Temperatures are rising, oceans are rising and the sea ice is melting, but how do you find ice cubes at the North Pole? Here is an example of the more materialistic than ecological questions posed by the hilarious Banquiz released by Pataquès.
Climate emergency… but not too fast
Pataquès is a collection focused on humor within Delcourt editions with often a square format gathering strips on one or two pages. With Banquiz, screenwriter Jorge Bernstein takes the format of 4 boxes per page in a much larger story of one hundred pages where he adopts the bias of laughing at global warming and takes advantage of Witko's drawing totally in the comic spirit. 
Two penguins enjoy a cocktail while making an original point on the climate. They do not complain about the disappearance of the ice floe but find that they no longer drink to warm themselves but to cool down. We also find several times the recurring joke about the lack of ice cubes. A climatologist seems to be worried about the future of these birds and will even talk to the American president. Physically and mentally resembling Trump, this leader does not understand anything but to silence her, he sends her to Antarctica to observe the melting permafrost. She could be satisfied but nothing will go as she hoped.
Rendezvous in not so unknown land
Not only does Helen Lawrence not benefit from a large budget but her team is totally incompetent: a soldier wanting to find the smell of napalm, a3rd year intern taking advantage of the withdrawal of a minister and a couple of reality TV candidates… one of them is even convinced that the Earth is flat. Indeed, a communications advisor has the brilliant idea of broadcasting this expedition to make the operation profitable while Trump makes the scientific mission a military operation against climate terrorism. As in Iraq, it demands hatred, thousands of deaths and collateral damage. But the scientist will also learn from her broken arm team. She, who has only known jokes about Kantian philosophy, will discover cocktails in clubs. The group was going on an expedition but the reality is much more disappointing. Banquiz then becomes an acid attack of tourism. Following global warming, penguins have developed tourism. There is always a mercantile and capitalist solution to any ecological problem. After all, it doesn't matter if the ice melts as long as the money flows. The younger generation of birds is much more critical. The child of the original couple, Noukia, criticizes them when they buy on Amazon. 
Banquiz is also an acid attack on power. Trump is ridiculed for his ignorance but also his burger buttons right next to the one triggering the missile launch. If this criticism is expected, the one-armed emperor president is just as ignorant and unpredictable. Forced into elections, he found the solution by running twice with his usual name and his scientific name. Banquiz is a humorous fable that confronts the democratic empire of penguins wanting to profit from global warming and equally stupid humans with ignored scientists and ignorant politicians. This book on global warming logically ends in fire and if the reader has often laughed, he can legitimately worry about the future of the planet. If you are interested in humor comics, the chronicles on Dunce and The Adventurers of the Mekong await you on the site.
