Forbach. Comic strip on the history of miners: one of the authors dissociates himself

Charly Damm and François Abel are used to working together, each in their own field, in their own role, the former the script, the words, the latter the drawings. They have already published several comics together, published by Signe, on the history of basketball, tennis, the Moselle, the Malgré-Nous, and several Moselle towns. In 2022, the intercommunal union Action culturelle du Bassin charbon de Lorraine naturally turned to them to tell the story of the mine and the miners in Eastern Moselle. "Today's generations were born after the closure of the last shaft," explains Alexandre Cassaro, mayor of Forbach and president of the union. "It is therefore important to build a collective memory."

Charly Damm and François Abel set to work, meeting former miners, Marcel Gangloff , memory of the coalfield, now disappeared, Laetitia Gigault , head of the cultural section of the Petite-Rosselle Mining Museum, author of a book on the Wendel pit. "A reading committee was set up, we created, worked for months," admits Charly Damm, known for having put together several historical shows. But finally his texts were changed, too much, the scriptwriter would say, who decided to leave the project. This is how a third person, Mélanie Tagliarini, archivist of the city, member of the history circle die Furbacher, entered the loop as co-scriptwriter. Alexandre Cassaro assumes: "The exchanges were constant between the authors, the publishing house and the union. It was necessary to correct certain historical inconsistencies. We also wanted to describe all the professions, the daily life of the miner, social action, sporting life, immigration.

Charly Damm's name still appears on the cover of the comic, but the author has distanced himself from the work. He is solely responsible for the plot, this story seen through the eyes of two grandchildren, Lola and Léo. He will not be present at the album's presentation on Friday afternoon at the Book Fair at the Burghof convention center. These are the hazards of a book release, assures Christian Riehl, director of Editions du Signe for 40 years. "The first storyline was too historical, many of the themes inaccessible. The comic was reworked and readapted to meet the ACBHL's commission, to satisfy our client. There is no controversy. The artist also reworked some of the panels. All the changes were welcome; what matters is the result, which is more than satisfactory." The union spent €60,000 to release this comic, which was published in a limited edition of 5,000 copies. All municipalities will receive copies. In Forbach, 1,500 albums will be offered to all schoolchildren in the town.