marc Bloch, or Silverberg – the evil character who will have a central role in the second volume, “Chronosquad T2: Destination révolution, dernier appel.” The volume will be out in January, paying an homage to Robert Silverberg, the American science fiction writer, editor and editorial writer, winner of many awards who much has worked on time travel, the central theme of Chronosquad.

The very idea of traveling in time that traveling becomes mass tourism is central to the story, along with an ongoing argument about how history affects the lives of men. And history, Giorgio Albertini’s great passion, appears everywhere, not just in the dialogues: every detail, every word, every ornament, every word is carefully chosen. Nothing is left to chance, even the name of the character Rosa Luksemburg: its spelling is not the result of an error, but rather a tribute to the origin of the Polish philosopher and revolutionary, as the correct transcription of her name is in fact Róża Luksemburg.

The first volume, not yet translated from French, is already out, the second one will be printed in January, while for the third and fourth, respectively, it will be necessary to wait until June and September 2017.