From the opening panel until the final words, [a:Jacques Tardi|214879|Jacques Tardi|http://www.goodreads.com/images/nophoto/nophoto-U-50x66.jpg]'s adaptation of Manchette's crime novel Le Petit bleu de la côte ouest sizzles with a dazzling graphic intensity. Salesman George Gerfaut unknowingly becomes embroiled in conspiracy and murder when he stops to aid the victim of a car accident. Much like the 1950s American crime novels they emulate, Tardi and Manchette offer a impressive display of destructive violence, wanton love, and disregard for life. Showcasing Tardi's singular artistic talents, the brilliant West Coast Blues emerges as one of the best crime graphic novels ever produced. ( )

West Coast Blues is a graphic novel by Jacques Tardi adapted from the original novel by Jean-Patrick Manchette. The illustrations are in black and white ( )

I'm always so excited to find more Tardi books that have been translated and this is a really interesting one. It's actually a graphic novel that has been adapted from the original novel by Jean-Patrick Manchette. I haven't read the original so I am not sure how this compares in terms of accuracy but the best part about this one is the mood. In many ways, the plot is far fetched and yet a little formulaic, though somewhat reminiscent of Cohen Bros. It starts with a late night 90mph drive and an accident..wrong place, wrong time then running for one's life. The protagonist is married with kids but certainly doesn't act the part for one frame of the novel. He meets a whole set of characters on the run from the hired assassins and one gets the impression that he's able to handle everything and everyone that comes to him until his life returns to normal..and if by chance he doesn't really have amnesia about the whole thing, he'll just take his Five Roses Bourbon and his barbiturates before hitting the road again.

This is much less whimsical than the Adventures of Adéle Blanc-Sec and the narrative is more an outlandish crime fiction. Still, the drawings are great and it's engaging enough to make it worthwhile reading. ( )

West Coast Blues is a graphic novel by Jacques Tardi adapted from the original novel by Jean-Patrick Manchette. The illustrations are in black and white – matching the noir of the story it is illustrating, an ordinary man who unwittingly witnessed a murder is now trying to escape from two hired killers who are trying to tie up loose ends. As he leaves his family to flee the killers, he himself become increasingly ruthless and the body count of innocent and less-than-innocent victims caught in the crossfire grows as the book motors to its propulsive conclusion.

I haven’t read the novel itself, but given that the story is a little thin and conventional it is probably better suited to this visually stylish format than to plain, and more lengthy, prose. ( )