'Mon Bataclan' (2016).
Fred Dewilde - a pseudonym - was a French artist from the Paris region. A survivor of the 13 November 2015 terrorist attacks on the Bataclan theater, he chronicled the event and its aftermath in the graphic novels 'Mon Bataclan' (2016) and 'La Morsure' (2018).
Life
Not much is known about Dewilde's life before the 2015 Bataclan terrorist attacks. He was born in 1966 and lived in the suburbs of Paris, working as a medical illustrator. Passionate about rock music and drawing, on 13 November 2015 he was one of 1,500 people attending a concert by The Eagles of Death Metal in the Bataclan theater in Paris. That night, a group of Islamist terrorists opened fire at the crowd, killing 90 people. At the same time, similar attacks occurred on five other locations in Paris. Dewilde was one of the Bataclan survivors, but the experience marked him for life, and eventually led to his suicide on 5 May 2024.
'Mon Bataclan' (2016).
Mon Bataclan
Much of Dewilde's post-2015 life was marked by the attacks. He was an active member of Life for Paris, an association of survivors of the six terrorist attacks that hit Paris that night. While picking up his life as an illustrator again, he also gave lectures at schools. To cope with his own experiences, Dewilde chronicled the event in his graphic novel 'Mon Bataclan' (Lemieux Editeur, 2016). In detail, he described the attack and its aftermath. Shortly after the attack, he lay stretched out on the ground, covered in the blood of fellow concertgoers. Next to him, he noticed a young woman called Elisa, who was wounded in the leg. Staying on the ground for two hours, Dewilde encouraged her as their hands were intertwined. The killers, whom he depicted as skeletons in his comic, passed within six inches of his face.
In the months after the attack, Dewilde gradually tried to rebuild his life, but in his mind he remained a prisoner inside the Bataclan. Conversations with his friends, also survivors of the attack, and his family are discussed in the comic, as are the phobias he developed. In addition, Dewilde testified in 'Mon Bataclan' about his relationship with the police, the court and his psychiatrist. Since the investigation and subsequent lawsuits were still ongoing, he chose a pseudonym because he didn't want to become a victim again. After its release in 2016, 'Mon Bataclan' quickly sold over 8,000 copies.
'La Morsure' (2018).
Other books
As Dewilde was gradually reconnecting with his family life, the city of Nice became the setting of another terrorist attack on 14 July 2016, when a cargo truck was deliberately driven into crowds of people celebrating Bastille Day on the Promenade des Anglais. The news plunged him back into fear, and triggered him to create his next graphic novel, 'La Morsure' ("The Bite", Belin, 2018). The book dealt with his post-traumatic shock and urged for the importance of opposing hatred. In his graphic novel 'Conversation Avec Ma mort, ou Comment Survivre Après le Bataclan' (Rue de Seine, 2021) he again looked back at the Bataclan attacks and how they marked him for life. Using the same thematics, Fred Dewilde also created the illustrated book 'La Mort Émoi' (2022) and, with Franck Coste, the musical stage show 'Panser Ma Vie' (2019).
Self-portrait for the cover of the 2022 book 'La Mort Émoi'.