The Butcher of Paris #4: The Eternal France

The Butcher of Paris continues to be a shockingly relevant and disturbing comic that more people really ought to be reading. As Phillips continues to uncover this seemingly lost moment in history, the narrative seems to be stranger than fiction. Much of the story up to this point fell squarly into the more standard stories of occupied France we have seen many times over the years (albeit with a serial killer), as we watch French Jews deal with Nazis in their homeland. Now, as we explore the cleanup, we get a glimpse into the psychology of a post-occupied nation that is rife with horrors.

While instinct would suggest that Petiot, The Butcher, still on the loose and in Paris post-occupation, would be the biggest horror the book would have to deal with, we see in the opening pages that national apathy is the true villain of the series. With the war ended, the public eye turns towards rooting out all Nazi sympathizers with little to no time or interest for the homegrown monster still  hunting in their midst. There seem to be many parallels with the modern US in a way, as we explore what could cause a nation to accept certain outrages as the national consciousness is diverted towards other, “more important” threats.