In this work, we intend to keep our eyes and ears open permanently. But then, sometimes something really special falls on your lap (like a secret gift from the universe, or find $5 in a pair of old jeans). That’s the case of the Trumpet of Death, the debut graphic novel of French cartoonist Simon Bornel Bosson.
On the Death Trumpet, he meets Antoine, a boy who is dropped off in his grandparents’ rustic shed while his father is searching for his missing mother. Upon reaching home, Antoine must compete with both warmth and love. But one day, while foraging mushrooms, Antoine’s life was transformed forever in a fantastic turn that culminates in a terrifying hunt through the forest, which resolves only once the difference between Antoine and his grandfather.
The Trumpet of Death is a very few books sewn together. Bournel-Bosson even calls it “a two-part mirror story.” But there are some really powerful things that sew these experiences together. The first and most obvious is the art of Born Bosson. It’s totally charming and whimsical. It is a visual that sets us in Antoine’s simple new life, opening the door of pure magic. Next is the trumpet of interest on the theme of death. Discussing ideas for intergenerational conflict, masculinity and family functioning, the book is as narratively rich as it is fun to drink visually.
“Simon Born Bosson has created one of the best examples of magical realism in cartoons, which shows how nature (humans and others) shapes us all, for better or worse,” said Sean Tulien, editorial director of Graphic Universe/Lerner. “A satisfactory conclusion leaves room for interpretation and discussion, and encourages readers to give them a reread (or 3) to further explore the beautiful, complex world that Bornel Bosson has brought to life.”
The Death Trumpet will be available anywhere from next week (August 5th). In the lead-up, I was able to ask a few questions via email. It includes inspiration from his own background, the book’s aforementioned fantastical turn, and the development of the story, using the value of nostalgia.
Courtesy of Graphic Universe/Lerner.
AIPT: How much of your personal life (if any) informs you of the relationship here, especially between Antoine and his grandfather? Is that level/sharing depth difficult at all?
Simon Bournel-Bosson: I wanted to talk about this silence between generations. Misconceptions between urban and rural areas. This is truly an intimate aspect of the book and something I experienced with my grandparents.
This was the starting point for the process. Beyond that, I wanted to make a kind of fantasy thriller. I told myself that adding deep personal reflection would be incompatible. Although this book is fiction, small pieces of myself draw punctuation and guide Antoine’s perspective. I have a distance and closeness to the characters and settings. This is why you can create a story that you can talk to as many people as possible.
Courtesy of Graphic Universe/Lerner.
aipt: This book is quite heavy, focusing on intergenerational conflicts. How much of this book (maybe interconnected with intergenerational things?) is about evolving ideas of masculinity and positive masculinity?
SBB: Absolutely. The first focuses on the models of humans and patriarchs.
Grandfather, quiet, dominant, proud, distinguished by his obsession with strength and control. Antoine is a blank slate. He is trying to escape this model. He invents his own way of being human. He invents his own relationship with nature.
This whole story is a new world’s philosopher that says goodbye to the old.
We pass a kind of torch that doubts the heritage of ancients.
So I staged it like a conflict in the Hunting Party. It could have been something like the West.
Courtesy of Graphic Universe/Lerner.
AIPT: This book has a rather fantastic turn. Do you want readers to simply believe in magic, or are we intended to be skeptical of the real thing and what isn’t?
SBB: It required a large amount of interpretation from readers, beyond the central theme of the story. I wanted them to be able to fill the missing boxes themselves.
It’s a story of the mirror. The first part is real. The second fantasy part is resolved and the first part is completed. It provides a mysterious answer. Sometimes reality is not enough to express things. Fantasy can explain them poeticly.
There is no correct way to read this story. It resonates with each individual according to their life and journey.
Courtesy of Graphic Universe/Lerner.
AIPT: Do you have any favorite moments in this book? I want something like the transformational moment that the dog Britt has experienced without revealing too much.
SBB: My favorite moment is the scene where there is a scout on the field. These three scouts live in the fringe of moral and dynamics of their group. The moment when Janet holds a deer in her vision is one of my favourite moments. I love Janet’s character. She doesn’t talk much, but she exudes charisma. She is also the only character who can finish the story at any time.
AIPT: Why do mushrooms become interested and use as devices? There are some pretty obvious plot points involved, but what do you think you found interesting and relevant to this big story and its core theme?
SBB: When I was a young man, I went to pick up mushrooms with my grandfather and sister. It was a fascinating moment. You had to find them like treasures. The trumpet of death was the Holy Grail. I think mushrooms are attractive. Because their names suggest something very wonderful, something imaginary. They remain food. Something specific.
The title “The Trumpet of Death” was the first thing I found in my story. That’s because it really sums up my concept of mirrors. True/fantastic.
Courtesy of Graphic Universe/Lerner.
AIPT: Do you see this book as a kind of reaction to this infinite nostalgia that holds a grip on many of our species? You draw your childhood with texture and grit, not just romanticism, and get closer to the past with sharp, discerning eyes.
SBB: I think I’m deeply nostalgic. When the future may be full of anxiety just because it is safe.
I think nostalgia is a common area of location. Nostalgia connects us through all reference IT archives.
Pop culture, film, music, and more can create direct connections with your audience. A common foundation, a common culture where people can get to know each other without directly knowing each other.
Nostalgia is something we share and connects us in a globalized world.
Courtesy of Graphic Universe/Lerner.
AIPT: Antoine’s mother is seen in a very specific way in this book. Why treat her as this kind of phantom figure, what does that concept represent for you as a writer/creator?
SBB: Personally, I keep my distance from this aspect because my parents have been married for 35 years and my mother has always been there for me.
I think this ghostly being is the lever of the story. The absence of this character, and the absence of his father’s character, allowed him to focus all his attention on Antoine and his grandparents.
I wanted to put the viewers in the same position as Antoine. I wanted him to have the same level of information, not knowing what was going on. I wanted it to be immersive to stand up to the same feeling.
The disappearance of his mother and his father eliminates the structural characters of his life. He gradually finds himself thrust into loneliness, growing up following his ghosts.
This is why the trumpet of death is more than anything else, a story of family liberation.
A story that tells the key moments in life when we choose our direction.
