Déogratias, a tale of Rwanda

    (:01 First Second, 2006)
™ and © First Second

Serving as both prelude and aftermath to the Rwandan genocide of 1994, this compelling 78-page story centers on the story of a young man named Deogratias and the terrible events that close in around him. Flipping back and forth between the past and present, Deogratias moves inexorably to its sorrowful conclusion with sympathy and restraint. The poignant coming-of-age story evolves into an African gothic full of dread and horror.

Belgian writer/artist Jean-Phillipe Strassen subtly delineates the skein of ethnic mistrust and post-colonial ills that midwifed the Rwandan genocide without losing sight of the human element and personal choices involved. An even-handed political history of the genocide prefaces the story.

— Leland Burrill
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