He renders How the World Was in black-and-white washes similar to the ones used in his collaboration with cartoonist Joann Sfar on The Professor’s Daughter, but his linework is far more distinct here, producing effects akin to old photography than to painting. Guibert’s visual style is malleable yet recognizable, distinguished from project to project - partially by coloring technique and partially by level of detail. Yet How the World Was stands on its own as a story, not just as the leftovers from the first project. Guibert and Cope met by coincidence in France - where the latter had retired - and formed a deep friendship that led to the initial book. Cope died in 1999, even before Alan’s War was published, but his voice comes through despite the obstacles of translation (this book was published in 2010 in French as L’Enfance d’Alan). Much like its 2008 predecessor Alan’s War, How the World Was: A California Childhood focuses on the years preceding World War II, specifically those of veteran Alan Cope as interpreted by French cartoonist Emmanuel Guibert.
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