LONDON.- In a country that is passionate about 'BD' — bandes dessinées, or comic books — Charley's War by Pat Mills and Joe Colquhoun is considered the best ever created about the First World War. Now for the first time in France, the Museum of the Great War in Meaux, near Paris, displays original drawings from the book in an exhibition, Charley's War. The show runs alongside the museum's First World War centenary exhibition about the British Army in 1914, Join Now!, which runs until 29 December, curated by the military historian Professor Sir Hew Strachan.

The writer of Charley's War, Pat Mills, described as 'the godfather of British comics', was at the exhibition opening on 16 October, during which he signed copies of Charley's War for fans. Born in 1949, Mills worked on Battle Picture Weekly, which serialised Charley's War. For Charley's War, he worked with illustrator Joe Colquhoun (1927-1987). It recounts the story of Charley Bourne, who joined the Army at 16 having lied about his age, and soon finds himself fighting at the Battle of the Somme. It gives an unflinching account of the horrors of trench warfare. The series was picked up in France and translated by publishing house Delirium as La Grande Guerre de Charley.

Mills broke into the French market in 1995 with a story called Sha, created with French artist Olivier Ledroit.

He has also worked on Action, Judge Dredd and Dice Man. He has written two Doctor Who audio plays and continues to write Sláine, Bill Savage, Black Siddha and the Franco-Belgian Requiem Vampire Knight. He is also developing graphic novels with potential for the big screen, such as American Reaper.