Zerocalcare: from books to Netflix, who is it

Tear off along the edges quickly becomes the first Italian product to end up among the trends of Netflix and the most viewed in Italy.

The name derives from one of the phrases pronounced by the narrator, Zero, who says that “and then we went slow because we thought that life worked like this. That was enough tear along the edges, slowly, follow the dotted line of what we were destined for e everything would take the form it was supposed to have. Because we were seventeen and all the time in the world“.

One of the most beautiful phrases of “Tear along the edges”, Netflix series

Rip along the edges, the Netflix series

The series, consisting of six episodes of varying duration, between sixteen and twenty-two minutes each, was released last November 17th. It is a cartoon in Roman dialect for adults, one graphic novel that moves between generational discomfort and social commitment.

Yet, it is impossible not to recognize oneself in one of the three characters, in cynicism mixed with hope, in the way of dealing with pain, and of relating to the future. That for them – three suburban boys without too many ambitions, disillusioned, sometimes with grotesque features and a sense of defeat – perhaps it is more uncertain than ever.

“It was challenging and scary, because I was afraid of losing my identity“, he has declared Zerocalcare, “But it was done in the most respectful and consistent way. I am at peace with conscience and satisfied with the result but it was neither obvious nor simple. I did not expect this success, I was hoping to avert the disaster instead it has gathered affection and consent. We see that there is one lack of products“.

A frame of Tear along the edges

Thanks to crazy success received from his product, many have asked the author if there will be – and when – one second season. “A lot of people are asking me about it, “he replied,” but he’s been out for a week: I think he’s one premature discussion. It went objectively super good, but I’m not having a great time. I expect it to boil. I hope so”. But then he added: “Anyway, if I find a way to survive I’m also doing the second season ».

Zerocalcare and the new “unlivable” life

But why the author said “if I find a way to survive“? Because he – who has always been allergic to spotlights – found himself out of the blue at the center not only of unprecedented media attention, but also of various controversies. Which involve his own series.

«Since the series came out my life has become so unlivable that either I find a centering, or I don’t feel like being engulfed in the midst of controversy“, has explained. “There is nothing in the world that forces me to do this. It’s up to me ».

The artist besieged by fans (LaPresse)

Among the many criticisms that have rained down on him, there is the one concerning the use of Roman dialect, according to some difficult to understand for those who are not from Rome. And he responded in kind. “The series can be criticized for a thousand reasons. It can be bad, it can be that my acting is inadequate, ”he said.

“But the question of the Roman dialect is ridiculous, it’s not even worth discussing. Anyone who is able to go shopping alone is able to understand Tear off along the edges. The other people are either in bad faith, or they need a pretext to go to the newspapers ».

Zerocalcare and the definition of “ultimate intellectual”

The fact is that Zerocalcare has been defined by Espresso “last intellectual of Italy“.

Zerocalcare on the cover of L’Espresso is called “The last intellectual”

“It is not a title I am proud of», He immediately put his hands on,« and I absolutely don’t recognize myself. As soon as I found out I thought: now they ruin me. And indeed the haters have arrived“.

Among the criticisms, also the fact that he – who lives and has set his series a Rebibbia, an area of ​​Rome deemed “difficult” – has however attended one French school, the Chateaubriand High School, very prestigious. Also in this case it slips away from the question with elegance. “I am French and therefore I went to French school. Rebibbia then is not the ghetto. And I’ve never painted myself as a ghetto. I don’t see why I have to justify myself ».

Zerocalcare’s book on Rebibbia (LaPresse)

Her income – someone insinuated that I now earn like Chiara Ferragni – replied that she hoped «not for her. I have a standard of living that suits me. Even if I earned a hundred times more, I don’t know how to spend that money“.

The books of Zerocalcare

At the end of 2019, Zerocalcare reached the milestone of million copies sold of his books. After choosing his nickname completely randomly – he heard one advertising on a descaling product and was inspired by that – in November 2011 Rech starts a comic blog, zerocalcare.it, in which he begins to publish short stories with an autobiographical background.

Thousands of readers are passionate about his comic blog, one of the few examples in Italy but very flourishing in France. In 2011 he published his first comic book, entitled The prophecy of the armadillo, one of his most successful books.

The Prophecy of the Armadillo (Mondadori)

The results come quickly: in March 2012 the Zerocalcare blog gets a nomination for the Best Webcomic category in the Attilio Micheluzzi Award-Comicon 2012, while in September of the same year he won the prize Macchianera Award 2012 as “Best Illustrator – Cartoonist”. In 2017 he received the Journalism Award Disarmament Archive – Golden Doves for Peace.

In October 2012 he publishes An octopus in the throat, his second comic book, already sold out in presale. This is followed by Every cursed Monday on two, where the strips of the blog of Zerocalcare, then Twelve, Forget My Name, Kobane Calling, Rubble PrimeAnd To father dead.

At the Turin Book Fair in 2018 (LaPresse)

Then, there is Skeletons, which has achieved incredible success also thanks to animated shorts Rebibbia Quarantine broadcast on LA7 in the broadcast Live propaganda during lockdown. (Below, an episode)

This graphic novel tells a story in part autobiographical, set between past and present in an atmosphere full of mysteries but with the usual humor of the author. Which mixed with its deepest part, is the secret of his huge and well deserved success.

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