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In Italy, only a few volumes (three for Phoenix Enterprise, two for Magic Press) have been released under the name La Fortezza, while in its homeland, France, the series, originally titled "Donjon," counts thirty-four volumes, a role-playing game, and other parallel releases. These volumes follow the traditional French model: large and thin, around fifty pages in color, Delcourt editions. The creators are Joann Sfar and Lewis Trondheim, today considered two great exponents of the nouvelle vague of French comics that revolves around the publishing house L'Association. The two prolific artists prefer a stylized and childlike style over a realistic one, with a mastery in synthesis and expressiveness, and are united not only by their love for comics but also for role-playing games.
Thus, they decide to create, likely after many game sessions, a fantasy series that maintains the playful aspect but subverts many genre conventions with a strong ironic and philosophical imprint. The fortress is precisely the dungeon (yes, the one from Dungeons & Dragons), but the protagonists are not warriors, elves, and wizards seeking adventure and wealth; rather, they are the manor's owners, determined to manage it in a business-like manner to enrich themselves further by robbing foolish adventurers. The characters are portrayed anthropomorphically, radiating irony and sarcasm towards a genre that tends to take itself too seriously. Despite its parodic nature, it develops epically, delving deeply into the psychology of the central characters. The intent to complete the series with three hundred volumes is also quite heroic and likely won't be achieved (considering that nothing has been released since 2009). The authors, after drawing the initial episodes, have passed the pencils to other French colleagues (such as Blanquet, Blain, and Blutch, to name a few): this makes the series very varied and visually appealing, but the scriptwriters’ mastery remains constant.
La Fortezza is divided into three different eras. The Zenith volumes (currently six) cover the manor's peak, where we witness the adventures of the inept duck Helbert and the management of the manor by the cynical Guardian. The Crepuscule era (six volumes) shows the manor's decline and the world's disintegration. One of the protagonists is the violent rabbit Marvin the Red, and we see Helbert having become the Great Khan, the dark dominator of the fortress. Potron-Minet (five volumes) instead features the young guardian and shows how the dungeon came to be. I mentioned this era last because its editorial release date is after Zenith and Crepuscule: La Fortezza, in fact, can be read in multiple orders, either in the chronological order of the story or by the publication order. There are two other series under the name Donjon: Monster (twelve volumes) which deals with secondary characters, and the Parade series (five volumes) which narrates ironic adventures in the dungeon between volumes one and two of Zenith. The recommendation is to read the series following the editorial releases to fully enjoy the temporal connections and see how the series has evolved over time. For instance, starting from Potron-Minet, which is a sort of "coming-of-age comic" with its romantic and novelistic character, the series might be misinterpreted if not filtered through the humorous charge of the "subsequent" eras.
While Potron-Minet is the romantic period, Zenith the ironic one, and Crepuscule apocalyptic, the series' unifying thread is the sense of bewilderment towards a mad world populated by incredible, often inept or foolish characters, an ironic and merciless look at humanity with a strong and positive desire for adventure from the characters. The setting, also thanks to the Monster series, is detailed, coherent, and well-conceived. The reading of these albums is fun and quick, with ideas always fresh and engaging, provided one is looking for a comic with more distinctive traits (let's say, "more French") and not something more traditional fantasy. But the reader will be left with the friendship between Herbert the duck and Marvin the dragon (no, I didn't make a mistake, there's both a dragon and a rabbit named Marvin!), the love between the young Hyacinthe and Alexandra the assassin, and a thousand other absurd and amusing anecdotes and developments.
Unfortunately, the series had little following in Italy; to read it in its entirety requires a good knowledge of French, but the numbers are easily found on the internet or in the best comic book stores. It is certainly a particular and impactful series, which has left excellent heirs (I believe Adventure Time owes them a lot). Recommended for the refined palates of auteur comics.
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