Translated into English from the original French, The Death of Stalin details the farcical struggle for control of the Soviet Union in 1953. It’s a story of secrets and suspicions, incompetence and political intrigue, and as the introduction says, “it would have been impossible for [the creators] to come up with anything half as insane as the real events…”
This full-colour graphic novel draws from historical evidence, recreating the days immediately following Josef Stalin’s debilitating stroke. Medical attention was urgently needed if Stalin was to have any sort of recovery—but the ambitious, power-hungry members of the Central Committee first had to meet, discuss and create a list of approved physicians, and then agree on which one to use. Complicating matters was the fact that Stalin himself had just deported or executed many of the country’s best doctors.
Everyone was both eager and intent on occupying Stalin’s chair at the head of the Central Committee. But in the real-life chess game that was Soviet politics, openly campaigning for his position was an invitation to arrest and torture. Instead, the players used strategies they had put in place months or years before. A rival’s wife, for example, may have been hidden away in Lubyanka Prison, only to be presented when a favour was demanded. Documents were stolen, secrets were kept, traps were set and power was continuously abused.
Villains are found throughout this book. Although Stalin himself appears only fleetingly, Fabien Nury (writer) and Thierry Robin (artist) quickly and effectively demonstrate the fear his name can generate. Lavrentiy Beria, the one-time head of the secret police, is drawn with a delightful reptilian grimace and an unblinking stare. His plotting and machinations make up much of the narration.
If there is one weakness, it is in the way Beria’s final downfall is presented. The writer and artist use over 100 beautifully illustrated pages (with additional colours by Lorien Aureyre) to showcase the political prise de fer among the ruthless and ambitious. But the final act of succession—in both the literal and literary sense—is completed far too quickly. Although Stalin’s death and the resulting aftermath may have been fast moving as a historical event, the end of Beria’s role in the three month political saga seems even more rushed on the page.
The Death of Stalin is a work to both read and savour. Just keep Wikipedia open as you read it, because you’ll want to know what eventually happens to many of the characters.
The Death of Stalin
Fabien Nury (Writer), Thierry Robin (Illustrator)
Titan Comics (released July 2017)
Hardcover
The Death of Stalin
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