Tardi has already adapted four novels by Léo Mallet recounting the adventures of Nestor Burma, here is a fifth, hallelujah! It’s not that the other designers who have dabbled with it have done poorly, far from it, Moynot even drew an impeccable Nestor Burma in several albums. But Tardi inaugurated Burma’s entry into comics and he thus remains the reference – just as he remains the reference for comic book adaptations of Manchette’s novels even if it has been a long time since Cabanes took over with Doug Headline for the texts. The adventures of detective Nestor Burma, as you know, take place in very specific districts of Paris. The plot of From the riffiffi to Ménilmontant – it makes sense – is set in the 20th arrondissement, which happens to be the district where Tardi lives. Burma is investigating the death of a medicine maker, plus a few others afterward, and he has a bad cold. Very unfriendly Santas, very aggressive even, make life difficult for him. Tardi wonderfully draws this 20th arrondissement from the end of the 1950s, you’d think you were there. Throughout his wanderings, Burma comes across extras in the streets who are not unknown to us and who Tardi probably placed there as a wink: Didier Daeninckx, Serge Quadruppani, François Hadji-Lazaro, Daniel Pennac and others (I didn’t recognize them all); he depicted himself, in the company of Dominique Grange, passing in front of the Le Berry cinema, Boulevard de Belleville, on the border between the 11th and 20th. Another reference: Burma is jostled by a red balloon, homage to the wonderful film by Albert Lamorisse. Otherwise, this investigation is an opportunity to denounce the testing of drugs on animals and poor people. The small format (19.1 x 26.9) of this comic is a little disturbing – there are few boxes on a page – but we get used to it. Casterman reissues old Burma albums in this reduced format, buying them is not essential if you already have them in large format.
