So Far So Good
by Jan Novák, Jaromír 99
November 2018, 256 pages
Available material: German translation
Rights sold: Germany (Voland & Quist), France (Presque Lune), Great Britain (Centrala), Poland (Centrala), Ukraine (Centrala), Spain (Nordica Libros)
Visually arresting graphic novel in a unique style of noir
The story of the Mašín brothers and their crew waging a guerilla war against the 1950s Communist regime could be the most dramatic Czech tale of the last century. After their activities in Czechoslovakia, the five young men headed west – facing off twenty thousand East German Volkspolizei and shooting their way to freedom. In the novel So Far, So Good, Jan Novák wrote the story as a thrilling Czech Western, and won the Magnesia Litera prize for Best Book of the Year. Now, he and the artist Jaromír 99 have created a dramatic, visually arresting graphic novel in Jaromír 99’s unique style of noir.
After the national runaway success of their previous collaboration, Zátopek, the authors return with an even more explosive comic book.
“I didn’t want this to be just another action comic about heroism in a time of darkness, but instead a thriller about two boys who stood up to evil, and were lucky as hell.”
– Jaromír 99 (Jaromír Švejdík)
“The adventures of the Mašín brothers and their team are portrayed with rawness and concision, without any moralizing. The book deserves the attention of anyone interested in comics, as well as those who would rather not surf the web or read long books.”
– vašeliteratura.cz
“On the one hand, Novák sketches the Mašíns as impetuous and impulsive boys who act like Wild West gunfighters; on the other, he recognizes the depths of their courage, their allegiance to their cause, and their absolute refusal to yield to totalitarianism in either theory or practice.”
– lidovky.cz
