Michele Rech (Cortona, Italy, 1983) is a calque of the character of his comics. Or maybe the other way around. A shy young man, with big eyebrows, knows perfectly well about the universality of fears. For this reason, he and his environment are the protagonists of all stories. The lost love of youth, the contradictions generated by the power, the avatars of political militancy and the fragile friendships are some of the feelings Rech arouses. And a whole generation feels identified with their stories. Thus, Zerocalcare or “Calcà”, as their friends say, has become Italy’s most successful comic maker. Her first book La Propzia dell’Armadillo (2011) was a great success and was taken to the movies. Then came, among others, Un polpo alla Gol (2012), Dimensionica il mio nome (2014), Kobane Calling (2015) and Macerie Prime (2017). In total, their books have sold over 700,000 copies and have been translated into several languages. In particular, the editorial Farmacia Negra has translated the first chapter of the graphic novel Macerie Prime in Hondamuina into Basque and plans to translate the second part of the book into Basque for the next spring. Michele or Zerocalcare? Today, both are the protagonists of the interview.

First of all, how have you mistakenly called Zerocalcare (zero kare)?
I was 17 years old and I wanted to participate in a controversy that emerged on the Indymedia network without showing my identity. At that time, the announcement of a washing machine for plates was made on television: “With Zerocalcare, there is no lime!” I thought it was a singular nickname. If I had known that after 18 years I would still use that name, I would never have chosen Zerocalcare. But that's how it happened (half-laughing).

In your comics, the story of the periphery has a lot of weight. The suburbs of Rome, the deserted corners of society or the hidden fears that people have left. Why?

Because the periphery is the habitat that has shaped my being. I grew up in the Rebibbia neighborhood of Rome and still live there. Until recently, Rebibbia had become an extremely serious neighborhood. It is the last stop of the metro and most Italians are known because there is the largest prison in Europe. However, I would say that it is a very curious neighborhood. There are no aggregation zones, cinemas or pubs, but relations between neighbors are very close. For me, it means affiliation. Rebibbia is far away, you don't happen by chance, and those characteristics have driven the creation of a strong community. I will make it clear to him that I cannot spend more than a week outside Rebibbia.

In this microcosm, in addition, many of the characters in your comics are animals...

Yes, after all, I spent my childhood watching the Disney cartoons. When I started making comics, it was very normal for me to draw anthropomorphic animals. In addition, in popular culture, every animal is associated with a feature, for example, the fox is smart. Therefore, animals are a sort of shortcut. With one look, readers can know what the character looks like according to the animal I've drawn. But there's a more important reason. Most of the characters in my comics are real, and one way to preserve their identity is to shape an animal.

And what do your friends say when they're reflected in your comics?

Fortunately, most don't read my books! But in the case of the Hondamuinan comic book, I tell the personal and delicate stories of my friends. That's why I've approached them, I've asked them for permission and I've done interviews. Most have read the comic book before sending it to the printing press. I take the necessary steps not to have to discuss with them (wide smile).

But you don't just put your friends, you also dance...

Of course, and we must return to our animal discourse.

Is it for the army?

Yes, because it's the embodiment of my consciousness. Throughout the day I spend a lot of time just surrounded by my thoughts, and the army seems to me to be a suitable animal to reflect the most intimate part of my consciousness. The armadillo is an animal that closes within it, that is, very sociopolitical. So in my first comic book, La Propzia dell’Armadillo, I traveled to the most hidden corner of consciousness.

In Hondamuin, translating into comic book, it's your first book that has translated into Basque. What is more, it has come back rather than into Spanish. Have you previously been published in another minority language?

Well, the Kurds have tried to translate the book Kobane Calling into the Kurdish, but they have ethical problems with blasphemies and have never finished translating it. Apparently, history has too many ugly words (laughter). In any case, translators have great merit, as in my comics the Roman dialect predominates more than the Italian one.

But their stories are very universal. It humanely shows the fears and frustrations of our generation. They told us that the future awaited us. What happened to us?

In my comics, there are lots of allusions to those born in the first five-year period of 1980. But it's hard to speak for a whole generation. In general, my microcosm is the starting point and I feel very lost. I have friends and friends with a lot of training around me, much more prepared than I am. But they struggle to find a place in their world. They're servers or babysitting. They make contracts too short to live for rent or to become genuinely independent. They live in a day of suffocation that doesn't let them dream. It is very hard for me, because after I made the selectivity I did not continue the studies and yet I have managed to follow my path. Sometimes journalists ask me complicated questions and I call a friend who works as a cashier in a supermarket to ask me what I have to answer. The reality is very cruel.

And that disgust feels very intensely in Honduras ...

I call it the losing book. I recognise that things have gone very well from a professional point of view, but from a human point of view, I am the champion of defeat. And if you look at the protagonists of this book, they're all able to pull their hair. However, it has to be borne in mind that my sense of humor is quite crepuscular.

In addition, the book explains very clearly the breakdown of the protest against the globalization of Genoa in 2001 for a whole generation. Is this trauma overcome?

The demonstrations against the G8 in Genoa left the protests that took place in the squares of Italy for ten years totally jeopardized. Society became polarized between advocates and detractors of violence. Fear took over him. However, the current crisis goes beyond the economic, civil society has been shut down. A few years ago it was very common for large assemblies of citizens of different souls to be held. That world has disappeared and people are no longer organized.

Today, however, it seems that the extreme right has capitalized the struggles against globalization and capitalism...

Yes, but we're failing to measure your weight. It is true that in Italy the fascist movements outside the parliaments have grown, but they have not yet exceeded 1% of the votes. So why do they invite television programmes as if they were political partners? This only increases the phenomenon. For his part, Minister of the Interior, Matteo Salvini, considered that the media should exercise self-criticism. In fact, in the last five years it has appeared on television shows on a daily basis. Every day for lunch and dinner. That's created a monster.