Zaï Zaï Zaï Zaï, a Road Movie by Fabcaro
Title: Zaï Zaï Zaï Zaï, a Road Movie
Author: Fabcaro
Year of publication: 2016
Pages: 72
Publisher: 6 Pieds Sous Terre (France)
Format/Print: 16.7x22.5cm/Duotone
World English rights available.
“Fabcaro serves up an absurdist tale drawn with a light, minimalist line.”
A comic-book author is about to pay for his groceries when he realises he’s forgotten his supermarket loyalty card, a heinous misdemeanour. The checkout girl immediately alerts security, but the writer makes his escape. The police are called and a relentless manhunt commences, as the fugitive hitchhikes across the region, torn between remorse and existential ruminations. The media get hold of the affair and soon the whole country is in a flutter, divided between compassion and fascistic outrage. After all, might this virtually unknown comic-book author truly be a danger to society?
This bestselling graphic novel gets its title from the chorus of a jaunty Joe Dassin number. And indeed our hero will be condemned to sing this very song, karaoke style, as an alternative to a custodial sentence.
With more than a nod to the British nonsense tradition, Fabcaro’s burlesque, and at times surreal, ‘road movie’ is a caustic critique of societal archetypes (family, media, police, neighbours) and their improbable, or often all too predictable, attitudes and reactions.
Zaï zaï zaï zaï has been a massive hit in France, selling over 100,000 copies and scooping up an array of prizes. A film adaptation is currently in production.
Born in 1973, Fabcaro has spent the past ten years exploring and experimenting with the humorous comic-book form, often with an autobiographical and absurdist take. He has also contributed to numerous magazines, such as Tchô!, L’écho des savanes, Psikopat, ZOO, CQFD, Kramix, Jade and Fluide Glacial.
“Each page is stuffed with zany ideas, as the author provides a multiplicity of viewpoints on the affair, by way of a corrosive humour that is not quite as light-hearted as it appears.”