The Machine Gunners' Ball

Baron rouge #1

by Pierre Veys (Script), Carlos Puerta (Artwork and Colours), Mark Bence (Translator)

A retelling of the life of German WWI ace Manfred Von Richthofen a pilot of almost supernatural skill. In the skies of France during the Great War, a red-painted fighter is chasing a British SPAD. The relentless German pilot eventually wounds his opponent mortally, and lands near the downed British to watch him die, confessing his delight in war and victory. Ten years earlier, a young Manfred Von Richthofen is attending a military academy in Berlin when, during an incident with classmates, he comes to realise he has an unnatural gift "

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels Comics, War, Bande Dessinée, Historical Fiction, France, Graphic Novels

48 pages, Paperback

First published April 19, 2012

About the author

Pierre Veys was born April 7, 1959 in Cambrai, in the north. After graduating, he spent a year studying biology, but quickly turned to screenwriting, news and gags. His influences are from the authors Jack Vance, Michael G. Coney and Yves Dermèze (Paul Bera).

Pierre Veys est né le 7 avril 1959 à Cambrai, dans le Nord. Après son Bac, il fait une année de biologie, mais se tourne rapidement vers l'écriture de scénarios, de nouvelles et de gags. C'est un auteur polygraphe. Il dirige et écrit pendant deux ans pour une troupe de café-théâtre appelée MacPochtron And The Cuitos Brothers qui donnera trois spectacles : Sous les caveaux, la plage ! ; Les poivrots se cachent pour vomir et Docteur F. Il écrit des sketches pour Jean-Marie Bigard. Il travaille aussi pour la télévision : il écrit pour Philippe Bouvard (France 3) et pour l'émission La Classe (France 3) dans laquelle il est également acteur. Il réalise des nouvelles et des gags pour Fluide Glacial dans La Gazette de Frémion, ainsi que des scénarios pour Spirou. Intéressé par la BD depuis vingt ans, Pierre Veys ne trouve pas de dessinateur qui puisse s'adapter à ses scénarios, jusqu'au jour où il rencontre Nicolas Barral chez Fluide. Ils s'attaquent alors avec humour à un mythe, à l'un des sujets les plus sacrés de sa Grâcieuse Majesté : Sherlock Holmes himself ! Le premier tome de la série Baker Street parait aux Éditions Delcourt en avril 1999 sous le titre Sherlock Holmes n'a peur de rien et avec la bénédiction de la Société Sherlock Holmes de France qui lui décerne d'ailleurs un prix. Ses influences se situent auprès des auteurs Jack Vance, Michael G. Coney et Yves Dermèze (Paul Béra). Veys est aussi passionné de musique et apprécie tout particulièrement Steve Hackett, Jean-Claude Vannier ou bien encore Les Innocents. Il avoue également vouer une affection toute particulière pour l'Écosse, la forêt, la pluie et les déserts humains...

Source: http://www.editions-delcourt.fr/catal...

Reviews

[Marquise · Rating 1 out of 5]

Beautiful art, almost photography-like for its quality and realism. But the script? What a horrible and mediocre plot! And such a needless invention to have Manfred Freiherr von Richthofen, the famous Red Baron of WWI, have psychic powers.

Another example of terribly written plots with excellent art that doesn't deserve to accompany this kind of mediocrity.

[Gianfranco Mancini · Rating 4 out of 5]

Storyline: ☆☆☆---
Artworks: ☆☆☆☆☆+++

First volume of a trilogy portraying Baron Manfred von Richthofen (1882 - 1918), the infamous 'Red Baron', as a psychopath mind-reading serial-killer.
Storyline was just lame and totally far from expected, but magnificent artworks just made my day.



Brutal!

[Carlex · Rating 5 out of 5]

Four and half stars, five for the drawings and four for the script.

Wonderful drawings and a good script. I love World War I airplanes!

[Artur Coelho · Rating 3 out of 5]

Um recontar da história de Von Richtoffen, com um toque sobrenatural. Neste livro, enquanto jovem, o futuro ás dos ares, máquina assassina aos comandos de um aeroplano, descobre que tem a capacidade de sentir o medo e agressividade de oponentes em situações limite, quase como se fosse capaz de ler as suas mentes. Com a agressividade desperta, decide-se pela carreira militar, onde poderá dar vazão a esta nova capacidade. No entanto, destacado para cavalaria na era das trincheiras, percebe que não poderá combater como quer, e requer transferência para o corpo de observadores aéreos. Uma história que se arrasta, mas brilhantemente ilustrada.

[Murphy C · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lush, vivid art makes up for an odd plot and stiff narration. Wonder how the story ends...🙃

[Soobie has fog in her brain · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well, I expected something different. I've always pictured the Red Baron as one of those Romantic heroes doing anything for the Vaterland but still with a great honor. Sadly, this is not the case. Manfred von Richthofen is nothing but a psychopath with a sort of Spider sense that tells him what other people feel and that enjoys killing. And that's extremely weird.

This BD is very graphic and it seems the authors enjoy showing blood. There are aerial fights and beatings but the drawing style is excellent. The images are very precise and they look like real pictures. I also like the colors of this series. Manfred seems to be a little cross-eyes in a couple of panels and I don't know if he was really cross-eyed or what.

There are only three volumes in the series and I'm curious about the ending. It was also published in Italian but I'm not sure the quality is up to the English version I read. I'll surely stuck with English.

[Tony · Rating 3 out of 5]

This slim 48 page book is the first in a trilogy based on the real-life World War I aviation ace Manfred von Richtofen (aka the Red Baron). It opens with a quiet and graceful duel between him and an English pilot, culminating in a kill, at which he declares his "delight" in watching the enemy die. Then, the middle third is a flashback to 10 years previously, when he was a schoolboy in Berlin. He faces bullying by a Prince Freidrich (presumably Prince Freidrich Karl, who would also become a WWI pilot in real life), and discovers he has some kind of premonition superpower when faced with a threat, which allows him to bet his foes in combat. He tests this by heading to a rough part of town and luring a group of toughs into a fight, in which he appears to kill at least two of them with little compunction. The final third skips forward to his transition from cavalry service to the air corps in 1916, and an early flight as a gunner in a thrilling 14-page duel with a French plane. 

On the whole, the choice to depict him as a sociopath with a superpower seems a very strange one. The artwork is unlike any graphic novel I've seen -- the paintings are almost expressionistic at times, with a kind of soft focus to them. But panels depicting streets and architecture are incredibly finely detailed and look an awful lot like colored photos with a basic Photoshop filter applied. There's an "uncanny valley" aspect to them that I found very distracting, especially when contrasted with the other style. The best scenes are definitely those of the aerial duels, which summon the grace, power, and fragility of the machines.

Definitely worth checking out by aficionados of graphic novels with a historic or wartime subject. I'll be picking up the next one to see how the sociopathy thread develops.

[Bill Coffin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pierre Veys and Carlos Puerta bring us what a very loosely told story of the fighting life of Manfred von Richthofen, as he becomes the infamous Red Baron of WWI. The writing is pretty thin no works in a pointless subplot about how Richthofen has some kind of telepathy that gives him an edge in combat. Too bad Veys spends so much time on that, since he otherwise crafts an interesting take that suggests Richthofen was some kind of psychopath who happened to be what Germany needed when war broke out. But the real star of this series is the artwork by Carlos Puerta, which is simply exquisite and deserves 5 stars on its own.

[Komuniststar · Rating 3 out of 5]

Prva prica upoznaje nas s budućim Cerenim barunom i pomalo ga mistificira. Crtez, kpji izgleda ko obrađena fotografija, u dijaloskim djelovima izgleda umjetno, ali obilato nadoknađuje u akciskim djelovima, pogoto zračnih bitaka.

[Matt · Rating 3 out of 5]

Beautiful artwork: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Story OK: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

[Beja☕️ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dibujo ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

[SheMac · Rating 2 out of 5]

Beautifully illustrated but story is lacking so far.

[Al Capwned · Rating 2 out of 5]

Extremely beautiful painted art but the scenario, on the other hand... What's the deal with the psychic powers? Is it the writer's actual intention or is it just bad translation?

[StrictlySequential · Rating 5 out of 5]

2014 = £6.99 / $11.95

This is an excellent portrayal of a boy coming into his own viscous confidence which would lead him straight into the heart of war- essentially for practice in his craft of ferocity.

You don't really look up when reading this- it's a straight through affair because it's lightly worded and filled with quick and prolonged action.

The art is wonderfully time-honored to that period which puts you in ideal place and time. He goes BIG with his panels whenever possible and doesn't skimp on detail. There was obviously a ton of study that went into this because he has command of all the specs of machinery and uniform.

[The_Mad_Swede · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jaktpiloten, den första delen av tre i Pierre Veys och Carlos Puertas vackert målade serie Röde baronen, om den berömde flygaren Manfred von Richthofen, presenterar början av vad som verkar kunna vara en intressant berättelse. Jag är dock inte helt såld på serien vad gäller dess visuella berättande, vilket delvis störs av Puertas starkt fotorealistiska estetik. Överlag blir alldeles för stora delar av serien visuellt statiska där berättandet borde ingjutits med en illusion av rörelse.

Eftersom albumet inte i någon egentlig mening innehåller en fullständig historia, och eftersom jag är nyfiken på vart Veys tar det hela, kommer jag att läsa vidare, men väljer att göra så via bibliotekets bestånd.

[TMM · Rating 3 out of 5]

Superlative art work. Strange storyline.

[Flora · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read for the Excelsior Award 2015

[Bell · Rating 2 out of 5]

The slight supernatural element and usage of photocraphs as base for artwork dont really work for me.