Paracuellos Volume 1

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With a preface by Will Eisner Paracuellos is a work of great courage created at a time when telling the truth about Spain&s political past could get one killed It is arguably the most important graphic memoir ever created in comics Carlos Gimenez’s autobiographical account of the plight of children in post-World War II Fascist Spain has won virtually every comics award in Europe including “ Best Album” at the 1981 Angoulême Festival & the “ Heritage Award” at Angoulême in 2010 In the late 1930s when Spanish fascists led by Franco & aided by Hitler & Mussolini overthrew the elected government almost 200000 men & women fell in battle were executed or died in prison Their orphaned children—and others ripped from the homes of the defeated—were shuttled from Church-run “home” to “home” & fed a steady diet of torture & disinformation by a totalitarian state bent on making them “productive” citizens Carlos Gimenez was one of those children In 1975 after Franco’s death Carlos began to tell his story Breaking the code of silence proved to be a milestone both for the comics medium & for a country coming to terms with its past An illustrated essay by Carmen Moreno-Nuño Associate Professor of Hispanic Studies at the University of Kentucky places the comics in historical perspective “ The stories transcend just being about a historical moment in Spain Their humanity will speak to everyone The stories are heartbreakers but Carlos never loses his sense of humor”— William Stout