Once Upon a Time in France

"It is with regret that we must leave behind this Joseph Joanovici, who was a real person with a destiny that was nothing if not novelistic. . . . He became the ambiguous hero of a remarkable popular series in which the narrative remains dense and captivating throughout all six tomes, based on a flawless historical foundation." --Télérama

"History with a big H is an extraordinarily vast pool of subjects. It is a true space of freedom without the budgetary constraints of filmmaking. . . . In historical graphic novels, writers can revisit earlier times to reveal things that are not widely known." --Fabien Nury, Marianne



"Once upon a Time in France is one of the best series in recent years. Public and critical plaudits include the Parisian readers' award in 2009 and the best-series award at Angoulême in 2011. The series traces the life of Joseph Joanovici, a Romanian Jewish scrap merchant who became one of the richest men in France during World War II." --Le Parisien

"To portray Joseph Joanovici in a graphic novel is to plunge into the dark alleys of World War II. The Gestapo, collaborators, inhuman sufferings, the Resistance--Joseph Joanovici combined a little of it all, blended into a dark, maleficent alchemy. . . . Six years after the first volume, the story is still breathtaking, and readers remain riveted by the force of Fabien Nury's script and the intensity of Sylvain Vallée's graphics." --JEAN-PHILIPPE LEFEVRE, Coup de coeur BD

Fabien Nury has scripted more than fifteen comics series, including Once Upon a Time in France, which won the Best Series Award at the Angoulême Comics Festival and The Death of Stalin, which was adapted to the film with Steve Buscemi. Nury is also a television screenwriter and has created the Guyane TV series.



Sylvain Vallée graduated from the Saint-Luc School of Brussels. He started as a freelance illustrator in advertising and cartoonist. He published his first comic book with Glénat at age 25 and has worked on a dozen series.

Sylvain Vallée graduated from the Saint-Luc School of Brussels. He started as a cartoonist and a freelance illustrator in advertising. He published his first comic book with Glénat at age 25 and has worked on a dozen series.