Paris, France – The Bibliothèque nationale de France (BnF) is presenting the original artwork for The Beast is Dead, a rare and historically significant comic strip created in secret during World War II, for the first time. The exhibition, currently on view at the Richelieu site in Paris until February 1, showcases the 77 plates of this unique work, blending animal fable with a stark depiction of life under Nazi occupation.
Created by Edmond Calvo with writers Victor Dancette and Jacques Zimmermann, The Beast is Dead employs animal allegory – portraying Germans as wolves led by “The Great Wolf” (Hitler), Soviets as bears, Americans as bison, and the French as creatures like squirrels and storks – to address the realities of war. “These animal figures help to soften a little” the subject matter, explains curator Carine Picaud, “while hiding nothing of the horrors” of the Occupation, including fighting, torture, and mass executions.
Notably, Picaud states the comic is “the first to directly evoke the deportation of Jews to the death camps.” Originally published in August 1944 and June 1945, the artwork was acquired by the BnF in early 2025 for €875,000, a sum raised through a public subscription involving over 2,400 donors and patrons.
Following the exhibition, the original plates will be preserved in the BnF’s rare books collection, alongside the original artwork for Asterix, a series whose co-creator Albert Uderzo hailed Calvo as a master. Interest in The Beast is Dead has been further fueled by filmmaker Mathieu Kassovitz, who announced in 2024 he is exploring an animated film adaptation, published by Gallimard.
