Twists of Fate

By Paco Roca. Published by Fantagraphics. 

Hardcover, 328 pages, Colour and B&W, 2018. 

A fresh look at WWII from the internationally acclaimed cartoonist who created “the Spanish Maus.”

Miguel Ruiz is a Spanish veteran exiled in France who was a member of “La Nueve” ("The Nine"), a company of men that went straight from fighting for their homeland in the Spanish Civil War to battles spanning the globe in WWII. Their years-long trek across Europe and Africa was spurred on by their love for their country and their hatred for brutal dictatorships. Roca uses the composite character Ruiz’s “memories” to tell a story that’s an ode to a generation that bravely stood up to, and beat back, violent fascism.