Award for Best Comic & Best Script
from the 2018 Greek Comics Awards
Tassos Zafeiradis, Yannis Palavos and Thanasis Petrou present Gra-Grou, a unique and atmospheric graphic novel, told like an allegorical fairy tale about our deepest dilemmas.
Music: Michalis Siganidis
from the 2018 Greek Comics Awards
Tassos Zafeiradis, Yannis Palavos and Thanasis Petrou present Gra-Grou, a unique and atmospheric graphic novel, told like an allegorical fairy tale about our deepest dilemmas.
Music: Michalis Siganidis
In Vermio, just outside the village of Kastania, the ‘Gra-Grou’ restaurant marks the transition from Central to Western Macedonia. Many pass by there, but few notice, lost in the mist, an arched bridge at the side of the road. No one knows where it leads. Those who see it have their own reasons. One morning, a young woman arrives at ‘Gra-Grou’ with the intention of crossing the bridge. As she hesitates to cross it, whilst waiting in the restaurant, she gets to know the regulars and listens to their stories. The months pass. Meanwhile, the new road bypassing Kastania is about to open. The heroine must make her decision.
The graphic novel by Tassos Zafeiradis, Yannis Palavos and Thanasis Petrou unfolds an atmospheric story, where tradition intersects with the present and the realistic narrative is undermined by elements of the fantastical. Set against the backdrop of the eponymous restaurant, a landmark in Northern Greece for an entire era, Gra-Grou crafts a charming gallery of characters just before each of them chooses the ‘big Yes or the big No’.
The publication is accompanied by original music composed by Michalis Siganidis.
Watch the video teaser for the publication here.
- Pages: 96
- ISBN: 978-960-572-191-6
- Publication: 2017
- Dimensions: 21 x 29 εκ.
- Categories: Books, Illustrated, Graphic Novel
"An arched bridge in Macedonia and a restaurant with the strange name _Gra-Grou_ become meeting places for a motley crew of passers-by who are there by no mere chance, in an atmospheric story by Tassos Zafeiradis – Yiannis Palavos (script) and Thanasis Petrou (artwork), accompanied by an excellent soundtrack by Michalis Siganidis."
– Yannis Koukoulis, The Editors’ Newspaper"...Tassos Zafeiradis and Yiannis Palavos ingeniously wove the story of this landmark together with the legend of the Karahmet Bridge in Veroia. They thus wove their novel around the existence of a mysterious bridge, half of which is perpetually hidden, lost in the mist, and which functions as a gateway to and from the inexplicable. The very existence of this gateway instantly transforms the adjacent inn into a sentry post in need of someone to inhabit it. The tension created by the inexplicable nature of the other side of the bridge permeates this novel—which is fascinating for its blend of tradition, legend and contemporary circumstances—from the first page to the last."
– Christina Linardaki, Stigma Logou"...a story that combines satisfying and balanced elements of realism and fantasy."
– Sakis Ioannidis, Kathimerini"...An original story that masterfully blends elements of fantasy with real historical events, a perfect example of the new era of Greek comics."
– Maria Pappa, LIFO"...this is a truly unique, special graphic novel, undoubtedly one of the best releases of 2017."
– Spoileralert.gr"...This, too, is one of the hallmarks of a beautifully told story: it makes you long to be right there where it all happened, hoping to meet its protagonists or follow in their footsteps."
– Nicholas Zois, Ta Nea"..._Gra-Grou_ represents a significant step towards Greek comics embracing purely Greek themes, both in terms of narrative and story, without, however, losing touch with developments in the 9th Art – a very difficult balance to strike. However, we have creators capable of achieving this, and we can look forward to some amazing things in the future. In fact, we are already seeing many of them!"
– Nikos Giakoumelos, Smassing Culture"...a well-written graphic novel, with realistic dialogue and characters. Its creators masterfully construct a multi-dimensional microcosm that keeps the reader’s curiosity piqued right up to the very last page."
– Antonis Antoniadis, Comicdom.gr"...A multi-layered, atmospheric parable, in other words, which soars thanks to the skill of Zafeiradis and Palavos in the text as well as in the pauses, and by Petros’s talent for creating images that are both rich and abstract, images that challenge the reader to complete them with their own eyes."
– Don’t Ever Read Me"...People carry their stories, just as a bear carries its weight; that, I imagine, is what the comic is saying: the girl hides a tragic secret, a writer can no longer write, the restaurant owner is losing his strength as he watches ‘Gra-Grou’ –a rest stop for drivers travelling from Central to Western Macedonia– being displaced by the arrival of the Egnatia Motorway, whilst a different bridge is being built between the drawing and the words, the image and the writing."
– Konstantinos Hatzinikolaou, Kathimerini"...Sharing a common northern Greek background, four creators, two scriptwriters, a cartoonist and a musician, have blended their arts and memories to create a striking graphic novel centred on a han with a name and a history, set on the winding, mountainous road that linked western Greece, passing through the villages of Vermio, to reach Thessaloniki and continue eastwards."
– Mania Zousi, Artplay.gr"...The authors have created an atmospheric setting, with very realistic character portrayals, and a very good rendering of the slow rhythms that prevail in the cold. I was thrilled by the way the ‘Koudarites’—the code language of the stonemasons—were brought to life on the page. The interplay between elements of fantasy and reality works wonderfully, lending tension and interest to the narrative. Excellent in every respect. I highly recommend it!"
– Labrini Karathanasi, Diavasame.gr"...Every reader can give their own personal meaning to the symbolism. I think that for each of us there is ultimately a Gra-Grou out there. Or an old ‘Polivolio’. And next to it, a bridge with the other bank shrouded in mist. At sunset..."
– Antonis Xagas, Mic.gr"...It is clear that the Greek graphic novel has nothing to envy, with the complexity of its narrative structure and the high quality of its illustrative technique, compared to its European and American counterparts. And this is something that should not go unnoticed."
– Vangelis Hatzivassiliou, The Reader"...If you pick up *Gra-Grou*, the graphic novel created by Tassos Zafeiradis, Giannis Palavos and Thanasis Petrou, you don’t just read a story; you find yourself at the heart of an allegorical fairy tale. Its title, which may seem strange to many of us, refers to a place extremely popular with travellers from Northern Greece. In Vermio, just outside the village of Kastania, the Gra-Grou restaurant marked the transition from Central to Western Macedonia. A landmark that no longer exists, but with stories that haunt the past and the future."
– Argyro Bozoni, elculture.gr"...I think the key word for this endeavour is ‘shift’—the shift from a one-sidedness that is crippling to the soul, a shift from what is logically and scientifically feasible to the miraculous, for this bridges the chasm that has opened within us, the chasm that has opened between faith and knowledge, between memory and desire, between the present and the eternal..."
– Ilias Papamoschos, Oropedio magazine
"_GRA-GROU_ carries its own story, which is intertwined with the stories of the people who lived then and who live now. The comic touches on magical realism and brings the strange, the fairy-tale-like, the primal to that geographical point, which exists but has never ceased to exist in all the parallel worlds of time. _GRA-GROU_ becomes a point of reference, a point of escape, a refuge, a place of waiting, but also a fortress of history."
– Katerina Nanouri, Chaniotika Nea"...The almost mythical 'Gra-Grou', once a halfway stop for rest and warm comfort, is transformed into a place of departure towards an unknown destination, a place of mystery, paganism, a gathering place for a motley crew of initiates, a outpost on the edge of a dark frontier, of an insubstantial ̶ for many… ̶ passage ‘to the other side’…"
– Nondas Tsigas, Fractal"...The characters’ sharp retorts seem to break the silence rather than fill it, with the narrative flowing at a measured pace, aided by shifting tonal colours, offering the pleasure of suspense: what exactly is going on with this bridge anyway? But do we care? Not really. _Gra-grou_ has no answers to offer; it wasn’t created for that, I reckon, but to satisfy weary eyes with its high aesthetic."
– Athos Dimoulas, K Magazine"...In summary, _Gra-Grou_ is poetic, beautiful and original, providing further proof that Greek comics/graphic novels are developing at a rapid pace, offering us ever higher-quality creations!"
– This is not a Blog"...Gra-Grou, a bridge leading into the unknown, and the heroes who come ( ; ) face the ghosts they create, accompanied by original music written to accompany the graphic novel, create an exceptional work, one that is read and reread, as its meanings are anything but obvious."
– Proust & Kraken"...This misty ‘beyond’, which lies beyond tangible reality, is approached differently by everyone. Some believe in the afterlife, others in the psychological abyss of remorse, and still others in the theory of parallel worlds. This ‘elsewhere’, this imagined heterotopia, is always a mystery that everyone is eager to discover."
– George N. Perantonakis, Bookpress.gr"...The creators of the graphic novel have wisely chosen to develop an atmospheric story, which has deep roots in Greek tradition and is brimming with respect for the Greek countryside."
– Sideris Dioudis, Diastixo.gr"...In the atmospheric narrative of the graphic novel, the embedded story – a flashback to the past, visually rendered in colours distinct from the narrative present – constitutes a passage from the past to the present, as the traditional construction of the bridge and the ghost of the master builder converse with the construction of the Egnatia Motorway, the passage from Europe to Asia, which who knows how many ghosts it demanded."
– Katerina Prokopiou, The ReaderTassos Zafeiradis
He was born and lives in Thessaloniki. He is an orthodontist, a Doctor of Dental Surgery from Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, and also a part-time comic creator (text/artwork). He has taken part in numerous group exhibitions, both in Greece and abroad, and has published several comic strips in magazines, newspapers and websites since 2002. He is a founding member of The Very Closed Circle. The following works of his have been published, often in collaboration with other creators: The Corpse, Intra Muros, Harakomata, Arachova, SLAP, The Incredible Adventures of Spif & Spaf, King Kong and Other Stories, Khaki Haiku, It’s Not What You Think, Skorpohori, etc.
Yiannis Palavos
Yannis Palavos was born in 1980 in Velvento, Kozani. He studied Journalism at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and Cultural Management at Panteion University. He wrote the short story collections True Love and Other Stories (Intro Books 2007), Funny (Nefeli 2012; Ikaros 2024), which was awarded the State Short Story Prize and the Short Story Prize of the online magazine O Anagnostis, and The Child (Nefeli 2019). Also, in collaboration with Tasos Zafeiradis, he wrote the script for the comics The Corpse (Jemma
Press 2011) and Gra-Grou (Ikaros 2017), illustrated by Thanasis Petrou; Gra-Grou was honoured with the Best Comic and Best Script awards at the Greek Comic Awards. She edited the reissue of Athanasios Th. Gravalis’s short stories, entitled Broken Columns (1930), as part of the ‘Our Prose Tradition’ series published by Nefeli (2019). Among other works, he has translated works by William Faulkner, Flannery O’Connor, Brice D’J. Pancake, Wallace Stegner and Tobias Wolff.
Thanasis Petrou
Born in Thessaloniki in 1971. He studied French Literature, Sociolinguistics and comic book creation. From 2005 to 2011, he worked on the magazine 9, published by the Eleftherotypia newspaper. Since 2012, he has been teaching at AKTO.
His works include: The Drummer and His Friends (Vivliopelagos, 2008). Pararlama and Other Stories by Demosthenes Voutyras, script by Dimitris Vanellis (Topos, 2011). The Corpse, scripted by Tassos Zafeiradis and Yannis Palavos, published by Jemma Press – Best Cover 2011 at the Comicdom Awards and a commendation in the Cover Illustration category at the EBGE Awards (in French: Le Croque-mort, published by Steinkis, 2015). Yousouri and Other Fantastic Stories, written by Dimitris Vanellis – Best Comic 2012 at the Comicdom Awards. Actors – Honourable Mention in the Book and Cover Illustration category at the EBGE Awards, (Cartoonark, 2013). The Junkie’s Holy Week (Topos, 2015), scripted by D. Vanellis, based on the short story of the same name by M. Karagatsis. At the Battle of Marathon (Patakis Publications, 2015, 2016 State Book Award for Knowledge) and At the Battle of Thermopylae (Patakis Publications, 2016), comics based on scripts by Katerina Servi. Amanita muscaria, scripted by Pavlos Methenitis (Gnosis, 2016). At Salamis and Plataea, comics based on a script by Katerina Servi (Patakis Publications, 2017). Gra-Grou, a comic book written by Tassos Zafeiradis and Yannis Palavos (Ikaros, 2017, winner of the Best Comic Book and Best Script awards at the Greek Comic Book Awards, 2018). Yiannoulis Halepas, the legend of modern Greek sculpture, script by Dimitris Vanellis (Patakis Publications, 2019). Patience is Required, script by Maria Panagiotou (Mikros Iros, 2021).
Michalis Siganidis
Michalis Siganidis was born in 1958 in Thessaloniki. He writes music and lyrics. He plays the double bass and guitar.
Education: K.O.Th., with Dimitris Xenarios, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (O.P.E.).
He is a member of the bands: Winter Swimmers, Primavera en Salonico, Friends of Miltos Sachtooris. He collaborates with musicians in the contemporary-improvisational music scene and with songwriters.
Albums: Little Brother (1987), Morning and Evening, with T. Rellos (1990), The Ghost Train Friend (1995), Classified Ads (1999), Basse classe (2002), Sabbath Lift (2006), The Others (2009), 97% (2014).
Arrangements: Tracers of Ioura – songs from the Evros Islands and The Sun and the Moon – songs from Samothrace.
