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American Century #1
American Century, Vol. 1: Scars and Stripes
It's 1950, and Harry Block, a fighter jock who distinguished himself in the skies over Europe in World War II, is recalled to active duty in Korea. Harry decides to bail on the president's "offer, " his career, and his keeping up-with-the-Joneses suburban life. He hijacks a plane, reinvents himself as Harry Kraft, and sets out to live an extraordinary new life of action and adventure, set against the tumultuous halfway point of the American Century. Harry fetches up in the hazy tropical heat of Guatemala, a sleepy dictatorship under the thumb of the American U.S. Fruit Corporation and run by a shaky president besieged by rumblings of popular uprisings and military coups. Here he's content to fly cargo planes for small-time smugglers and enjoy the local attractions, but he can't escape the land he fled from, particularly when the C.I.A., the army, communist agitators, the president's wife and U.S. Fruit all seem to be conspiring to try to kill him
96 pages, Paperback
First published October 1, 2001
49 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
January 27, 2022
A mashup of genres and styles that oddly works.
August 4, 2013
Howard Chaykin tem uma predilecção especial por histórias hard boiled que misturam sexo, violência e moralidades cinzentas em aventuras onde anti-heróis másculos prevalecem contra a corrupção e sensualidade que os rodeia. American Flagg é talvez o mais bem sucedido exemplo desta veia do autor, que em Black Kiss é levada ao exagero com requintes de sadismo. American Century fica-se pelo meio, sem o futurismo de Flagg nem a sexualidade absurda de Black Kiss mas com uma visão crítica sobre a mitografia americana que por vezes toca no cinismo.
Diga-se que a série começa muito bem, com um retrato amargo de um sonho americano de doçura suburbana que na realidade é um pesadelo de sorrisos velados e vícios não assumidos. É deste cenário de casas nos subúrbios e esposas domésticas que disfarçam o tédio dos maridos com os vizinhos que foge Harry Krafft, anti-herói tipicamente chaykiano que representa uma estranha inversão de Babbitt de Sinclair Lewis. Krafft é o que Babbitt seria se este se fartasse das pressões uniformizantes da subúrbia latente e fingisse a sua morte aos comandos de um avião.
Krafft refugia-se na Guatemala, onde depressa encontra um trabalho como piloto para um contrabandista de bom coração. Mas a Guatemala dos anos 50 não é um refúgio calmo. Entre as conspirações da CIA aliada à United Fruit, empresa em busca de melhores condições de mercado que vê com maus olhos as tentativas do governo guatemalteco de melhorar a vida dos seus cidadãos. Inevitavelmente, porque enfim, senão não haveria história, Krafft envolve-se com as diferentes forças envolvidas no sangrento golpe de estado e com a emblemática figura da esposa do presidente deposto, clone de Eva Perón com simpatias muscovitas.
As premissas e a visão crítica em que American Century assentam são intrigantes, mas as histórias desenrolam-se em modo pulp hard boiled, com a sexualidade gratuita e a violência a sobreporem-se às subtilezas de enredos saídos de uma reflexão atenta à dualidade entre mito e realismo no que toca à visão americana sobre si própria.
Diga-se que a série começa muito bem, com um retrato amargo de um sonho americano de doçura suburbana que na realidade é um pesadelo de sorrisos velados e vícios não assumidos. É deste cenário de casas nos subúrbios e esposas domésticas que disfarçam o tédio dos maridos com os vizinhos que foge Harry Krafft, anti-herói tipicamente chaykiano que representa uma estranha inversão de Babbitt de Sinclair Lewis. Krafft é o que Babbitt seria se este se fartasse das pressões uniformizantes da subúrbia latente e fingisse a sua morte aos comandos de um avião.
Krafft refugia-se na Guatemala, onde depressa encontra um trabalho como piloto para um contrabandista de bom coração. Mas a Guatemala dos anos 50 não é um refúgio calmo. Entre as conspirações da CIA aliada à United Fruit, empresa em busca de melhores condições de mercado que vê com maus olhos as tentativas do governo guatemalteco de melhorar a vida dos seus cidadãos. Inevitavelmente, porque enfim, senão não haveria história, Krafft envolve-se com as diferentes forças envolvidas no sangrento golpe de estado e com a emblemática figura da esposa do presidente deposto, clone de Eva Perón com simpatias muscovitas.
As premissas e a visão crítica em que American Century assentam são intrigantes, mas as histórias desenrolam-se em modo pulp hard boiled, com a sexualidade gratuita e a violência a sobreporem-se às subtilezas de enredos saídos de uma reflexão atenta à dualidade entre mito e realismo no que toca à visão americana sobre si própria.
May 31, 2019
Fun, pulpy story of a WW2 vet bored and unhappy by the 50's, who decides to chuck it all and run off to South America and just fly plans, read and get laid.
Unfortunately, the CIA, some revolutionaries and an Evita homage complicate his plans.
Weird mix of hemingway, 40's adventure comic book and some poking fun of 50's culture.
The rest of the serious never managed to capture this level of cynical, pulpy fun.
Unfortunately, the CIA, some revolutionaries and an Evita homage complicate his plans.
Weird mix of hemingway, 40's adventure comic book and some poking fun of 50's culture.
The rest of the serious never managed to capture this level of cynical, pulpy fun.
November 30, 2015
This might make a good movie...maybe. Or and AMC tv show. Too meandering and slow for a graphic novel. Did not do enough to make me care about the characters or care about the plot.
March 3, 2022
Howard Chaykin can write a yarn. I have not read anything of his that I have not enjoyed, so it was a delight to find both volumes of American Century at a recent convention. As always, this was a treat as there were no preconceptions and no idea what the story was about. I just saw the name and here is my cash. Once I cracked the book open there was an introduction which, if it can be believed, tells us that this tale is based on a true story. Okay, I am sure there are plenty of two-fisted characters out there that could have lived this life, but this fella is a nebulous anti-hero if there ever was one.
Our guy, Harry Block, has had enough of his post WWII life and decides to make a break. What else is there to do besides go to South America, run drugs, and get caught up in a Revolution. (Trading one dictator for another). Of course the CIA is behind it, along with American Corporate interests and no end of supporting actors in it for themselves. Enter Harry, with his new last name of Kraft. Heat, stir well, and hang on to your hat as you are in for a ride.
This was co-written by David Tischman and he compliments Chaykin nicely. Marc Laming does an excellent job with the art and it serves the story and the action beats to a T. There are no extras here, just a 50s tale of greed, corruption and meddling that dominated the landscape during the era. A good read indeed! Now onto volume 2.
Our guy, Harry Block, has had enough of his post WWII life and decides to make a break. What else is there to do besides go to South America, run drugs, and get caught up in a Revolution. (Trading one dictator for another). Of course the CIA is behind it, along with American Corporate interests and no end of supporting actors in it for themselves. Enter Harry, with his new last name of Kraft. Heat, stir well, and hang on to your hat as you are in for a ride.
This was co-written by David Tischman and he compliments Chaykin nicely. Marc Laming does an excellent job with the art and it serves the story and the action beats to a T. There are no extras here, just a 50s tale of greed, corruption and meddling that dominated the landscape during the era. A good read indeed! Now onto volume 2.
July 21, 2023
If there was a fictional account done as a comic book of a Johnny Harris video about his series on how America interfered with the sovereignty of independent states, this would be it.
American Century is a story of an American man of mystery making a living as a pilot flying contraband from a country controlled by the interest of an American firm growing and selling bananas. Set in a time period before Pablo Escobar discovered that running a cocaine empire is one way to become a self-made billionaire.
Written and plotted by Howard Chaykin and David Tischman. Knowing Chaykin, its a pulpy story with its requisite sex and violence, with nudity on the house. Art credits belong to Chaykin and Marc Laming, with John Stokes inking. This is a early Laming work, whose clean lines I've come to enjoy on his later Marvel work, but I've known him more for his take on the King Features Syndicate characters, Kings Watch.
This was a good and enjoyable read, but rather hard to find as this book is out of print.
Originally read as individual issues #1-#3, with the fourth chapter read on the Internet Archive (archive.org).
American Century is a story of an American man of mystery making a living as a pilot flying contraband from a country controlled by the interest of an American firm growing and selling bananas. Set in a time period before Pablo Escobar discovered that running a cocaine empire is one way to become a self-made billionaire.
Written and plotted by Howard Chaykin and David Tischman. Knowing Chaykin, its a pulpy story with its requisite sex and violence, with nudity on the house. Art credits belong to Chaykin and Marc Laming, with John Stokes inking. This is a early Laming work, whose clean lines I've come to enjoy on his later Marvel work, but I've known him more for his take on the King Features Syndicate characters, Kings Watch.
This was a good and enjoyable read, but rather hard to find as this book is out of print.
Originally read as individual issues #1-#3, with the fourth chapter read on the Internet Archive (archive.org).
November 29, 2008
This starts out as a gritty-misanthropic slice of "life" centered in fifties suburban Illinois, but transmogrifies into a knotty noir thriller based in what I presume to be DC-universe Guatemala (is there any reason they couldn't have used the real names of Jacobo Arbenz and Carlos Castillo?). Brutal, sexy, and gripping, but I need to dock it a couple stars for historical mushiness.
July 20, 2014
Çizgi roman aleminde Vertigo'nun fazla bilinmeyen mücevherlerinden biri American Century. 1950'ler maço pulp edebiyatını politik sol bir anlatıyla harmanlayan çok beğendiğim bir seri. Zaman zaman ağır gitse de benim gibi 1950lere ilgi duyanlara kesinlikle öneririm. Ağır akışın altında farklı pek çok metin var. V for Vendetta tarzı anlatım sevenler için bire bir.
November 28, 2014
Like the blurb on the cover says, James Ellroy meets Graham Greene, all the way. Which reminds me that, having read a lot of Graham Greene, I ought to read some James Ellroy, knowing his work currently only by reputation and film adaptations :)
March 10, 2008
I'm not 100% sold on this just yet, but I like it enough to try out the second.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews