Black Paths

When the Austro-Hungarian Empire disintegrated after World War I, control of the Adriatic port of Fiume (now Rieka, Croatia) was hotly disputed. Enter “Pirate King” Gabriele d’Annunzio, an Italian poet who stormed the city with 3,000 Italian nationalists. D’Annunzio declared Fiume a free republic and himself commander. He envisioned a utopian city-state, but Fiume quickly became a surreal center of violence, looting, and decadence, with shades of the Fascist movement to come. Acclaimed comics artist David B. uses this real event as a backdrop and seamlessly weaves history, hysteria, and highly stylized art into the tragic love story of a beautiful torch singer and a young soldier haunted by the horrors of trench warfare.

David B. (Pierre-Francois Beauchard) is a prominent French comics artist whose graphic memoir, Epileptic, was nominated for an Eisner and won an Ignatz Award, as well as top prizes at the Angouleme International Comics Festival. He is also the illustrator of Best of Enemies: A History of U.S. and Middle East Relations. He lives in Paris, France.