Comics about the Second World War are legion but few are interested in the everyday aspect and even less in the vanquished. The Earth, the sky, the crows not only chooses a subject little highlighted but the two Italian authors do it with humanity and originality.
Fleeing to the front
In a prison camp in the USSR near the White Sea, a German prisoner prepares to escape. Opportunistic, an Italian follows him. To prevent him from reporting their escape, the two fugitives captured a Soviet guard. This unlikely trio will have to cross the taiga in winter to reach the front line. Between the very harsh climate and the Red Army in pursuit, they will take the time to discover each other without ever understanding each other. Indeed, the two Italian authors of The Earth, the Sky, the Crows, Teresa Radice and Stefano Turconi, keep the original languages of the prisoners. The French publisher, Glénat, translated the words of the Italian prisoner but not for German and Russian except for a few words to make it possible to guess the meaning. This radical choice may surprise but it is totally logical because, like the reader, the group has a problem of understanding. This problem is as much concrete as it is symbolic. For one thing, none has a common language of communication. On the other hand, they do not want to get along because everyone is blocked by their national education.
Three men in the middle of the cold
Narrated by Attilio, Earth, Sky, Crows is a subjective testimony. Werner is a gruff German and kills without remorse. The Italian Attilio is softer but he knows how to take advantage of the preparation of the German to escape. Earth, Heaven, Crows are much more interested in individuals than in war. In the first days, everyone tells the reasons for his escape. Along the way, the reader discovers the complexity of the fugitives. The German, who seems the strongest, does not know how to hide his tracks and uses excessive violence. Attilio knows, on the contrary, to conceal his passage because he was a smuggler. Regular flashes of memories show his past. They appear without transition but very rightly in connection with what Attilio lives in the present: he thinks back to the death of his mother when he meets a peasant woman. Very quickly, it is this Italian that we prefer not only because we understand him but especially for his rebellious character. He hates the German more than the Russian because he sees in Werner a brutal representative of authority. Without any training, the Italian psychoanalyzes Werner to find the flaws. This study becomes a parable of the Nazis: reprobates who like to feel their power over others and abuse it; veterans who regretted the military hierarchy of the First World War and wanted to apply it throughout society and in all countries. Nature is very present in The Earth, the sky, the crows. As in a Terence Malick film, the force of nature is illustrated by alternating boxes on war and images of wildlife. However, the two are not chosen by chance but a thematic link is provided by the text: the narrator speaks of violent German while we see an owl hunting. 
War on the side of the vanquished
Earth, Sky, Crows is also a book about the history of the vanquished. In the old church converted into a prison, the conditions of detention are particularly harsh. Through a series of very strong images, we understand the reasons for the German collapse during the Russian campaign. The first pages show the arrival of a highly mechanized army and then, as the Axis sinks into the continent-state, the machines are destroyed or blocked by the cold. The huge army becomes a crowd on foot using mules. The reader discovers the daily physical and psychological suffering of soldiers. There is no longer an ideology but a daily barbarism in both camps. Earth, Sky, Crows is the fourth collaboration of the Italian duo who create together as much on paper as in life. Stefano Turconi's drawing is far from the habits of most production on the Second World War. Far from a photorealistic cold, the shape is close to the clear line and colorization with watercolor is very effective in rendering the beauty of the landscapes. The script is very fine. Each chapter opens with Russian literary quotes and sometimes closes with cliffhangers: the first chapter ends with these words, "this is the story of how I died." The form of the book is also very accomplished. The introduction takes up the typography of typewriters of the time. As a bonus, the great idea of adding the double-page photo of the cartoonist's desk shows off his tools, visual references, readings and inspirational music related to the subject. Earth, Sky, Crows is a sensitive work on war and therefore very rare. This journey on foot in the snow is not only a struggle for survival but also a human encounter, an epic deep in the human soul. Stay well until the end because the end will surprise you. You can find other chronicles on the Second World War with The Shadow Part and Hitler's Last Secret.
