Traces of the Great War

by Joe Kelly, Robbie Morrison, Ian Rankin

Traces of the Great War is a remarkable, original collection of 18 thought provoking graphic short stories bridging the past and present. Internationally-acclaimed comic book artists, graphic novelists and writers, all of them explore the continued relevance and resonance of the First World War and its legacy in our lives today, creating emotion and reflexions.

Genres: Graphic Novels, History, World War I

152 pages, Hardcover

First published November 1, 2018

About the author

Librarian note:
There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name

Reviews

[Bill · Rating 3 out of 5]

A collection of illustrated short stories, set over different time periods, that look back at the First World War.
Most of the stories are very short & there are a wide range of artistic styles to support the text. A unique way to commemorate a tragic event.

[John Kaye · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some really excellent artwork and the format, which allows for lots of different stories and styles, is excellent. Many of the short pieces are thought-provoking, clearly the aim, and quite a few suceed very well, for me. I don' read many graphic novels, but this was a great demonstration of the power of the medium: I doubt any prose version would have been as successful in conveying the range of feelings and chosen events.

[Will · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is the product of an interesting idea; to give 18 different graphic artists freedom to create a short piece with some connection to the First World War. However, the execution is lacklustre. Some of them have little to no connection to the war (including the story of the Komagata Maru), while others are poorly developed and simplistic, including one where a cave man foresees eras of conflict in the future, or one where wearing a poppy is compared to wearing a swastika. Even when there are interesting ideas, there is rarely sufficient space for the artists to really develop anything interesting.

[Justin · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful compilation of graphic novel stories (or graphic short stories) to mark different aspects of the Great War for the centenary. There is some fantastic artwork from artists and writers from around the world (including Ian Rankin, interestingly), and some very moving stories; one of ones I like most is the exploration of why the poppy isn’t worn in Germany. The collection was written in 1918 but still manages to cover Putin and the war in Ukraine.

I spotted this volume in the Historial de la Grande Guerre in Péronne, and it’s available in both French and English.

[Jason Bootle · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read Dave Mckean's amazing Black Dog last year. It was part of a funded WW1 centenary project to use the graphic novel form to highlight stories from the war pre and post to which this book was a part of. Drawing from a variety of writers and artist this book is a collection of short stories around WW1 and is impressive in its consistency. It always amazes me how one central moment in history has so different stories to tell.