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Rating: I'm writing this review pretty much in one go, since I devoured the book in a couple of days.
But this is one of Zerocalcare's best books: its biggest flaw is that it’s relatively short. Let's get things straight; first of all, the theme. Here, the story revolves around neo-Nazi networks and anti-fascist ones, it talks about news events, trials, the Day of Honour, and the victims. So here the focus is not on Zerocalcare himself: after a deeply intimate book like the previous one, he now shifts to talk about external matters, piecing together fragments of society and history. Zerocalcare tackles the most uncomfortable issues head-on, narrates, exposes, explains, delves deep. He keeps his irony, keeps his style, it’s still him, but he puts himself at the service of a bigger story; he tackles clichés directly, debunks and disproves them. "Ha picchiato uno, si merita di finire in carcere," he explains why that's bullshit, "ma i neonazisti non hanno riscontro vero in parlamento," he explains why that's bullshit and so on: always with his own tone, never as a know-it-all. He traces the past and in the end constructs a complex, well-articulated discourse. Because Zero’ understands that clichés and superficial narratives disguised as common sense are poisoning the debate, and so he manages to dismantle them.
The book is "dark" in the sense that it’s imbued with very somber tones, episodes that are far from cheerful, narrated with matching atmospheres that serve a book whose message is both political and human. He grasps the urgency of speaking about these matters: it’s fundamental, it would be fundamental for all of us to face—as a subject—what he explains in this comic.
Finally, I have to add a note about the types of imagery referenced, since, for those who have read any of my other reviews, even though for various reasons my adolescence wasn’t exactly a succession of riots and nights at social centers but rather something much calmer, the world of skinheads and extra-parliamentary politics for me is right up my alley. So I often found myself spotting references and nods to these cultures: Zerocalcare, being at home in this world, knows exactly what he's talking about. This makes the narration flow and the subject matter is handled with expertise.
An excellent book, then, that tackles an uncomfortable political subject perfectly. Zerocalcare, if you’re reading this review: these are the things we need. Rating: 85/100.
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