‘Don Coppola’ GN (review)

Written and Illustrated
by Amazing Améziane
Published by Titan Comics

Well, it was time to read this book. I had read the other two graphic novels by Amazing Améziane and figured that it was time to give this one a whirl.

The other two books had to do with famous Hollywood directors, one about Quentin Tarantino and one about Martin Scorsese. They both were kind of strange and somehow interesting in the ways that the creator presented the facts.

I love a book that explores history and shows the behind the scenes of famous events and people. I love biographies. This is another combination of all of those things. Just like the other ones, it is an interesting and very frustrating read overall with plenty of cool details for all.

This book shows us the beginning of the life of Francis Ford Coppola. It is another book with a first person narration from the famous director itself. By this point, I have figured out that the creator of this book, Amazing Améziane, is pretty much a one trick pony.

What I mean by that is that the structure is remarkably similar to the other two books that they created. All three of the books have similar setups and they all kind of resemble each other at this point.

I would say also that if you’re looking for any sort of narrative, or anything that has any emotional storytelling, it wouldn’t be with this book (or any of the other two books for that matter).

The facts are truly the only compelling reason to read these books and for that I would say it is worth a read. Where else are you going to learn about Coppola’s upbringing or his family life? That is all mentioned and covered in this book. It also shows the correlations between his life and of his most famous films. We get to see some of his background which deepens some of the films that you might have seen of his.

Francis Ford Coppola is known for being a film director. So we get to see Coppola talk about how he got interested in that. We get to see him talk about the first times that he got into a film set. We also get to see how he first got to be in the director’s chair, making the choice to become the director that he became. We get to see his early films before The Godfather. But then we also get to see everything that led up to him directing that famous film and that overall impact that it had on his life.

The book also heavily focuses on both The Godfather and The Godfather Part Two. We get to see the films coming together and what that meant for Coppola. We also get to see the impact that the movies had on the world. A lot of this book shows us the parallels between Coppola’s life and the life of the characters portrayed on the screen. The book is called Don Coppola of course so it does get to be a tad heavy handed at times. Still, the facts are strong and intriguing enough for the average reader to keep reading.

For me, the best part of the book shows us what happened after the two films were released. I like that we get to see a little book of that. The creator seemed very into the world of The Godfather but Coppola is more than just that as a filmmaker. He also created some other seminal motion pictures (okay a LOT of them) and a lot aren’t covered in any sort of depth. I know it is a short book but the worlds of Apocalypse Now and The Conversation are worth books of their own on their creation, especially the former. But the creator here does the best they can with the pages that they have.

This book is good with the facts, like I’ve said before. However, this one in particular just feels like an appetizer to the career of Francis Ford Coppola. This book feels an abbreviated version of a life that is much more interesting than what is presented here.

However, there is enough here for a cursory read for sure. I just wish that it had more meat to it.

RATING: B-