Do you love football? Then this book is for you following the legendary player, George Best. Do you hate football? Then this comic is made for you by illustrating a hero of the changes of England in the 1960s. Discover through this column how a player became the idol of a country.
A mythology of football
George Best opens with the description of the legend. Two children, fascinated, watch on TV an action by Georgie. It is 1974 and the writer Vincent Duluc is on a linguistic trip to England. Already a fan of football, he discovered the faith of the English for this sport.Seeing George Best's actions on the pitch, he became a mad lover of football and the Manchester player. Born in Northern Ireland, George Best is passionate about football. Spotted by a coach despite his small size, he left Belfast to go to the Manchester United training center. He reveals great talents but also a strong character. As soon as he arrives, he goes back to Ulster because he can not stand loneliness before changing his mind.It must be said that the club is marked by a heavy trauma. In 1958, part of the team died in a plane crash. We see it by striker Bobby Charlton who has not smiled since the accident.
Best's debut in the A team was not glorious because he experienced a much more manly game than in junior. But it quickly becomes indispensable. We go behind the scenes of the club around the opposition between George Best and Bobby Charlton. Hating each other in life, they will write the legend of the Reds on the grass. The cartoonist and colorist Florent Calvez renders the tension very well during and after the matches. Like the scenario, his classic drawing is interested in the historical accuracy of clothing and decorations. The darkness of the story is highlighted by a fine-tipped inking very present.
Much more than a footballer
Outside the stadium, George Best made a lot of money and became a star which was very new at the time. This fame and social change is difficult to manage without help. No player has had such notoriety. George Best became a key member of Swinging Manchester. Based on the novel The Fifth Beatles by Vincent Duluc, screenwriter Kris draws a parallel with the mythical pop group as the cover parodying the album Abbey Road. Beginning all in Manchester, the day and members of the Beatles are from the working class. They will then revolutionize the country and popular music.
The musical group and the football player are symbols of a change of era.Behind a timid attitude, they will become rebels multiplying media coups. Kris shows this by various clues by comparing the former Bobby Charlton and the younger George Best. The young person buys a sports car, pays close attention to his hairstyle. He shines on the field but also off the field where he multiplies the feminine conquests without ever establishing a stable relationship. He invests in a fashion boutique and multiplies advertisements.
This book is also a documentary about football in the early sixties. A reader today will be very surprised by how youth teams work. George Best takes a ship alone for England. He lives with a landlady who is a surrogate mother. She monitors her schedules. He abandoned his studies very early. In addition to training, the law requires him to have a job on the side but it is fictitious. His meager salary from the club is almost entirely sent to his family. A young person can be fired overnight without notice. This life is far from a future star but resembles that of the workers of the time. The break is all the stronger with his life as a star and this shock partly explains the fall.
Edited by Delcourt, George Best, Twist and Shout is no offside. Screenwriter Kris makes brilliant passes to tell the story of the Manchester legend's successes on the pitch and his tumultuous private life. More in the background, the cartoonist Florent Calvez knows how to stand out to serve with talent the collective game of comics. A team worthy of a European championship.
You can find on the site other titles mixing the small and the big story with Au nom du pain and Chez Adolf.
