Inspired by American comics from the interwar period, Romain Hugault, together with historian Éloi Rousseau, has produced a work of the highest caliber.
United States, early 1930s. Young pilot Lloyd Fairbanks, a brilliant mechanic, flies over the Grand Canyon giving people their first taste of flight at the controls of a dilapidated biplane for a pittance. One day, a certain Lowell Finley arrives in a brand-new Gee-Bee to refuel. He realizes Lloyd’s potential and offers him a job in Los Angeles, working for the aeronautics division of a Californian oil company owned by the wealthy Leixter family.
Weeks go by, and Lloyd is settling into his new job when one day the beautiful Liz Leixter, also an aviator and daughter of the Big Boss, arrives. Lloyd soon explains to her how to adjust her Waco biplane to prevent the wings from vibrating during loops. Better still, he tries out the aircraft and arouses the young woman’s interest…
With the same tones and typography, the first of the story’s four chapters, “Dust,” pays homage to the formats that were popular in the United States in the 1930s. Its retro style, aerial scenes, post-1929 crash gloom, emerging intrigues, and the collaboration between the author and the illustrator all combine to make “Godspeed” an unforgettable work in the world of aviation comics.
Comic book. “Godspeed – Chapter 1/4, Dust.” Author, Éloi Rousseau. Illustrations, Romain Hugault. Published by Paquet. Cockpit collection. ISBN: 9782889326679