In Review: Bear’s Tooth

By Luke Williams on March 28, 2024

Review by Luke Williams

A six volume series from Cinebook, comprising “Max”, “Hanna”, “Werner”, “Amerika Bomber”, “Eva” and “Silbervogel”

Wrier: Yann Art: Alain Henriet Colour: Usagi

Bear’s Tooth author Yann (Yannick Le Pennetier) is probably best known for The Grand Duke, with art by Romain Hugault, a beautifully drawn story of the Luftwaffe on the Russian Front, featuring lots of Good Girl Art. Bear’s Tooth, drawn by Alain Henriet, is a slightly different, and more an all ages proposition: six volumes of bandes dessinee from two obvious aviation enthusiasts.

Bear’s Tooth tells the story of three young friends from the border between Germany and Poland during the Second World War. Max is Jewish, Hanna is captivated by Adolf Hitler and she and Werner are both keen aviation enthusiasts, joining the Hitler Youth as a means to learn to fly.

In flashbacks, the reader sees their friendship develop, culminating in bonding ceremony involving the “bear’s tooth” of the title.

Werner and Hannah’s membership of the Hitler Youth inevitably leads to cracks in their friendship group. As tensions rise, Werner flees Germany and fights for the allies, while Hanna rises through the ranks of the Luftwaffe as a test pilot. Their lives converge as the tide of war turns against Germany and, in desperation, the Nazi’s deploy their last wonder weapon.

This series is most definitely a plane nerds dream. In an alternate history of World War Two, the creators have used literary licence to employ numerous experimental types of German aircraft that were in development during the latter years of the war, most of which never left the drawing board. Either the concepts were found to be too far fetched, or unsustainable, or for those that did make it to service just plain lethal to their pilots.

Historical figures feature heavily, with appearances from Stalin, German Air Ace Adolf Galland and others.

The creators succeed in developing a convincing bond between the three protagonists and the plot is engaging, convoluted, without being confusing. While the idea of three friends being driven apart, fighting on opposite sides, later to emotionally reunite isn’t particularly original, it is well executed.

The space the album format affords allows the story to breathe, the characters to develop and to finely pace key sequences in the strip, although conversely there are also panels which are overloaded and crammed with text, swamping the art.

The attention to detail and research is admirable, particularly in the aircraft; “plane porn” is a big selling point of this book. The aerial combat sequences are spectacularly drawn and paced, Henriet’s line work is beautifully fluid, complemented by Usagi’s colours.

Cinebook continues to quietly release some beautiful and entertaining European comics, and this is another great example. While not as gritty as Rebellion’s revival of Battle Action, this is a different but equally readable take on war comics.

Luke Williams

The Bear’s Tooth series is available from all good bookshops or direct from Cinebook

Bear’s Tooth: Max | ISBN: 978-1849183321 (AmazonUK Affiliate Link)

Silesia, 1930. Three children play with toy airplanes. Three friends – Max the Polish Jew, Werner and Hanna the Germans. All dream of becoming pilots, but they won’t all have the same opportunities, and the world is heading down a dark road… 1944. Max is now an ace in the US Navy, while Hanna is one of Germany’s top test pilots. Will anything remain of their old friendship, as the sides they each chose are locked in a struggle to the death?

Bear’s Tooth: Hanna | ISBN: 978-1849183352 (AmazonUK Affiliate Link)

While above him a British night raid is torn to shreds by some of the Luftwaffe’s ‘wunderwaffen’, Max is airdropped into Poland and taken in by local resistance. His mission: infiltrate the nearby German base posing as a replacement pilot, locate Hanna Reitsch… and kill her] Hanna, his childhood friend, who wears the same bear tooth for he does. Hanna, who’s a legendary figure of the 3rd Reich and an exceptional pilot test…

Bear’s Tooth: Werner | ISBN: 978-1849183512 (AmazonUK Affiliate Link)

April 1945. The Third Reich is collapsing. In Berlin, surrounded by Soviet troops, a small aircraft lands under enemy fire. Daring pilot Hanna Reitsch escorts an important officer to Hitler’s bunker – and is granted an audience with the Fuhrer, from which she emerges visibly upset. Meanwhile, in a German hospital in the countryside, Max comes to after a long coma. His task remains the same: to kill Hanna. But what new mission has she been given?

Bear’s Tooth: Amerika Bomber | ISBN: 978-1800440869 (AmazonUK Affiliate Link)

Allied bombers have flattened the secret base that housed the Amerika Bomber project, destroying both the infrastructures and the prototype flying wing that was to annihilate New York City. They did not, however, manage to kill either Anna Reitsch or Max/Werner. Much to the latter’s horror, though, it turns out there is a second prototype – and the operation is still a go. Meanwhile, Americans and Soviets begin a frantic race to get their hands on the best German rocket and nuclear scientists …

Bear’s Tooth: Eva | ISBN: 978-1800440876 (AmazonUK Affiliate Link)

Nazi Germany is collapsing, and the noose is tightening around Furtenstein Castle, rear base of the Amerika Bomber project. Even as the last SS special forces set up the guidance elements for the intercontinental bomber, more and more ground and bases are yielded to the advancing Soviet forces. Anna, once a fanatical admirer of the Fuhrer, is increasingly forced to face the terrible brutality of the regime she’s defending. Meanwhile, Werner makes contact with a resistance cell…

Bear’s Tooth: Silbervogel | ISBN: 978-1800440883 (AmazonUK Affiliate Link)

Everything is in place. The radio guidance relays are active, the Silbervogel, the intercontinental bomber, is operational, and Anna is ready to fly it to America – a suicide mission. As for Werner, he seems incapable of fulfilling his mission and killing the beautiful test pilot, in whom he still sees his childhood friend. The arrival of Soviet forces, along with the courage of a handful of prisoners and partisans, will give them both one last chance to do the right thing… Can they seize it?

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Yann is known for his ferocious humour and his enduring cynicism. After his beginnings in Spirou with Conrad, first in the margins of the magazine then with the hilarious trio Les Innommables, he became one of the most essential writers of the comics scene, with over 50 series under his belt.

Alain Henriet is a long-time fan of both European and American comics. In addition to working for Spirou magazine, he drew the series JohnDoe in 1996 and Golden Cup in 2003, before signing on for one volume of Pandora’s Box in 2005, followed by the series, Damocles, also published by Cinebook.

The Bear’s Tooth series is available from all good bookshops or direct from Cinebook

Luke Williams

Brought up on a diet of Commando, British Boys Annuals and Asterix, Lucas Williams’s day job limits his reading time. Luckily for everyone else this also restricts his writing time.