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Streets of Paris, Streets of Murder #3-4
Streets Of Paris, Streets Of Murder: The Complete Graphic Noir of Manchette and Tardi Vol. 2
The second of two volumes presenting all four hardboiled graphic crime novels by Jean-Patrick Manchette and Tardi. Like a Sniper Lining Up His Shot — Martin Terrier, killer-for-hire, needs just one more big job so that he can turn in his guns for good and return home to marry his childhood sweetheart. But soon, he’s on the run — not only from the authorities and his treacherous ex-clients, but also from a crime syndicate seeking revenge for an earlier hit on one of theirs. In Run Like Crazy, Run Like Hell, philanthropist Michael Hartog hires Julie, just out of a psychiatric asylum, as a nanny. But he plans to fake the kidnapping of his son, Peter — and frame Julie for it. But Julie is no pushover, and soon, Julie and Peter are on the run, pursued by the police, and by Hartog’s enforcer, the hulking contract killer, Thompson.
196 pages, Hardcover
Published August 4, 2020
6 people are currently reading
64 people want to read
About the author
Jean-Patrick Manchette
68 books327 followersJean-Patrick Manchette was a French crime novelist credited with reinventing and reinvigorating the genre. He wrote ten short novels in the seventies and early eighties, and is widely recognized as the foremost French crime fiction author of the 1970s - 1980s . His stories are violent, existentialist explorations of the human condition and French society.
Manchette was politically to the left and his writing reflects this through his analysis of social positions and culture. His books are reminiscent of the nouvelle vague crime films of Jean-Pierre Melville, employing a similarly cool, existential style on a typically American genre (film noir for Melville and pulp novels for Manchette).
Three of his novels have been translated into English. Two were published by San Francisco publisher City Lights Books (3 To Kill [from the French "Le petit bleu de la côte ouest"] and The Prone Gunman [from the French "La Position du tireur couché"]). A third, Fatale, was released by New York Review Books Classics in 2011.
Manchette believed he had gone full circle with his last novel, which he conceived as a "closure" of his Noir fiction. In a 1988 letter to a journalist, Manchette said:
" After that, as I did not have to belong to any kind of literary school, I entered a very different work area. In seven years, I have not done anything good. I'm still working at it."
In 1989, finally having found new territory he wanted to explore, Manchette started writing a new novel, La Princesse du Sang" ("Blood Princess"), an international thriller, which was supposed to be the first book in a new cycle, a series of novels covering five decades from the post-war period to present times. He died from cancer before completing it.
Starting in 1996, a year after Manchette's death, several unpublished works were released, showing how very active he was during in the years preceding his death.
In 2009, Fantagraphics Books released an English-language version of French cartoonist Jacques Tardi's adaptation of Le petit bleu, under the new English title 'West Coast Blues.' Fantagraphics released a second Tardi adaptation, of "La Position du tireur couché" (under the title "Like a Sniper Lining Up His Shot" ) in the summer of 2011, and has scheduled a third one, of "Ô Dingos! Ô Châteaux!" (under the title "Run Like Crazy Run Like Hell") in summer 2014. Manchette himself was a fan of comics, and his praised translation of Alan Moore's Watchmen into French remains in print.
Manchette was politically to the left and his writing reflects this through his analysis of social positions and culture. His books are reminiscent of the nouvelle vague crime films of Jean-Pierre Melville, employing a similarly cool, existential style on a typically American genre (film noir for Melville and pulp novels for Manchette).
Three of his novels have been translated into English. Two were published by San Francisco publisher City Lights Books (3 To Kill [from the French "Le petit bleu de la côte ouest"] and The Prone Gunman [from the French "La Position du tireur couché"]). A third, Fatale, was released by New York Review Books Classics in 2011.
Manchette believed he had gone full circle with his last novel, which he conceived as a "closure" of his Noir fiction. In a 1988 letter to a journalist, Manchette said:
" After that, as I did not have to belong to any kind of literary school, I entered a very different work area. In seven years, I have not done anything good. I'm still working at it."
In 1989, finally having found new territory he wanted to explore, Manchette started writing a new novel, La Princesse du Sang" ("Blood Princess"), an international thriller, which was supposed to be the first book in a new cycle, a series of novels covering five decades from the post-war period to present times. He died from cancer before completing it.
Starting in 1996, a year after Manchette's death, several unpublished works were released, showing how very active he was during in the years preceding his death.
In 2009, Fantagraphics Books released an English-language version of French cartoonist Jacques Tardi's adaptation of Le petit bleu, under the new English title 'West Coast Blues.' Fantagraphics released a second Tardi adaptation, of "La Position du tireur couché" (under the title "Like a Sniper Lining Up His Shot" ) in the summer of 2011, and has scheduled a third one, of "Ô Dingos! Ô Châteaux!" (under the title "Run Like Crazy Run Like Hell") in summer 2014. Manchette himself was a fan of comics, and his praised translation of Alan Moore's Watchmen into French remains in print.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
June 6, 2021
Streets of Paris, Streets of Murder Volume 2 collects two tales written by Jean-Patrick Manchette and illustrated by Tardi.
I bought the two Streets of Paris, Streets of Murder in a slipcase edition after seeing a good price on it a couple months ago so here we are.
Volume 2 contains two stories. One features a hitman wanting to go straight after one less job with an eye toward marrying a woman he left behind a decade earlier. The other features a botched kidnapping involving an aging hitman and a woman fresh from a mental institution.
Manchette's love for crime noir burns brightly in both stories. Double dealing deception is the norm and no one gets out unscathed. Fortunately, the bad guys get what's coming to them in the end.
Tardi's art continues to remind me of a fusion between Moebius and Mazzuchelli. The minimalist art makes the violence hit that much harder. Tardi gets to draw a lot of wilderness scenes in this volume, along with cabins and a mountaintop Moorish fortress. It all gets washed with blood by the end.
Streets of Paris, Streets of Murder Volume 2 wraps up a powerful noir collection by two masters. Five out of five stars.
I bought the two Streets of Paris, Streets of Murder in a slipcase edition after seeing a good price on it a couple months ago so here we are.
Volume 2 contains two stories. One features a hitman wanting to go straight after one less job with an eye toward marrying a woman he left behind a decade earlier. The other features a botched kidnapping involving an aging hitman and a woman fresh from a mental institution.
Manchette's love for crime noir burns brightly in both stories. Double dealing deception is the norm and no one gets out unscathed. Fortunately, the bad guys get what's coming to them in the end.
Tardi's art continues to remind me of a fusion between Moebius and Mazzuchelli. The minimalist art makes the violence hit that much harder. Tardi gets to draw a lot of wilderness scenes in this volume, along with cabins and a mountaintop Moorish fortress. It all gets washed with blood by the end.
Streets of Paris, Streets of Murder Volume 2 wraps up a powerful noir collection by two masters. Five out of five stars.
March 8, 2021
Think I liked these two stories (Like a Sniper Lining Up His Shot and Run Like Crazy, Run Like Hell) more than the Manchette novels they're based on (The Prone Gunman and The Mad and the Bad). Think it's because these two are further away from crime fiction and and have more heightened elements (contract killers, assassination plots, etc) and the art helps ground it all, make it seem plausible? I dunno. Also I can't remember if the ending is changed between Prone/Like a Sniper, but certainly the ending came off as more plausible here. Whereas the first the first time around I wasn't as sold on it.
November 24, 2020
A wild ride. I chuckled at some of the carnage in the last few pages!
Absolutely have to check out Manchette novels toute suite!
Absolutely have to check out Manchette novels toute suite!
July 5, 2023
(Zero spoiler review)
Although pointing out how painfully dull and pathetic this is, is something of a spoiler in itself. I bought both of these hardcover collections, seeing as how I'm such a sucker for a good noir. It's just a shame that this was neither good, nor much of a noir. At best, it's bland crime fiction, emphasis on the bland. Perhaps the translation from French to English robbed it of some of its magic, but the writing was amateurish and stilted. The characters were all one dimensional and unlikeable. The plots were full of contrivances and about as well written as a dyslexics shopping list. It really wouldn't be hard nor non-American markets to thrive, given how bad modern big two comics are, along with their penchant for insulting their customers. But with foreign stories this bad, I'd almost be tempted to stick with Marvel and DC's woke trash. Oh, and the art was almost as bad as the writing. 2/5
Although pointing out how painfully dull and pathetic this is, is something of a spoiler in itself. I bought both of these hardcover collections, seeing as how I'm such a sucker for a good noir. It's just a shame that this was neither good, nor much of a noir. At best, it's bland crime fiction, emphasis on the bland. Perhaps the translation from French to English robbed it of some of its magic, but the writing was amateurish and stilted. The characters were all one dimensional and unlikeable. The plots were full of contrivances and about as well written as a dyslexics shopping list. It really wouldn't be hard nor non-American markets to thrive, given how bad modern big two comics are, along with their penchant for insulting their customers. But with foreign stories this bad, I'd almost be tempted to stick with Marvel and DC's woke trash. Oh, and the art was almost as bad as the writing. 2/5
January 15, 2023
Graphic Noir. Two stories based on the books by Jean-Patrick Manchette. Art work by Jacques Tardi, the famous French Graphic Novel artist. Especially his WWI novels about the senseless trench warfare are very well known. (https://www.lambiek.net/artists/t/tar...)
Tardi pretty much follows Manchette’s writing. Comments are verbatim added to the book. The graphics themselves fill in the rest.
Both are good stories. Violent? Yes. Graphic? Yes! Tardi pictures bloody scenes quite “graphically”.
I feel after finishing, that reading the actual books, could give more satisfaction? Atmosphere and details might be more telling. But the sparse pictures and the so called “clear line” grapics are very well suited for these grim stories. It’s in black and white. For a Noir Novel that is appropriate one might say.
Both stories are violent. And in both things don’t go as planned. Sometimes darkly comical.
The first story: Like a Sniper Lining up his Shot, La Position du Tireur Couché. (1980). Translated: The Prone Gunman.
A “love” story. A professional gunman comes back after 10 years to his former girlfriend. He left to make a fortune and she promised to wait for him. But all is not as he expected.
Exciting story. The professional assassin wants out after his last job. But his “company” wants to keep him. And when he finds out that his money broker squandered all his money he is forced to do one last gig. But it is not as it seems.
Old enemies pop up. He gets double crossed. And his one love does not make it easy for him. A lot is going on. A bit confusing.
The second story: Run like Crazy, Run Like Hell. O dingos, O châteaux! (1972) Translated: The Mad and the Bad.
This story is less confusing. It’s about a runaway nanny with her pupil. She gets framed as being a kidnapper by her employer. Of course things go wrong and she is on the run. From the police and from the enforcer, hired by her employer.
A fast paced story. Violent. But not as brutal as the first story.
Tardi pretty much follows Manchette’s writing. Comments are verbatim added to the book. The graphics themselves fill in the rest.
Both are good stories. Violent? Yes. Graphic? Yes! Tardi pictures bloody scenes quite “graphically”.
I feel after finishing, that reading the actual books, could give more satisfaction? Atmosphere and details might be more telling. But the sparse pictures and the so called “clear line” grapics are very well suited for these grim stories. It’s in black and white. For a Noir Novel that is appropriate one might say.
Both stories are violent. And in both things don’t go as planned. Sometimes darkly comical.
The first story: Like a Sniper Lining up his Shot, La Position du Tireur Couché. (1980). Translated: The Prone Gunman.
A “love” story. A professional gunman comes back after 10 years to his former girlfriend. He left to make a fortune and she promised to wait for him. But all is not as he expected.
Exciting story. The professional assassin wants out after his last job. But his “company” wants to keep him. And when he finds out that his money broker squandered all his money he is forced to do one last gig. But it is not as it seems.
Old enemies pop up. He gets double crossed. And his one love does not make it easy for him. A lot is going on. A bit confusing.
The second story: Run like Crazy, Run Like Hell. O dingos, O châteaux! (1972) Translated: The Mad and the Bad.
This story is less confusing. It’s about a runaway nanny with her pupil. She gets framed as being a kidnapper by her employer. Of course things go wrong and she is on the run. From the police and from the enforcer, hired by her employer.
A fast paced story. Violent. But not as brutal as the first story.
August 4, 2025
Like A Sniper Lining Up His Shot - A young man leaves his dead-end French town for Paris, promising his lover he will return in 10 years once he amasses enough money to support their life together. Becoming an accomplished gun for hire in the following years, the man starts preparing for a sudden and discreet retirement. Knowing the mob organization he's been working for would rather him retire dead, when they discover his intentions the protagonist flees the capital and finds his plans for the future thrown into progressively escalating turmoil.
A far more wild, strange, and intriguing journey than I was expecting going in. What starts off as a sober action thriller about attempting to exit a life of crime becomes a comedy of errors about best laid plans failing due to forces outside of one's control. What really sells the chaos of the overarching narrative is the idiosyncratic characters played against the "straight man" protagonist whom consistently sees his seemingly well prepared ploys fall apart. It's rather marvelous just how poorly the main character assessed his position despite thorough preparation, leading to a resolution that serves as a poetic comeuppance for his misguided embrace of crime as an easy route to prosperity. There are some plot points that I found a bit too silly, like when the protagonist loses his voice from shock, but these elements were sparse enough they didn't detract much from the overall experience. Tardi's penwork fits the story well, serving both the violent action and comedic farce with gusto. ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Run Like Crazy, Run Like Hell - An eccentric French businessman surrounds himself with those who have a history of mental illness, seemingly due to his charitable disposition. He oversees the release of a woman from a mental asylum and welcomes her to live in his lavish mansion on the condition that she takes care of his young ward, the son of his late brother. When the businessman is away, the woman and young child are kidnapped in an apparent effort to blackmail their rich benefactor. As the two captives struggle against their captors they soon find there is more to the charitable businessman than there appears on the surface.
This had some fun moments and continues the trend of farcical crime that Tardi produced in the previous two entries of this collection. However, the plot is considerably more predictable than the other entries in "Streets of Paris, Streets of Murder" and has what is easily the least compelling resolution among the collection. The art direction is also less interesting than the rest of this catalog, and though Tardi's pencilling still has a light charm I didn't really find it all that engaging outside of some fun chase scenes and pulpy violence. I also got rather tired of the repetitive character design, with the female lead looking nearly identical to every other woman in these stories and the eccentric rich man looking very similar to the protagonists from "West Coast Blues" and "Like a Sniper Lining Up His Shot". ⭐⭐
A far more wild, strange, and intriguing journey than I was expecting going in. What starts off as a sober action thriller about attempting to exit a life of crime becomes a comedy of errors about best laid plans failing due to forces outside of one's control. What really sells the chaos of the overarching narrative is the idiosyncratic characters played against the "straight man" protagonist whom consistently sees his seemingly well prepared ploys fall apart. It's rather marvelous just how poorly the main character assessed his position despite thorough preparation, leading to a resolution that serves as a poetic comeuppance for his misguided embrace of crime as an easy route to prosperity. There are some plot points that I found a bit too silly, like when the protagonist loses his voice from shock, but these elements were sparse enough they didn't detract much from the overall experience. Tardi's penwork fits the story well, serving both the violent action and comedic farce with gusto. ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Run Like Crazy, Run Like Hell - An eccentric French businessman surrounds himself with those who have a history of mental illness, seemingly due to his charitable disposition. He oversees the release of a woman from a mental asylum and welcomes her to live in his lavish mansion on the condition that she takes care of his young ward, the son of his late brother. When the businessman is away, the woman and young child are kidnapped in an apparent effort to blackmail their rich benefactor. As the two captives struggle against their captors they soon find there is more to the charitable businessman than there appears on the surface.
This had some fun moments and continues the trend of farcical crime that Tardi produced in the previous two entries of this collection. However, the plot is considerably more predictable than the other entries in "Streets of Paris, Streets of Murder" and has what is easily the least compelling resolution among the collection. The art direction is also less interesting than the rest of this catalog, and though Tardi's pencilling still has a light charm I didn't really find it all that engaging outside of some fun chase scenes and pulpy violence. I also got rather tired of the repetitive character design, with the female lead looking nearly identical to every other woman in these stories and the eccentric rich man looking very similar to the protagonists from "West Coast Blues" and "Like a Sniper Lining Up His Shot". ⭐⭐
August 16, 2021
I liked this second volume much more than the first. Of the two stories here, Like a Sniper Lining Up His Shot, and, Run Like Crazy Run Like Hell, I liked the latter best. It is a madcap world within that story, but eventually it makes sense, just after the reader realizes what is going on. The characters are complex, including the one considered crazy, but the crazy one carries through. The ones who are really criminally insane don't. Manchette resists a happy ending, opting to wrap things up, dealing out justice, or karma for all. It is one of the best, well-thought-out stories I've read in some time.
Usually, I don't rate graphic novels as highly as this, because the writing seems to exist just as a way to present the artwork, but this one used the artwork to enhance the story, and I felt like I was watching a long movie unwind. There's a rhythm in these stories, and it drew me in.
Usually, I don't rate graphic novels as highly as this, because the writing seems to exist just as a way to present the artwork, but this one used the artwork to enhance the story, and I felt like I was watching a long movie unwind. There's a rhythm in these stories, and it drew me in.
September 23, 2021
This is just two stories, Like a Sniper Lining Up his Shot and Run Like Crazy, Run Like Hell. Both are very good. But Sniper maybe runs on a bit too long and features a very unlikeable protagonist, Martin Terrier.
The second story is much better. The progonist is crazy, and doing her best to stay a step ahead of a hitman with stomach cancer. Lot's of violence and characters that actually develop made the plot that much more interesting to me.
The second story is much better. The progonist is crazy, and doing her best to stay a step ahead of a hitman with stomach cancer. Lot's of violence and characters that actually develop made the plot that much more interesting to me.
October 28, 2021
The best B&W crime comics ever.
May 29, 2024
Holy smoke! I loved this.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews