In 2012, the Internet was taken by storm with the song Dumb ways to die. The viral footage turned out to be an Australian subway campaign, but it was remembered (at least for mine) by its humorous portrayal of bizarre types of death. The Polish comic book They called him Karol is a kind of spiritual successor of this work.
Everyone knows a certain Karol. As reported by Otwarte data , as of the day of writing the review, this name is called 163,382 Poles (including such eminent figures as Karol Strassburger). Of which, in 2019 alone, the ranks of Karol were joined by 1,923 newborns. And how many of their namesakes have died? I could not find such statistics. They called him Charles presents the story of the death of twenty people with this name. Are you sure? After all, the title phrase may mean that “Karol” is only a pseudonym, and the name of the character is completely different.
The death of one Charles is a tragedy, the death of millions of Charles is a statistic
The comic book by Jerzy Łanuszewski (script) and Ewa Ciałowicz (drawings) is quite problematic to review. By no means because of its almost “silent” content, which is doing great here. Each page, divided into six panels (although there are also individual graphics), focuses on the causes or consequences of the deaths of individual characters, and the only text that appears there is the title statement: “Karol called him” (interestingly, although I knew what to expect, I read them every time). The difficulty in judging is that this is a single joke comic – you read one page and you already know all of them. I absolutely do not claim that this is a flaw. Thanks to the short form, monotony was avoided. First of all, because the creators defended themselves by mixing the time and place of action. Danger awaits Karola everywhere – during a fencing duel, a fight with a Godzill-like creature (my favorite story), or just on the production line in a meat factory. What all episodes have in common is the lack of pathos that usually accompanies death. The end of life does not shock anyone here, at best it is disgusting.
Oh, Karol (e)!
The Polish comic book seems to be as common as the wrong opinion that Polish artists do not have a workshop, and the stories they create are hideous. They called him Charles should be a compulsory purchase for all skeptics. The artwork by Ewa Ciałowicz is wonderful. While the panels are more reminiscent of a press illustration than a “typical” comic book, this is just the advantage that makes the title stand out from the crowd. The colors are vivid and I could have each of the graphics printed and hung on the wall. Rarely, violence and guts are so aesthetic.
Karol – the man who was… dead
2020 will go down in history as a very bleak year. Karol called him can be an extremely pleasant and necessary springboard. Instead of turpism, the reader is given a comic book in which death is ingenious and funny. And beautifully drawn.
