The cover of Kokopello's comic strip, “Palais Bourbon”.
-
Kokopello / Dargaud
Antoine Angé, alias Kokopello, is publishing his first comic strip this Friday, “Palais Bourbon”.
The young designer has infiltrated for months in the daily life of a dozen deputies, following them in the corridors of the Assembly, on the roads of their constituency and even in the regions where their parliamentary work sometimes leads them.
The result is a funny, playful and very well documented comic strip about the behind the scenes of this institution, its shadow agents, and its 577 elected officials of the nation.
Initially, he wanted to infiltrate the daily life of deputies.
Antoine Angé (alias Kokopello), 29, had no idea that this adventure would lead him to the auction of Guilvenec in Brittany or in the fields of Bearn, among the sheep of the mother of deputy Jean Lassalle.
The young designer drew a funny, playful and very well-documented comic about the functioning of the Assembly *.
“When we think of the Assembly, we imagine old deputies in suits.
I wanted to dust off this institution, make it accessible and show it behind the scenes, ”explains this autodidact who grew up in the Paris suburbs.
The one who has sometimes "had a little the impression of playing the shrink" of parliamentarians, answered questions from
20 Minutes
on the occasion of the publication of his first comic this Friday.
Your comic strip begins with your “entry” to the Assembly.
Was it complicated for a citizen to enter?
Yes, when you arrive in front of this institution called the people's house, you are faced with high gates, with armed guards ... It is quite complicated for a citizen to enter.
But anyone can come and attend the public sessions.
I started like that, going to caricature the politicians during these sessions, and I posted my drawings on Instagram.
A page from the comic strip by Kokopello, alias Antoine Angé, “Palais Bourbon” (Dargaud, 2021).
- Kokopello / Dargaud
You followed the deputies in the constituency, in the hemicycle in Paris, during the fact-finding missions… Which part of the mandate do you think is the most interesting?
I believe that this is work on a fact-finding mission, which lasts several months.
The deputies go to meet the citizens, the entrepreneurs, the unions, get their opinion.
For example, I followed the deputies Sébastien Jumel [PC deputy for Seine-Maritime] and Annaïg Le Meur [LREM deputy for Finistère], for an information mission on fishing.
We went to the Guilvenec auction, for a designer, it was great to meet the fishermen and get out of the gold of the Assembly.
It is a facet of their work that we know less about, which is a little obscured, whereas when they are in the hemicycle or in committee, they are filmed, attendance is counted.
You also tell how you experienced certain quite significant episodes from the inside, such as the Benalla affair or the “yellow vests” crisis.
Has it changed your outlook on these news?
I had a slightly different look.
Eric Pouillat [LREM deputy for Gironde] told me that Prefect Lallement had warned him, "if things get out of hand, we have a place for you and your family at the prefecture".
When it comes to the family, the private circle, we say to ourselves that a threshold has been crossed.
I also went to demonstrations of "yellow vests", with François Ruffin [LFI deputy of the Somme].
I felt two camps, and a great misunderstanding.
Deputies felt attacked, therefore barricaded themselves.
On the other hand, the "yellow vests" simply wanted to be heard, they were very fed up, and there was also a lack of awareness of institutions.
What was the most unusual thing that you experienced during this infiltration of the deputies?
The meeting with the mother of Jean Lassalle [deputy Regions and united peoples of the Pyrénées-Atlantiques], it was a very astonishing moment.
I had to go to Lourdios-Ichère, the native village of Jean.
When I got there, I was told that he would not be there until the next day, that he was detained in Paris.
They tell me "you can be welcomed by Marie", and I say to myself, "but who is Marie?
".
With my rental Twingo, I went up to a house.
An old woman was digging her garden, and greeted me with a "boudiou!"
".
It was the mother of Jean Lassalle.
She welcomed me, offered to eat, serving me Jean Lassalle-size portions!
She made me work, by gathering the chickens, the sheep.
I didn't think I would do things like this!
But it's also part of Jean Lassalle's daily life, even if there is a gap between that and his work in the hemicycle.
What made you want to get interested in politics?
I do not come from an activist family, my friends are not involved, and no one has been involved in politics around me.
We talked about it a lot at the table, from 2016, at the start of the presidential campaign.
But no one around me had gone to see how things were going at parties, and it made me want to do it.
I first joined Arnaud Montebourg's team, then when it stopped [the socialist lost the primary on the left], I took the crazy bet to go and see how it worked. passed in five parties.
I have found that being an activist involves a lot of things that people don't know.
I wanted to continue to observe politics, and I chose the Assembly.
Are MPs easy subjects to draw?
With the policies one does not need to force the line in comics.
They are already characters, we just have to tell how they are.
I had a gallery of characters, for example Clémentine Autain, the activist par excellence, Jean Lassalle, this giant shepherd, François Ruffin that his film crew follows everywhere…
And then there is the sympathetic side of the drawing.
When you hand a microphone or a camera to a member of Parliament, his tone will change, become very formatted.
But once the microphones and cameras were off, with my sketchbook I could capture another face of the deputy.
For example, Cédric Villani [unregistered deputy for Essonne], who is always presented as a somewhat crazy scientist, I have seen him turn into a guidance counselor facing an unemployed woman.
I felt his embarrassment at the despair of this woman covered with diplomas.
I think that if there had been a camera, I would not have been able to attend these moments which are in the intimacy.
A page from the comic strip by Kokopello, alias Antoine Angé, “Palais Bourbon” (Dargaud, 2021).
- Kokopello / Dargaud
Are there complex things to illustrate in comics?
Legislative work in particular ...
It is true that I had to go through some documents, because I have no background in political science.
And the deputies themselves explained a lot of things to me, making an effort to popularize their work, for example the functioning of committees.
The agents of the Assembly have also helped me a lot.
We never see them in the media, but they are the guardians of this heritage, and give a human face to this institution.
Politics, ideology, are ultimately not very present in your boards ...
In the hemicycle, the deputies are filmed, but once past this heavy red curtain which frames the Assembly, all is calm, they act like colleagues.
A Communist deputy and a walker can work together on fishing.
After trying to infiltrate presidential campaign teams from different parties in 2017, this time you are again following MPs from various political families.
For the sake of pluralism?
I wanted a comic book that is aimed at everyone, left or right, so I followed elected officials from different parties.
And then I tried to follow them impartially, to do a job that speaks to the greatest number.
So that readers know what their deputy is doing, and make this institution more human, more accessible, and perhaps ask questions about our deputy's place in society.
What will be your next comic book project?
I would like to stay in politics, it's a bit like a virus!
The next logical step would be the Senate ... And then I would like to go back to the campaign for the next presidential election.
*
Palais Bourbon
, Kokopello, Dargaud and Seuil editions, January 22, 2021.
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Designer
BD
Deputy
National Assembly