Michele Rech aka Zerocalcare’s book signings attract huge crowds and now he has a hit
Netflix animated series inspired by his life
![‘People said I didn’t have enough talent’: the rise of Italy’s graphic novel gonzo](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/7e155771148adca2374046600dfc360601a3910d/0_172_4016_2410/master/4016.jpg?width=1200&height=630&quality=85&auto=format&fit=crop&overlay-align=bottom%2Cleft&overlay-width=100p&overlay-base64=L2ltZy9zdGF0aWMvb3ZlcmxheXMvdGctZGVmYXVsdC5wbmc&enable=upscale&s=3d8aadf3c999806f5be7fd11cc780964)
Michele Rech is uncomfortable with success. The shy 38-year-old comic book artist, who works from a modest apartment on the outskirts of Rome, does not use the word “fame” but refers instead to his rise to national prominence as a “thing” he struggles to manage.
In the art world, he is known as Zerocalcare and is the cartoonist’s equivalent of Hunter S Thompson. Rech’s graphic novels are a form of gonzo journalism – inspired by his own adventures as a protester on the frontlines of
police violence in
Italy, and in
Syria, where he was embedded with Kurdish forces.