Society is less and less accepting of discrimination. Yet there is one that NO ONE is talking about: the rejection of the zombie. Fortunately, Fortu tackles it with humor in The Life of My Death.
Life of the Dead
Since the success of The Walking Dead, the undead have contaminated all pop culture: in cinema, on platforms, in comics and sometimes even with certain politicians… Yet no one before Fortu had dared to reveal their daily lives when they are not eating human brains. He dares to leave the commonplaces and discover in this chronicle how the life of these undead becomes unbearable. Starting from a cultural genre, Fortu, scriptwriter, cartoonist and colorist of La vie de ma mort, imagines their not so banal life. He alternates between very short jokes and a red thread like regular questions about school or food. The zombie has a diet where blood replaces a little bit of everything (the sugar of the morning coffee, the milkshake of the snack). It is certainly violent but we devour at the table with cutlery. Children are also complicated to satisfy for meals. Moreover, they must also be educated to avoid biting the living to the blood. Moreover, they are Catholics which is logical after their resurrection. The reader discovers the work of the father who exercises quite logically in a cemetery. However, the designer rarely shows the scenery apart from what is necessary because everything goes through the dialogues.
A rejected community
These undead wish to become friends with humans but all their efforts are in vain. When they organize a meeting, the neighbors arm themselves with everything they find as in Mad Max. The zombie, however, has hidden talents. They are always ready to lend you a hand for a DIY. Obviously, it's quite surprising when they detach this hand from their body. They are very practical as theater props and can save you from waiting at a checkout. Fortu uses absurd humor by presenting the problems of a zombie but this is not a simple joke of a gore fan. He takes advantage of this genre to talk about today's society. We laugh but we realize their difficulties of integration. Parents want to blend in, but children suffer. The boy is bullied at school because of his difference. We realize the discrimination suffered by a minority group or a different person. It is very difficult for neighbours or the world of work to get out of prejudices. Not all zombies easily get used to their new status. Laughter is pretty close to thinking. The collection of small books Pataquès edited by Delcourt has made a specialty of this humor both light and committed. We can remember Banquiz on global warming or How to become a bestselling author on the publishing industry. If the starting principle of The Life of My Death can be surprising: tell with humor the life of zombie. Fortu not only fulfills the objective with original jokes but goes further by making us think about racism and intolerance. This book is therefore a perfect read for a zombie fan but also if you want to reflect on the real world. You can find other chronicles of this collection with A breath of nostrils and The adventurers of Laos.
