Monday, January 18, 2021

Sophie Guerrive, Batailles (Battles), ION Edition, France, 2017

pouch cover

This is a really wild 18 foot panoramic accordion that serves as a frieze for mankind's lust for war, killing, exterminating each other, and the nonstop BATTLES through which war is waged. And men is the operative word here, as there are almost no women depicted in this bloodthirsty narrative that takes us from ancient times up to the modern period. But despite this horrific history, Guerrive manages to inject a strong dose of humor, and indeed charm into the way she's drawn the people and events in this horrific history. Personally, I loved the little scenario in the bottom corner of one page in which a naked couple wake up and recoil at the terrific battle taking place outside their boudoir in the valley below, and you see them trying to work out what to do next!

Guerrive was born in  Marseille in 1983 and studied at the University of Aix en Provence and then at the School of Arts Decoratifs in Strasbourg. A lover of comics from an early age she has published a number of other books that feature her illustrations and stories: ION EDITION » Médiévales

The accordion comes in a pochette (pouch) which is also depicted here.

22 pages, single-sided, individual pages 10" (t) x 10" (w), and when fully open 18' 4".










back of pouch cover