{"id":26395,"date":"2022-08-31T08:00:33","date_gmt":"2022-08-31T08:00:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/?p=26395"},"modified":"2022-08-26T17:35:04","modified_gmt":"2022-08-26T17:35:04","slug":"bluecoats-volume-13-something-borrowed-something-blue","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/2022\/08\/31\/bluecoats-volume-13-something-borrowed-something-blue\/","title":{"rendered":"Bluecoats volume 13: Something Borrowed, Something Blue"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\" \"\"
\nBy Willy Lambil <\/strong>& Raoul Cauvin<\/strong>, translated by Jerome Saincantin<\/strong> (Cinebook)
\nISBN: 978-1-84918-531-8 (Album PB\/Digital edition)<\/p>\n

Devised by Louis \u201cSalv\u00e9\u201d Salv\u00e9rius & Raoul Cauvin – who scripted the first 64 volumes until retirement in 2020 – Les Tuniques Bleues<\/em><\/strong> (or Dutch co-incarnation De Blauwbloezen<\/em><\/strong>) debuted at the end of the 1960s: created to replace Lucky Luke<\/strong> when that laconic maverick defected from weekly anthology Le Journal de Spirou <\/em><\/strong>to rival publication Pilote<\/em><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

From its first sallies, the substitute strip swiftly became hugely popular: one of the most popular bande dessin\u00e9e series in Europe. In case you were wondering, it is now scribed by Jose-Luis Munuera and the BeKa writing partnership\u2026<\/p>\n

Salv\u00e9 was a cartoonist of the Gallic big-foot\/big-nose humour school, and after his sudden death in 1972, successor Willy \u201cLambil\u201d Lambillotte gradually adopted a more realistic – but still overtly comedic – tone and manner. Lambil is Belgian, born in 1936 and, after studying Fine Art in college, joined publishing giant Dupuis in 1952 as a letterer.<\/p>\n

Born in 1938, scripter Cauvin was also Belgian and – before entering Dupuis\u2019 animation department in 1960 – studied Lithography. He soon discovered his true calling – comedy – and began a glittering, prolific writing career at Le Journal de Spirou<\/em><\/strong>. In addition, he scripted dozens of long-running, award winning series including C<\/em><\/strong>\u00e9dric<\/em><\/strong>, Les Femmes en Blanc<\/em><\/strong> and Agent 212<\/em><\/strong>: more than 240 separate albums. Les Tuniques Bleues<\/em><\/strong> alone has sold more than 15 million copies of its 66 (and counting) album sequence. Cauvin died on August 19th<\/sup> 2021, but his vast legacy of laughter remains.<\/p>\n

Here, as The Bluecoats<\/strong>, our long-suffering protagonists are Sergeant Cornelius Chesterfield <\/em>and Corporal Blutch<\/em>; worthy fools in the manner of Laurel & Hardy<\/strong>: hapless, ill-starred US cavalrymen defending America during the War Between the States.<\/p>\n

The original format offered single-page gags set around an Indian-plagued Wild West fort, but from the second volume – Du Nord au Sud<\/em><\/strong> – the sad-sack soldiers were situated back East, fighting in the American Civil War. All subsequent adventures – despite ranging far beyond the traditional environs of America and taking in a lot of genuine and thoroughly researched history – are set within the timeframe of the Secession conflict.<\/p>\n

Blutch is your run-of-the-mill, whinging little-man-in-the street: work-shy, mouthy, devious and ferociously critical of the army and its inept commanders. Ducking, diving, or deserting whenever he can, he\u2019s you or me – except at his core he\u2019s smart, principled and even heroic \u2026if no easier option is available.<\/p>\n

Chesterfield is a big, burly professional fighting man; a proud career soldier of the 22nd<\/sup> Cavalry who passionately believes in the patriotism and esprit-de-corps of the Military. He is brave, never shirks his duty and hungers to be a medal-wearing hero. He also loves his cynical little troll of a pal. They quarrel like a married couple, fight like brothers and simply cannot agree on the point and purpose of the horrendous war they are trapped in: a situation that once more stretches their friendship to breaking point in this cunningly conceived instalment.<\/p>\n

Des bleus et des dentelles <\/em><\/strong>was originally serialised in 1983 in Le Journal de Spirou<\/em><\/strong> (#2384-2387) before collection into another mega-selling album in 1985. It was <\/strong>the 22nd<\/sup> European release and in 2020 became Cinebook\u2019s 13th<\/sup> translated volume. As Something Borrowed, Something Blue<\/strong> it offers a lighter touch and tone than many, with the underlying horror salved by a kind-of romance and ridiculously surreal black comedy.<\/p>\n

Once again Union forces are stalemated with no advance possible. Even the cavalry – under the leadership of utterly deranged, apparently invulnerable maniac Captain Stark<\/em> – are stuck in dugouts, dodging enemy artillery fire beside ordinary foot soldiers. The zealot\u2019s constant, costly, pointless charges at Confederate gun emplacements have left them short of riders and out of horses\u2026<\/p>\n

Sergeant Chesterfield is furious, but Blutch is perfectly happy keeping his head down and playing cards\u2026 until a shell lands on his position. By some miracle, he survives, but as Chesterfield brings him to the casualty-packed field hospital, it becomes clear that the odds of remaining so are against him.<\/p>\n

Only the sarge\u2019s armed intimidation can get a doctor to even look at his pal, and when they try to hack off Blutch\u2019s leg, only the little man\u2019s hidden gun stops them from completing the unnecessary surgery\u2026<\/p>\n

Suddenly, the entire camp\u2019s attention is switched to the hospital, as the General\u2019s latest morale-boosting scheme arrives: volunteer medical assistants – all women\u2026<\/p>\n

Suddenly, the entire army is stricken with some malady or other. Even Stark abandons the joy of slaughter to secure some female attention, and a top level secret plan is enacted to retore order. It involves scrupulous triage before any soldier can be admitted for treatment and to make doubly sure of weeding out malingerers, the formidable Miss Bertha<\/em> will examine every man claiming injury.<\/p>\n

The most secret part is that she is actually the hugely unhappy Private Burke<\/em> in drag. His greatest fear is dying in a dress, but at least he won\u2019t have to explain his new \u201cuniform\u201d to the wife and kids\u2026<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, actually injured Blutch is slowly recovering, thanks in great part to the diligent ministrations of nurse Jenny<\/em>. Angel and patient are always together now, and Chesterfield finds himself increasingly lonely and jealous \u2026but not as much as Blutch\u2019s incredibly smart horse Polka<\/em>\u2026<\/p>\n

As the shirker heals, the military situation is worsening. The unassailable artillery is grinding the Union stronghold to rubble and ruin, but things start changing after another futile Stark sortie leads to the enemy troops learning there are women in their enemies\u2019 camp. Soon, Rebel wounded are demanding that they be treated in the Union hospital too\u2026<\/p>\n

The situation is untenable and Chesterfield is going crazy, but the biggest bombshell comes not from enemy guns but little Blutch, as he hobbles around on crutches. The little guy is going to marry Jenny\u2026<\/p>\n

Initially horrified, the General unexpectedly agrees to the match, but as preparations take the men\u2019s minds off the perpetual bombardment another shock lands after Stark requests he be allowed to wed \u201cBertha\u201d\u2026<\/p>\n

Moreover, as Mr and Mrs Blutch ride a buggy back to safety and civilisation, Chesterfield discovers the truth about Bertha and is ordered to take his place as a female-presenting triage nurse. When \u201cMiss Cornelia\u201d then discovers how Blutch and Jenny have fooled everybody and escaped the war, he goes ballistic and sets off after the delinquents. He finds them frantically coming towards him scant yards ahead of a Confederate sneak attack approaching the Union camp from the rear.<\/p>\n

Suddenly, it\u2019s time for everyone to get back to the real business of war, with the Bluecoats survival dependant on Stark\u2019s insane tactics\u2026<\/p>\n

Combining searing satire with stunning slapstick, Something Borrowed, Something Blue<\/strong> deftly delivers a beguiling message about the sheer stupidity of war equally clear \u00a0to younger, less world-weary audiences and old lags who have seen it all.<\/p>\n

These stories weaponise humour, making occasional moments of shocking verity doubly powerful and hard-hitting. Funny, thrilling, beautifully realised and eminently readable, Bluecoats<\/strong> is the kind of war-story and Western, appealing to the best, not worst, of the human spirit.
\n\u00a9 Dupuis 1985 by Lambil & Cauvin. All rights reserved. English translation \u00a9 2020 Cinebook Ltd.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Willy Lambil & Raoul Cauvin, translated by Jerome Saincantin (Cinebook) ISBN: 978-1-84918-531-8 (Album PB\/Digital edition) Devised by Louis \u201cSalv\u00e9\u201d Salv\u00e9rius & Raoul Cauvin – who scripted the first 64 volumes until retirement in 2020 – Les Tuniques Bleues (or Dutch co-incarnation De Blauwbloezen) debuted at the end of the 1960s: created to replace Lucky … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “Bluecoats volume 13: Something Borrowed, Something Blue”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[113,63,122,125,111,93,99],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26395","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-comedy","category-european-classics","category-historical","category-humour","category-satirepolitics","category-war-stories","category-westerns"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4AFj-6RJ","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26395","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26395"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26395\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26399,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26395\/revisions\/26399"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26395"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26395"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26395"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}