This was OK. It's about Spirou working as a bellhop at a fancy hotel in Belgium right before World War II. Within the hotel, Germany and Poland are negotiating Poland's surrender to avoid war. There's some more subplots that don't go anywhere interesting. Then there's Spirou meeting his first crush, even though he doesn't know her name.

I would like to thank Europe Comics for providing me with a free electronic ARC of this book, via Netgalley. Any reviews I give are done obligation free, and are unpaid… well, unless you count getting this book for free… but we won’t go there. ;-)

Now, the character of Spirou has been a Belgium comic legend since the 1930’s. But this particular comic book was first published in 2018 so, although based on the life of Spirou – and set in 1939 - I think it’s a fairly new creation. And, if the art looks familiar that is because, like me, the author and artist Émile Bravo was a fan of the famous Tintin. And, if I’m honest, it was the reason I asked to read it… as I was a fan of Tintin in my teens… But, I grew up on Asterix and Obelix, so have a history of French and Belgium comics. :-D

Oh, I also like how they do make the joke that Spirou looks a little like the famous Tintin comic book hero of their era… Seeing Tintin was set a few years earlier… I think. I mean, I could go all analytical and google all this information to make it look like I know what I’m talking about, but nah! I would much rather talk from recollection and not sound like I am writing yet another essay for my degree.

Okay, so ‘Spirou: The Diary of a Naive Young Man’ is – if you haven’t guessed it – a comic or graphic novel. It depends on what you want to call it. I always called such books “comics” but know some die hard comic book fans who, once they hit 18, had to justify their love of such things by calling them graphic novels. I’m 43 this year… I still read comic books. Nothing fragile about my ego!

I have to say I really loved ‘Spirou: The Diary of a Naive Young Man’, and had never even heard of Spirou before I requested it. It was the Tintin like art that attracted me and, although there are similarities in the story (location, era, etc) Spirou is indeed a very different hero to Tintin.

‘Spirou: The Diary of a Naive Young Man’ is (I think) the first in the series as it was setting up the life of Spirou and his reporter friend Fantasio as the world heads into World War Two. I don’t want to go into what they were up to, as that would be giving the plot away, but Spirou comes across as having all the right stuff to being the next “boy next door” hero. He isn’t as bold, worldly, or educated as Tintin, and his adventures so far is more low key, but it is obvious he has a big heart and just wants the world to be happy and safe. So, yes, a little naive too.

The reason I loved it so much is because it was yet another comic series I could see myself enjoying – like Tintin, but not. I really want to emphasise that, although I keep likening Spirou to Tintin, they are two different and very distinct characters. I just enjoyed Spirou as it REMINDED me of Tintin, without being a Tintin rip off… If that makes sense?

The only reason I didn’t give ‘Spirou: The Diary of a Naive Young Man’ a full five star rating is because I read it as a PDF on my 7 inch tablet and so it was sometimes hard to see all the details, read it clearly, etc. If I had read it as a paper book, I wouldn’t have had these issues…. If I had a bigger tablet, I am sure it would have been fine too. So if anyone wants me to review it on a bigger tablet, I prefer Samsung. ;-)

Would I recommend this book to others?

Yes I would. And yes I would say it’s like Tintin but not. It is a fun, historically set comic book that does have enough of the serious nature to make you think and to educate you on our past histories. I can’t say it would ever be deemed as a suitable way to teach the historical build-up to World War Two to teens… but it would be a fun way to pad out more historically factual texts. Heck, I learnt a lot about Roman occupied Europe from Asterix and Obelix. ;-)

Would I buy this book for myself?

Yes I would. And, until someone buys me a larger tablet, I would prefer to have it as a paperback rather than electronic. And I will be looking out to see if there will be more books in this series. One is never too old for a decent comic book.

In summary: A good historical adventure story of a young Belgium orphan dealing with a world about to descend into war.

While not all comic fans have read The Adventures of Tintin, I imagine most are familiar with Hergé’s series character who goes on adventures. Tintin is one of the best-known comics characters to come out of Belgium. However, he isn’t the only young male adventurer in the collective comic consciousness of Belgium. Enter Spirou.
Spirou is a bellhop who is moderately terrible at his job, but who has charisma for days. He is friendly, easily distracted, and runs into trouble before thinking. So when the hotel he works at is the scene of a meeting of nations attempting to prevent World War II, some sort of hijinks must be about to occur. Invariably, things are only going to get more confusing when a journalist who oversteps bounds and a new maid at the hotel both find themselves drawn into Spirou’s orbit.
After a bit of a slow start, The Diary of a Naive Young Man finds its legs. There is something charmingly nostalgic about Spirou’s origin story that draws in the reader. The writing lends itself to the nostalgia for a charming age that really never existed, with Spirou’s silly melodrama underlying the horrific violence of World War II. That isn’t intended as a condemnation of this volume; indeed, creating nostalgia for a non-existent way of life is a skill, and makes Spirou all the more charming.
I had not been aware of Spirou before this volume’s ending statement of this being his origin story. It certainly has me intrigued to check out more of his adventures. Fans of charming adventure tales with a heavy dose of slapstick humor should give Spirou: The Diary of a Naive Young Man a read.
CONTENT WARNING: Some of the more slapstick humor in this book involves an adult slapping around a teenage Spirou. It isn’t played as gruesome, and no serious injuries occur, but it does feel like a relic of a time when children being hit could fall under comedy. Keep that in mind as you consider giving this a read.

Review will be available at the provided link on 3/7/19

Spirou and Fantasio, one of most popular Franco-Belgian comics of all time, debuted in 1938. In it, Spirou was a young boy and Fantasio his older friend and mentor, both of them journalists who had many great adventures together, often with Spirou's pet squirrel Spip along for comic relief. Indeed, ask anyone in Brussels and they may well know Spirou better than Mickey Mouse. In more modern times Spirou and Fantasio have gone through huge changes in one-off volumes where their adventures happen well off home turf ... and in 2006 Spirou: The Diary of a Naive Young Man was released to critical acclaim and even a major industry award. The love given to this volume is apparent from page one; set in Brussels in 1939, the artwork looks completely period and Spirou even reminded me of a younger Tintin (one of the reasons I wanted to read this). This story is darker and deeper, however, finding a young Spirou as a bellboy at a five-star hotel while, in attendance there, Polish and German officials are meeting clandestinely, the Polish delegates trying to forestall an invasion from Germany and all-out war. This volume also shows how Spirou and Fantasio meet, with Fantasio a fairly inept reporter for a local paper who is always trying to get Spirou to leak information about the guests - and Spirou even gets a love interest here, in the form of a pretty young maid, new to the hotel, who seems to be a lot more politically aware than Spirou could ever be. I really enjoyed this graphic novel, was totally engaged from the beginning and felt fully transported back to those gray, ominous days just before WWII, before the Nazis made their final push that would start a war; to that end, even got a few chills while reading. But what makes it all come together is that I really like Spirou; yes, beyond naive here when it comes to what is going on, but a good, honorable guy - the quintessential "boy scout" - just trying to do his job well and get the girl. 4.5/5 stars

NOTE: I received a free ARC of this title from NetGalley and the publisher, in exchange for an honest review.

This book has everything I enjoy in a good semi-historical comic. A thoughtful protagonist, interesting setting, excellent illustrations, and engaging character development. Do yourself a favor and fall in love with sweet Spirou and his adorable pet squirrel, Spip!

Thanks to #NetGalley, I had an advanced PDF to read and review.

*All opinions are my own and I was not required to post a positive review. *

After doing a bit of research to understand the backstory of this graphic novel, I discovered that Spirou and Fantasio are popular Franco-Belgian comic book characters, whose comedic adventures as reporters have been chronicled since 1938.

This volume explains how it all started, with Spirou being a bellboy at a hotel that was hosting diplomatic negotiations in the midst of WWII. In just 68 pages, Bravo addresses Facism, Nazis, Communism, young love, heartbreak, international relations, spies, and war.

Definitely a great stepping stone into the Spirou milieu!

so cute illustrations though a bit crammed for space. great read! would like to see a sequel hopefully someday or atleast another spirou book and he resembles tintin a lot though theyre very different.

A Beloved Belgian Comics Hero

Spirou is a fascinating character, and this book does him justice. I was so taken by this volume that I did a little research, and this short review is the result.

Spirou was created over 80 years ago and is something of a cult figure in Belgian comics, and of the same stature as Tintin and Asterix, although not nearly as well known to readers in English translation. The Spirou character is actually now owned by Editions Dupuis, the publisher of the Spirou books. While this is unusual for a European comic it has allowed the publisher to hand over the authorship and illustration of Spirou books to a series of creators, with each team adding its own special spin to the character. It seems that the most revered of the authors was Andre Franquin, who took over the character in 1946 and piloted him into the seventies. As is often the case, Spirou then had a bumpy existence and was reimagined in ways that were more or less popular depending on the tenor of the times.

Which brings us to this volume. Written by Emile Bravo, some have compared this Spirou to the best of Franquin's work. Throughout his career Spirou, (which translates roughly as "squirrel" or "mischievous" depending on who you ask), has been an adventurer - a spunky, honest, brave boy who has amazing and thrilling adventures. He is always resourceful, steady, shrewd, and reliable.This book, though, shows us Spirou's origins. Spirou has always been shown to have started out as a bellboy and so as this book opens we find him working as a bellboy at the Moustique Hotel. The time is shortly before the outbreak of World War II. Spirou is friendly, well liked, and devoted to his work. He is trusted by all and always cheerful and optimistic, if a bit sheltered and naive. With war brewing, this will all change.

The actual story is loaded with Nazis, Communists, celebrities, diplomats, spies, sneaky reporters, the goings on at a great hotel, and even a romantic interest. By the end Spirou will have learned something about the world, something about the heart, and will be ready to head out into the world. We even learn how Spirou meets Fantasio, who was Spirou's companion in adventure in the original stories.

The dialogue is clever. There is broad humor but also some sly and witty bits that keep the reader engaged. The art is crisp and clear, with a modern interpretation of old-fashioned form that complements the story very well. While a bit on the cartoon side the characters are expressive and the lines are clean and the panels uncluttered.

I had never heard of Spirou before reading this. At first I thought it would be an earnest and ultimately maybe boring low key tale. But this Spirou grows on you, the story builds up momentum and weight, and by the end you understand why Spirou is such an enduring and endearing character. A nice find.

(Please note that I had a chance to read a free ecopy of this book without a review requirement, or any influence regarding review content should I choose to post a review. Apart from that I have no connection at all to either the author or the publisher of this book.)

'Spirou: The Diary of a Naive Young Man' with art and story by Emile Bravo is a new story of a classic character by a new artist.

Spirou is an orphan who works as a bellboy in a hotel. He heads up sports with other boys and has a pet squirrel. The hotel job keeps him busy and the hotel is full of interesting people. There is a famous boxer and a famous fashion designer having an affair. There is also a negotiation between a Nazi and some folks from Poland. The outcome of these talks could mean war is coming, but could it come for Belgium as well?

It's done in a clever style. There are TinTin jokes, but they run a bit thin. Spirou is pretty naive about a lot of things in this comic, so the title fits well. I liked the adventure and humor of this title.

I received a review copy of this graphic novel from Europe Comics and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this graphic novel.

Couldn’t really decide what to think of this comic book.
The cover of ‘Spirou’ immediately appealed, with its clear reference to the Tintin books of my childhood, and the style of the book as well as the subject matter seemed to follow suit. So far so good.
However, even though it started interestingly, with Spirou presented as a caring and genial character who has to face unreasonable behaviour from work colleagues from the outset, it then seemed to become uncertain which direction it was going in.
It was never really clear where the racist and dubious moral attitudes of pre-war Belgium depicted here, crossed over into the attitude of the writer. Was it story telling or authorial stance? Too ambiguous to tell. And the attitude between characters was odd. For example, Spirou seems to make a friend of a dubious journalist who wants him to turn informer - at first Spirou is understandably anti informing on clients at his hotel, then with no clear reason, he turns and becomes good pals with this apparent muck-raker.
On the whole, I wanted to enjoy this book, and did love the opportunity to dip into Tintin-style nostalgia, but the subject matter and the way it was handled was a little too ambiguous for me.

You know when you await what is goona happen next and the story doesn't seem to have finished and leaves you thrilled , you know that you want to read more of it!!!
This is one of those book I will read again and again. With a fabulous graphic design and beautiful story which revolves around the backstory of WWII.
It's a simple cute thoughtful story of that time with perspective of Spiro and others , what's going on in his life and it's full journey is awesome.

Thanks netgalley for this cute fun story.

I really don't think the world of Spirou had ever crossed my path before now, but on this evidence it can very much stay out of my way. Irritating kidult, irritating adults, the unsubtlety dial ramped up to eleven, oh – and an arch squirrel. I might have thought the chap facing the birth of WW2 might have been interesting, but all of the characters are duplicitous and just want to seem something other than what they are. They want to seem innocent, sincere, interesting? They're not, they're not and – you guessed it – they're not. Yawn.

DNF.

Spirou is a famous character in Belgium and this comic was initially published in the Danish language but I guess it's now also available in English. Spirou is, as the subtitle suggests, a naive young man who isn't very educated in terms of the political issues going around in his country and the continent itself. He works as a bellboy in a hotel that hosts quite a few 'known' personalities and when political ideas and plans start brewing in the hotel, by these politically strong guests, Spirou is forced to brush up his geographical knowledge and even his general knowledge. The plot covers WW2 and is quite impressively interwoven with Spirou's own story.

For those who have read the infamous Spirou series, this works as a gap filler to answer a lot of questions that readers seem to have been asking for all these years: like why Spirou keeps on his bell boy uniform or why does his pet squirrel possess humanlike consciousness. The art is the classic box style with each scene comprising of little movements and conversational dialogues compartmentalized in little boxes. The drawing and color palette is also good but it wasn't something I found very interesting or appealing which is the reason for the loss of one star. The other one went away for my personal preference doesn't include historical, real war themes and while I thought the art would interest me enough to consider the war theme, it didn't.

Anyway, I would recommend this to those who like historical fictions strewn with the story of a famous fictional character through art.

Prior to reading this graphic novel I had never heard of the character Spirou, but he is a beloved Belgian character and this story imagines how he became an adventurer and reporter. While that part may be of interest to anyone familiar with the history of the character, I found this to be a story telling the imagines history of how Poland ended up at war with Germany and WWII began. What was most interesting to me at this current time is the idea that one action could have such tragic consequences. This graphic novel might. be a fun inclusion for a student/class studying the beginning of WWII.