''Kobane Calling'', titled ''Kobane Calling: Greetings from Northern Syria'' in the English edition, is a

comic a Media (communication), medium used to express ideas with images, often combined with text or other visual information. It typically the form of a sequence of Panel (comics), panels of images. Textual devices such as speech balloons, Glo ...

illustrated book written and designed by the Italian author Zerocalcare. Part of the work was published in January 2015 on '' Internazionale'', an Italian weekly. The work is a graphic reportage of the journey that the author took to

Syrian Kurdistan Syrian Kurdistan is a Kurdish-inhabited area in northern Syria surrounding three noncontiguous enclaves along the Turkish and Iraqi borders: Afrin in the northwest, Kobani in the north, and Jazira in the northeast. Syrian Kurdistan is often ...

and the

Syria–Turkey border The border between the Syrian Arab Republic and the Republic of Turkey ( ar, الحدود السورية التركية, translit=alhudud alsuwriat alturkia; tr, Suriye–Türkiye sınırı) is about long, and runs from the Mediterranean Sea ...

, a few kilometers far from the besieged city of

Kobanî Kobanî (, , also rendered , ar, كُوبَانِي, Kūbānī) (Kurdish: Kobanî/ کۆبانی) officially Ayn al-Arab ( ar, عَيْن الْعَرَب, ʿAyn al-ʿArab ), is a Kurdish-majority city in northern Syria, lying immediately ...

, among the

Kurdish Kurdish may refer to: *Kurds or Kurdish people *Kurdish languages *Kurdish alphabets *Kurdistan, the land of the Kurdish people which includes: **Southern Kurdistan **Eastern Kurdistan **Northern Kurdistan **Western Kurdistan See also * Kurd (dis ...

leftist defenders of democratic autonomous region of Rojava, where its people have been fighting against the forces of the

Islamic State An Islamic state is a State (polity), state that has a form of government based on sharia, Islamic law (sharia). As a term, it has been used to describe various historical Polity, polities and theories of governance in the Islamic world. As a t ...

Plot

In the first part of the comic, Zerocalcare recounts the reasons that pushed him to go to the small town of Mehser, on the Turkish-

Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...

n border, a short distance from the besieged city of

, which is the symbol of the independence of the Rojava autonomous region, mainly Kurdish populated, and has fought against the forces of the

. The illustrator humorously recounts the results of the announcement made to his parents of his departure towards

, with a group of Roman volunteers to support the

resistance and objectively narrate the conflict with first-hand testimonies. The arrival and permanence are then dashed in the cartoons with humor and digressions typical of the Zerocalcare style but with a critical spirit towards the contradictions with which the interventions are conducted internationally and a very strong emotional involvement towards the known people and volunteers.

Adaptations

Stage play On November 2, 2018, ''Kobane Calling On Stage'', the first ever theatrical adaptation of the original graphic novel Kobane Calling, debuted at the Teatro del Giglio in Lucca,

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

, during the Lucca Comics & Games convention. The play is directed by Nicola Zavagli, while Zerocalcare is portrayed by the actor Lorenzo Parrotto. The show was on tour in

during the 2019–2020 season, and has been resumed during the 2022–2023 season, starting from the Teatro Bellini in

Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

in May 2022. Audiobook An audiobook edition in Italian was released in October 2021, exclusively on Storytel.{{Cite news , date=2 October 2021 , title=7 novità da ascoltare a ottobre , work=

Il Post ''Il Post'' is an Italian on-line daily newspaper, founded and directed in 2010 by Luca Sofri. The editorial staff includes journalists Arianna Cavallo, Francesco Costa, Luca Misculin, Elena Zacchetti, Giulia Balducci and Emanuele Menietti, as w ...

, url=https://www.ilpost.it/2021/10/02/audiolibri-podcast-storytel-audible-ottobre/ , access-date=7 January 2022

Note

External links

Kobane Calling on the official Zerocalcare website, on ''zerocalcare.it''.
Humor comics Italian comics 2015 comics debuts One-shot comic titles Works about the Syrian civil war Zerocalcare