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The Zerocalcare phenomenon, from the outskirts of Rome to the screens of half the world

2022-01-17T11:42:37.260Z


'Cut along the dotted line' (Netflix), the Italian cartoonist's first animated series, projects his fame and recognition beyond his country


First it was an email.

There was, however, no response.

So he sent a second, a third, and a few more.

But the silence continued.

Maybe no one even read his messages.

Perhaps they were lost in the tide that invades Netflix mailboxes every day.

Although the perseverance of Michele Rech (Cortona, 38 years old), known as Zerocalcare, can be summed up in five words: "I wanted to do this series."

your

harassment

went from the Net to reality.

He began to declare his wish to every newspaper that interviewed him.

And, at the same time, he sharpened his digital aim: "In the end you find a friend who has a contact from one who works at Netflix."

At the insistence, in addition, he added the numbers.

And when his publisher, Bao, wrote to the platform to tell him that this guy was selling hundreds of thousands of comics, then the company understood.

That

accollo

(coupled, heavy, in the Roman dialect used by the cartoonist) deserved a chance.

More information

Draw face to face with the Isis

Having seen the results, it is clear that it is advisable to thoroughly study all the emails that are received. Because, after its premiere,

Cut on the dotted line

was placed as the most watched series on Netflix in Italy between November 15 and 28. And critics have celebrated Zerocalcare's jump to animation, divided into six chapters of about 20 minutes. It also remains the second best rated series of 2021 by the Spanish public on the Filmaffinity website: 8.2, behind

Arcane.

In your country, queues of readers willing to wait 14 hours for a signature have not been news for a long time. It is not even surprising that his latest comic,

Niente di nuevo sul fronte di Rebibbia,

would be the best-selling book in Italy in early December, ahead of Ken Follett or JK Rowling: it had already done so the previous year, with

Skeletons

(which Reservoir Books will publish in Spain).

But now he is measured with the whole world: his work is in 208 million houses and newspapers like

The Guardian

want to talk to him. "What a mess," he is honest. “I try to do things that don't embarrass me, avoid mythomaniac tones and be myself. It had a higher bar years ago, but it has inevitably lowered it. Luckily, I have people around me who won't let me pass a single one, who massacre me for any photo that appears on the internet, "he adds. As much as he hides in his shyness and his adored Roman outskirts of Rebibbia, fame has knocked down his door. The neighborhood itself, known above all for hosting a prison, today for many is also the home of Zerocalcare.

That's where, after all, his creations start, including

Cut along the dotted line.

“I had another story in mind, more narratively complex, but I realized I wasn't capable of writing it. For my first series, I preferred something close to my comfort zone,” he says.

In a certain way, the plot is summed up in the daily problems and reflections of any young man. Both in the series and in his comics, Zerocalcare draws himself and his life: insecurity, boredom, pain, enthusiasm, love, friendship or the passage of time. A vignette may speak to his obsession with cupcakes; another, of depression.

Two vignettes from 'Kobane Calling'.

From that universal palette, however, the creator has built a unique style.

For the tone: tragic and hilarious, depressing but bright with hope.

And for aesthetics: the protagonist's conscience takes the form of an armadillo, which questions its adventures.

Like Jiminy Cricket, but without mercy and with swear words.

And many characters end up being portrayed as famous fictional characters, from the Knights of the Zodiac to Heidi.

Zerocalcare says and writes that it does not take itself very seriously.

So much so that he defines his work as “doing little drawings” and portrays himself as a lonely and at times pathetic geek.

But, at the same time, his work aims to appeal to the soul.

dodge life

“Actually, all the stories I tell are very sad. They are the only ones I want to narrate. But I realize that he might come off as a crybaby and I make him up with a lot of funny or self-ironic things. Laughing at myself also serves to protect me from criticism from others. It doesn't matter if someone doesn't understand any generational or geographical reference, it's about sharing that sense of being inadequate that one drags along from birth until death”, explains the Italian. Over the years, he believes he has become a "specialist" in finding an alibi for himself. The lack of work, money, a flat or the failure of a relationship were always due to an external cause. The armadillo, in the series, throws it in his face in a devastating way: "You are a black belt for dodging life." Who knows how many, before the screen,they will be taken for granted.

Hence, years ago, he turned those concerns into comics. Although his first book,

The Armadillo Prophecy

(Reservoir Books

),

chained one refusal after another: "They said that there was no market for that." When Bao published it in 2012, thousands of readers denied it. And the biggest publishers realized the error. "It didn't take long for them to come back. They even offered me to pay the penalty for breaking my contract”, recalls Zerocalcare. He did just the opposite: he still stays true to the independent label that believed in him.

Here is another manifesto from the Italian. “The comic is a way to exorcise things that I have inside and that I may not be able to talk about. If I told my life on Facebook, maybe I wouldn't do comics. But drawing is also a way of giving a small contribution to the causes that matter to me”, he assures. His cartoons are inflexible in defending issues as big as migrants, feminism, LGTBI + rights, anti-racism or anti-fascism, but also lesser-known battles, such as the eviction of a social center or the struggle of the Kurds, to the one he dedicated his most famous graphic novel

,

Kobane Calling

(also edited in Spanish).

On that occasion he traveled for weeks to Syrian Kurdistan, to the very front of the war against the Islamic State.

Although, normally, his character moves around the most comfortable Rebibbia.

The cartoonist Zerocalcare, in 2019 in Barcelona.

Massimiliano Minocri (THE COUNTRY)

The very language of his work is that of his neighbourhood: all in the Roman dialect. So much so that some have insinuated that the series is incomprehensible. “Anyone who is able to go shopping can understand it,” he replies. The voice in the original version, moreover, is his, since he was in charge of dubbing all the characters, except for the armadillo. Although he also had to get used to giving up the helm a bit: even though he assumed "quite psychopathic" control over the material, this time he was working with a huge platform and a studio with dozens of animators.

“The comic comes out exactly how I have it in mind, but the downside is that I'm not surprised. A series has the richness of many people taking part. On the one hand, you have to accept that you can't set the times yourself: you're dealing with people who are doing their job and who won't see their big name in the credits or be interviewed for it. On the other hand, you make a small piece of material and you don't know what you're going to get back. It's like twice a week they show me an exclusive preview of a new Marvel movie," says Zerocalcare. He also enjoyed "imposing" the soundtrack he wanted on viewers.

In general, it is clear that he liked the experience.

Netflix, in some lists, has put "Season 1" near the title of its series.

Perhaps a hint.

He does not deny it: “I have stories to tell.

And another in animation format I fancy.

Now, I have no children to support.

I can decide if I want to do it or not.”

You will not need, yes, to insist with the emails.

This time, the first will suffice.

From the dialect of Rebibbia to Spanish

The Zerocalcare comics and series speak written Roman. And they often include nods to characters and situations familiar to Italians, or at least to the inhabitants of the capital, but almost unknown in the rest of the world. Hence, translating the cartoonist's work into Spanish is a major challenge. And with him this year, for the fourth time, Carlos Mayor is measured. "The wealth of Italian literature that plays with the introduction of the so-called

dialects

, the different languages ​​of Italy, is overwhelming. And for a translator it is always a challenge to face the dialectal variety, to find mechanisms to reflect the author's intention", ensures. Following

The Armadillo Prophecy

,

Forget My Name

and

Kobane Calling

, will now lead to Castilian

Scheletri

(Skeletons), one of the author's latest graphic novels. They are all published by Reservoir Books. 

The translator is used to these difficulties, since he has also been in charge of translating works by Andrea Camilleri or Igort into Spanish. But the language of the cartoonist from Rebibbia poses specific needs: "In Zerocalcare's comics, humor is very present and there are also many (many) cultural references, some understandable to the average Spanish reader and others not. And, of course, when they are adapted you have to look for others that are believable on the lips of the characters as well as understandable for the readers. The translation of the original does not always have to say the same thing. Sometimes you have to change jokes, references, names, puns... Let's say that for being faithful to the original sometimes you have to get away from the form and focus on the background.All of this is more important than ever when translating Zerocalcare's mixture of Italian and Roman features". Curiously, the Italian author also has a close relationship with another Spanish creator: the comic book artist Alberto Madrigal has been responsible for coloring the covers of his latest graphic novels. 

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Source: elparis

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