“Carlos Giménez’s PARACUELLOS is, in my opinion, one of the greatest, most profound works ever in the medium. Technically and artistically flawless and the rarest of all testimonials: the memory of the silent children pushed by the wayside of history. Emotional, potent, and engrossing in equal measure, Carlos’s work has inspired me personally in the creation of THE DEVIL’S BACKBONE and PAN’S LABYRINTH. A masterpiece.”
“More than just a great memoir, but an important historical document and one of the powerful and haunting graphic novels I have ever read.”
“Giménez’ acute moral sensitivity, needle-sharp characterizations and knack for narrative make Paracuellos comparable to Maus and Persepolis. His artwork may surpass them.”
“Giménez’s powerful autobiographical work, a renowned classic in its native Spain, looks at the miserable lives of orphaned children and the offspring of the defeated during the regime of Franco. In short episodes set in the titular state home for boys, Giménez pulls no punches, depicting the unrelentingly bleak day-to-day existence of wide-eyed children who are harshly punished…but nonetheless the boys endure, their small shoulders bearing the weight of a world that cares nothing for them.”
“Acclaimed Spanish creator Giménez depicts brief vignettes from his life and that of other boys who lived in the fascist social aid “homes” that were by turns horrifying, pathetic, and poignant in this first English translation of this work…. These memories of the ease of a society in turning to cruelty against its least members is a cautionary tale for us all.”
“Paracuellos is a prime example of the power comics can have in their apparent simplicity…Despite the seemingly cartoon like style of the stories and the dark humour throughout, the comic achieves what [Scott] McCloud refers to as ‘amplification through simplification.’”
“Paracuellos, in the original and in Sonya Jones’s skillful translation, claims the authority of the oppressed and gives comics the transformative power of truth telling. Published soon after Franco died, the comic strips brought to the national consciousness an era that had been suppressed in official franquista histories. In retracing the abuses of the period, Paracuellos reveals the tensions around contested versions of history that still occupy political debates in Spain.”
