Classic European comics

[berk]

I took a look at Cinebook... Nice catalog.

Aldebaran... inspired, mature science-fiction. It's a seriously good series, and the characters are as interesting as the the alien setting. The efforts that creator Leo put into imagining the ecology of other worlds in remarkable. What doesn't hurt, too, is that the main character has to be one of the sexiest women in comics, despite her normal proportions and proper attire. (Kind of like Laureline in Valerian, come to think of it. What is it with intelligent SF series and strong female characters?)

The Bellybuttons I have never read, but it is produced by a young couple who live in my own town of Sherbrooke. I'm glad to see their books are being translated!

Buck Danny is basically Steve Canyon. Honest air war stories. Not my cup of tea.

Thorgal is a fantasy series set in viking times; I have rarely seen Vikings done so well. The series itself is a little unequal; some story arcs are brilliant, others feel phoned in. The art remains exceptional throughout, though.

Yoko Tsuno I liked a lot. Creator Leloup has a very crisp and clean line, an oustanding sense of design, and his stories alternate between mysteries here on Earth and adventures in outer space. It's aimed at the 12-17 crowd. Yoko herself is a pretty original character, eschewing stereotypes as early as 1970.

Largo Winch is an action/intrigue series. The title character, who's had as checkered a past as Wolverine's, inherits a financial empire from a father he didn't know. He will then face a series of hostile takeovers, plots to frame him, murder attempts, all resolved in his maverick way. The series is adapted from novels previously published by the writer, so they're plot-intensive (which is a good thing, in this case).

Boy oh boy, a lot of stuff here sounds so attractive. Valerian, Aldebaran, and Largo Winch especially.

Speaking of strong female characters, one series I came across recently looked like it might be worth a shot: Tiffany, by Yann and Herval. Don't know anything about either of the creators, but the description and images I saw somewhere looked good. Anyone read that one?

[Dizzy D]

Boy oh boy, a lot of stuff here sounds so attractive. Valerian, Aldebaran, and Largo Winch especially.

Speaking of strong female characters, one series I came across recently looked like it might be worth a shot: Tiffany, by Yann and Herval. Don't know anything about either of the creators, but the description and images I saw somewhere looked good. Anyone read that one?

Haven't read the series (and don't know anything about it), but Yann usually delivers solid work.

[Dizzy D]

So there were three creative teams in the running for taking over Dupuis' flagship and the most popular turned out to be Tome and Janry. They updated the series, adding a lot of a dark humor, upping the action and the drama while still being true to the characters. Spip would turn more critical of the actions of Spirou and Fantasio, and at least in this run it's clear that Spirou and Fantasio can't understand him at all, otherwise they would at least react to the often rightout contempt the squirrel has for the two humans. It's my favourite run after Franquin's.



Their first issue Virus (1984) sent Spirou and Fantasio on a mission to save a research lab, studying infectious diseases in the Antarctic from an outbreak, only to discover that the station was producing biological weapons.
The subjects would be a bit lighter for the next few issues (hard to get more serious than biological warfare though), which would poke fun at stereotypes in true Goscinny and Uderzo-style. They send the two heroes to Australia, New York and an early post-communism Russia, poking fun at the culture and at their own perception of these countries.

In New York (1987) both a recurring villain and theme would be introduced. The villain would be Don Vito Cortizone, an obvious parody, whose mob was plagued by bad luck due to the sorcery of his opponent, the Mandarin of the Triad. His second-in-command formulates a plan to "trap luck" by organising a worldwide lottery (putting a key in one of their pizzas). The winner would get 1 million dollar, but would have to act as good luck charm for the mob. Of course, Spirou and Fantasio (both broke) win and the recurring theme is introduced: while both are clever and brave, they both have the essential quality to make them succeed where other men, as brave and smart, have failed: they are lucky (even if they themselves don't perceive it as luck).

Around this time, a cartoon series, mostly based on Time and Janry's version, was introduced as well. Using Vito Cortizone and the evil robot Cyanure as villains. Maybe I was getting too old, but I wasn't particularly impressed by it. Between this and the Marsupilami cartoon, animation and Spirou were never a good combination.

For Spirou's 50th anniversary, Tome and Janry created a special album: La jeunesse de Spirou, containing a few short stories including the titular story which would serve as the basis of their spin-off: Le Petit Spirou. There were a few differences between both titles though: La jeunesse de Spirou is a perfect example of an unreliable narrator (an older and very drunk "uncle") who claims that though there were some rumours that Spirou was born from the pen of an author (a myth he quickly dismisses), the young Spirou was adopted by Robert Vell and his wife, who both worked at an hotel (hence the bell boy costume) and a few of the other artists and writers are shown as teachers at Spirou's school (with Dupuis as the headmaster) and except for the Count (also a teacher), all other recurring characters are Spirou's classmates.

For le petit Spirou they decided to follow continuity a bit more: Fantasio and other recurring characters are not introduced, because Spirou hasn't met them yet at this point, so he has different friends. He also has a family now (parents and one set of grandparents, all four wearing bell hop costumes all the time). The stories in Le Petit Spirou are mostly about a little boy coming of age and starting to get interested in girls, packaged in slapstick humor (somebody would try a more serious version later, but we'll get to that).



Tome and Janry also decided to introduce a love interest for Spirou in Luna Fatale (Fantasio had shown a lot of interest in women before in some of their previous works). In this story, Don Vito is again plagued by the Triads (now no longer headed by the mysterious Mandarin, but still employing sorcery) who now have hit the mob with a love-spell. Deciding that Spirou's immunity to female charms (he obviously never read Le Petit Spirou) would protect him, he sends his daughter Luna and a few of her friends out to enlist him. Luna is not pleased with her father's career choice, but still wants to help him because he's family. Spirou and Luna are obviously attracted to each other, but Luna decides to stick with her father.. for now.



While Le Petit Spirou remained humorous, in 1998 Tome and Janry did their last album, completely changing the style and tone of their Spirou stories so far, moving closer to the work on their other project, Soda. Machine qui reve had more in common with the works of Philip K. Dick than with those of Franquin, but it remains one of my favourite issues. It's dark, but not grim and gritty. It's also the one where Spirou and Seccotine are coupled for the first time.



It would turn out to be a real Love It or Hate it issue, the two leave the series at this point, making way for Munuera and Morvan, who will be in the next post.

[Roquefort Raider]

Very good review of Spirou, Dizzy!

Tome & Janry's run is also my favorite after Franquin's. I read in an interview that with Machine qui rêve, their goal was to break away from the Franquin mold and to do something innovative.

On the one hand they certainly succeeded, as that album is nothing like any other and will remain as one of the truly special Spirou adventures. On the other hand, I think Dupuis thought that the break was too abrupt, because after the duo's departure the Franquin status quo was re-established. (It was re-established even further, much to my chagrin, in the last Munuera & Morvan book, as I'm sure you'll tell us in more detail).

Re-boots and retcons have crossed the Atlantic!!!

[Dizzy D]

In 2004, writer Jean-David Morvan and artist José-Luis Munuera (a Spaniard for a change) started on their, rather short run (they do beat Nic and Cauvin by one issue though, so it's not the shortest run).

I really enjoyed Munueara's work with Joann Sfarr on Merlin, but on Spirou he was very miss for me. The artwork is not bad and certainly competent, but it was not doing it for me. (Though I still wonder about the critics who described it as manga-style (because they did a story set in Japan?). That hit several of my pet-peeve buttons. I'll spare you this time though.)

I was not as familiar with Morvan, but the two had cooperated before. Morvan also has a long list of other work, and a lot of it does interest me, so his Spirou didn't put me off his work. (Especially since he took over from Sfarr on the series Merlin, a series which I was following already.)

Like Roquefort Raider already said: a silent reset button was hit, though I can't blame them: Machine qui reve was a difficult place to continue, so the dreaming machine was treated like a dream (though they did mention that Seccotine now insists on being called Sophie like in Machine qui reve). Their first issue Paris sous-Seine, brought back the Count of Champignac and introduced a new character, Miss Flanner, a female scientist who was a friend of both Zorglub and the Count. Miss Flanner takes more after Zorglub, having several giant robots at her disposal which she uses to launch an attack on Paris. And like with Zorglub we get some motivation for her actions at the end and a reason to sympathise with her a little.

The next issues also have a lot of references to stories past; in the first, Zantafio returns in a race for a source of Eternal Youth and with a wink to the reader, Spirou comments that they certainly don't need anything like that. Though being as continuity-heavy as the stories are (relative though, we're not talking Geoff Johns-levels here), I do wonder why they also brought back Nikita, Zantafio's henchman from Tome and Janry's Spirou in Moscow, who quite clearly was killed for his failures at the end of that story. The second brings back Fournier's Itoh Kata. So to their credit, the two at least referred to characters from all previous teams and not just Franquin's.



Their last issue, Aux sources du Z (2008), was a big disappointment to me on all levels though. To save Miss Flanner, Zorglub sends Spirou back in time to prevent her accident from occurring. The trick of the time travelling device though, is that it needs an object and sends the person back to the first time they touched that object. And that is the point and the first problem of the story: Spirou is sent back to scenes from previous comics, appearing in key scenes, getting an object and disappearing again, pursued by Fantasio, who has the Count of Champignac's version of the device and wants to prevent a time paradox. There is little story here and most of it just feels like one of those clip episodes on a TV-series

I'll be giving away the ending here, because that is the second big problem of this issue:
spoilers:

In the end, Spirou manages to save Miss Flanner, but is stuck in the past himself. Fantasio returns to the present, but notices he has taken the wrong Spirou with him: it's the Spirou from Franquin's first stories before he has even met the Count of Champignac. The present Spirou appears moments later: much older now and married to a non-dying Miss Flanner, who he reveals was in love with all along. He leaves again, leaving Fantasio with the younger Spirou.

end of spoilers

It's a big reset button for the series, something which I don't like in the first place, and it resets Spirou to a rather odd point. Then there is Spirou's motivations and actions in this story as well, none of them seem very believable.

Luckily, the main series is not the only source of Spirou stories; there is also Une Aventure de Spirou et Fantasio par..., which is one of the simplest, but best ideas in comics: famous creators get one issue to do whatever they want with Spirou. A formula which I would like to see more.

There have been five issues so far:

Issue 1, Les géants pétrifiés by Fabien Vehlmann and Yoann Chivard is basically another adventure story. It gives Spirou and Fantasio a friendly rivalry when the two decide to help different archeological teams finding out the secret behind the titular stone giants. A well-written adventure, with a different art-style from the usual Spirou comics, but all-in-all a bit of a disappointment to me.

Frank le Gall's Les Marais du temps (2007) was more what I was looking for. Spirou and Fantasio travel back to the 19th century to recover Zorglub, who has become lost in time. Le Gall did both writing and art in this issue, and his art-style is a little closer to Herge than the school of Marcinelle and fits the time period of the story perfectly.



Le tombeau des Champignac (2007) by Yannick le Pennetier (Yann) and Fabrice Tarrin is a story in the style of Franquin's later work. A hidden tomb in the Count's castle releases a creature buried there for over a century and sets Spirou and Fantasio on another adventure. A few classic characters and inventions to show up and overall it is a nice throwback to the early days, but I want a little more ambition on these stories.

Ambition we got plenty on the next issue: Spirou - Le journal d'un ingénu (2008) by Emile Bravo. Brilliant in its setup, this is the more serious attempt at telling a story about Spirou's youth I was talking about when I was discussing Le Petit Spirou before. I absolutely love the cover:



The story is about the Spirou from Rob Vell's stories: a young boy who still works as a bell hop in a hotel, coming of age with in the background the second World War looming. Romance is introduced, as the young Spirou falls for a chamber maid, who has every reason to be worried about the impending war. A sort-of-explanation is given for Spip's increase in intelligence. The age-gap between Spirou and Fantasio is still the same, but because Spirou is much younger, it allows Fantasio to take a bit of a mentor role.

Sadly despite all its great parts, there are some things that are severly hampering my enjoyment of this story. Humor and tragedy can mix well and I have no problem with making fun of even tragedies like the second World War, but there are several scenes with Fantasio and Spip at the end of the issue, that absolutely don't work for me. (It's very possible that this is the effect that Emil Bravo had in mind, but I doubt it.) Still the ambition, craftmanship and base storytelling is more than enough to make it one of the best Spirou stories I've read.

I'm not sure if it's a coincidence (I really should read interviews with creators) but issue 5 Le groom vert-de-gris (2009) by Yann (again) and Laurence Croix seems to take up where issue 4 left of and works a lot of the same angles. In some ways it even does it better than issue 4. The war has now begun and Belgium is invaded. The hotel where Spirou works has been taken over by the Gestapo as a base and Spirou's red bel hop costume has been replaced by an army green version. Spirou tries to help the resistance without being discovered, while the German secret police try to track down the leak in their security.

The artwork is very Herge-inspired and is full of small references to characters and stories by other famous French and Belgian artists (including Herge and Willy Vandersteen). I haven't had the time yet to go over the story panel by panel, but I should one of these days.The story itself is well-written, combining humor and tragedy as the fourth issue did, without the scenes that took me out of that story.



And that should be it for Spirou. For now at least. So what's next? I'm considering various series at this point, but I'm moving in about a week, so it may be some time before the next entry.

[Roquefort Raider]

Excellent review, Dizzy! "Une aventure de Spirou par..." is a series I've not yet touched, but it looks real good.

One final thing about Franquin: back in the 70s, he contributed to a excellent book the title of which I forgot, but which was something like "how to become a comic-book creator". It had a really hands-on approach and had none of the hoity-toity attitude about "serial narrative" or somesuch. One thing Franquyin insisted on was the importance of research, even in a humor context; he thought (and I heartily agree) that if, say, a car is required in a scene, it should be something the reader recognizes (even in caricature form). Look at this lovely Peugeot; it's instantly recognizable.

http://blogsimages.skynet.be/images/...ranquin-ds.jpg

In American comic-books, there is a good example of how that attitude can make a big difference. On the cover of ROM #10, Michael Golden draws a great-looking F-16, which really adds to the authenticity of the image :

http://www.coverbrowser.com/image/ro...night/10-1.jpg

Inside, our pal Sal Buscema replaces the F-16 b some kind of generic airplane that is not only made up on the spot, but that will also never be seen again and is ugly to boot. (Not meaning to break sugar on Sal's back because I really like his art, but let's face it... his airplanes in that issue sucked big time compared to Golden's).

So FRanquin was not only a great creator, he was also a great teacher.

[Roquefort Raider]

From time to time there comes a creator who does thing in such a different way that everybody HAS to pay attention. That was the case when Philippe Druillet burst upon the comic scene in the late 60s.

Druillet had an almost psychedelic approach to storytelling. Totally eschewing the grid format, his images would sprawl over two pages in a maelstrom of lines, forms and colors. (I'll tell you, it's hell to scan books drawn by Druillet because to do his art justice you really have to scan the double-page, oversized spreads and not reduce it too much afterwards)!

Druillet's most iconic character is Loane Sloane, which could be loosely described as a "space adventurer". I say loosely because Sloane's adventures have as much to do with Lovecraft as with Heinlein.



Although there is a book titled "Loane Sloane 66" which shows an early version of the character, the "real" story begins in "the 6 voyages of Loane Sloane". Our hero goes through short tales rife with space pirates, interstellar despots, dark creatures from beyond, and a degenarate Earth that has fallen in the hands of demons in its old age.

The second book, "Delirius", is probably the most successful of the lot. It was written by Jacques Lob, and has a much straighter plot than is usual for the series. Sloane is hired by a certain religious (and revolutionary) cult to rob the central bank of the planet Delirius, a planet-wide Las Vegas where every pleasure is available and every vice encouraged.



Sloane is in it for the money, of course, but also to spite the nasty Emperor Shaan, with whom he has a grudge the origin of which is unexplained. "Delirius" deserves its name, not only as a planet, but also because of the avalanche of intricate images that it contains. It would be VERY easy to conclude that the artist was on drugs the whole time, although that would simply be insulting to his imagination. He's just a guy who doesn't pull his artistic punches and isn't afraid to put a lot of ink on paper!

[Roquefort Raider]

Druillet is better known in the US because of his frequent contributions to Heavy Metal. (He was one of the four founders of "Les humanoïdes asociés").

In the book Yragaël and its sequel Urm the mad, Druillet indulges in his talent for fantastic architecture. I wouldn't be surprised to learn that part of Yragaël derives from some Elric-related project, though, because some scenes really remind me of the atmosphere in Michael Moorcock's "the dreaming city". Check out these fantastic ships :





Or this temple, which is the type of building normally present in the artist's work:

[Roquefort Raider]

One album really stands apart (at least for me) in the artist's oeuvre. La nuit (the night) was apparently produced shortly after the death of the author's wife in 1975, and the foreword shows how much pain the man was in.


It would be tempting to see the book as a catharsis or sorts, or at least a reaction to the author's anguish and sense of outrage. At face value, this is the story of a futuristic biker gang that goes up against the forces of the city and its police. But reading through the lines we can also see this as a metaphor for the struggle between us mortals, famished for a little freedom, set against the crushing power of authority... and not simply the authority of governments but also that of the blind and cruel, amoral and arbitrary universe, where death is our reward no matter what we do. Appropriately enough, the story ends with the destruction of everything -the biker gang, the police, the city, the world, even the story, as the final page fades into nothingness after a battle scene of apocalyptic proportions. Photos of the author's wife can be seen throughout the book, usually enhanced with some fantastic details.



Despite its gory and dark appearance, this book is actually very moving.

[Roquefort Raider]

Next, Druillet sent Loane Sloane in a new adventure -this time doubling as Matho, the mercenary general from Gustave Flaubert's Salammbô. This adaptation of Flaubert's novel is set on a faraway Carthage, ancient capital of a space empire, but the plot (and often the very text) are preserved. Druillet tries many new things here; there is a lot of acrylic work and photography. In the second book of the trilogy (Salammô - Carthage - Matho), the character of princess Salammô is not drawn; instead, enhanced photos of a model make her stand out among the other characters as if she was not really of this world -as she is seen by Sloane. (Sloan/Matho is, of course, burning with passion for the princess; this love will push him to accomplish great deeds but will bring him to his doom).

The page-setting is also unusual for Druillet, with bold black lines often separating individual images.



Salammô tells the story of the siege of Carthage by mercenaries that it failed to pay at the end of the first Punic war (a story mentionned in Alix, at the beginning of this thread). Major battles were waged between the opposing forces, and Druillet being Druillet of course gives a fantastic version of what a war elephant looks like when it tramples an army!



At the end of the Flaubert story, Matho dies after failing to conquer Carthage; here, his body is saved in extremis by being teleported away to a spaceship captained by his friend Yearl, who had been at his side for "the 6 voyages" and "Delirius".

The final Loane Sloane book, "Chaos", would end the feud between the hero and Shaan in a disappointing way; in the Warlock/Magus tradition, we learn that both men are the same, displaced in time. Not a bad concept, but it's been seen before so...

"Delirius II" has been on the drawing board for quite some time; I do intend to check it out whenever it comes out!

[Global Honored]

I've just got into Blueberry over the past year. Really top notch storytelling.

[Dizzy D]

I haven't read anything by Druillet yet, but I intend to rectify that soon enough.

One final thing about Franquin: back in the 70s, he contributed to a excellent book the title of which I forgot, but which was something like "how to become a comic-book creator". It had a really hands-on approach and had none of the hoity-toity attitude about "serial narrative" or somesuch. One thing Franquyin insisted on was the importance of research, even in a humor context; he thought (and I heartily agree) that if, say, a car is required in a scene, it should be something the reader recognizes (even in caricature form).

I have read something similar in an interview with Henk Kuijpers (my next bit will probably be about him). He's reknown for the very detailed and well-researched backgrounds in his work and he basically said is that the times where you could just draw a palm tree to indenticate that a place was tropical were over. Translated and paraphrased: "People these days get around. They can tell the difference between Barcelona and Madrid, so I do a lot of research. And by doing that research, I often get new ideas for my stories."

[benday-dot]

Major battles were waged between the opposing forces, and Druillet being Druillet of course gives a fantastic version of what a war elephant looks like when it tramples an army!

Wow... yet more stunning examples of artwork. Keep it up RR!

[berk]

I find Druillet's work absolutely mind-blowing, and would rank him very highly in my personal pantheon of all-time greats. I'm slowly trying to track down as many of his albums as I can find, but they can be very pricey unless you make a lucky find. So far I've only managed to get a copy of Les 6 Voyages for not too outrageous a price. I must have a look at those two links RR posted earlier - thanks RR! - don't believe I've tried either of those before.

I like the look of Kuijpers's stuff, at least as far as I can tell from that one panel. Reminds me a bit of Daniel Torres with those sharp, clean, well-defined lines. Would you say that that style can generally traced back to Hergé?

[Dizzy D]

OK, last update before moving. Don't know when I'm online after that. And I'll keep it short because I'm going to Inglorious Basterds in an hour or so.

Anyway, one of my favourite writers/artists, Henk Kuijpers is mostly known for his detailed backgrounds, well-researched settings and strong female characters. He started his career as an artist in 1974 with Het Misdaadmuseum (The Crime Museum). One of the cast members, Franka, was picked as the main character for its sequels and the Crime Museum was published as issue 1 of her soloseries. In the next 30+ years, Henk Kuijpers focused only on Franka. He said in an interview that he found her such a dynamic character that he could tell basically any kind of story with her.

As the whole series so far has been only 19 issues long (issue 20 slated for the end of this month btw), I can go through them one by one.

So, starting with Het Misdaadmuseum (published in album form in 1978); it's clear that Franka was not yet the main character of the series, as the story is told mostly from the perspective of Jarko, who starts his job at the Crime Museum. Jarko main characteristic is that he's a bit clumsy, but he's still pretty clever and overall a good guy. Franka also works at the museum and is probably the smartest and most level-headed character in the book. While Jarko is the point-of-view character, Franka still has enough scenes by herself to count as co-star. The main cast is rounded out by Police commissioner Noorderwind, the director of the Crime Museum, and his bulldog Bars (one great bit of evidence that people and their pets do look like each other). One of Bars' puppies, also called Bars, would become Franka's main companion for the following years.

The story also introduces the Crime Museum itself, housed in what was once the most secure prison in the world. The janitor explains that that was the reason why it was decommissioned: the amount of locked doors between kitchen and mess hall for instance, was so absurd, that none of the prisoners ever ate soup which wasn't cold by the time they got it.

The main plot starts with some, apparently unconnected scenes which show the daily work of people working at the museum: investigating interesting crimes, obtaining objects linked to famous crimes and so on. Halfway through the story, it turns out that seemingly unrelated incidents are linked when somebody uses the knowledge of the Crime Museum to commit the perfect crime.



The art style in the first issue is still rather cartoony. Over the years, the art style never goes into full realism (Kuijpers goes for a personal style, where figures remain a bit abstract), but the heads shrunk for a bit more realistic proportions and the figures become long and more slender. Compare Franka then to her current depiction:




The settings also become more realistic: Groterdam, the setting of the first few issues, belongs with Metropolis and Gotham: heavily inspired by real cities (in this case Amsterdam), but still fictional in its actual layout. Later in the series Groterdam is replaced by the real Amsterdam and most of the streets and buildings are actual places.

I found the Crime Museum to be a fascinating setting, but after the first issue, it is never really seen again and the other employees only rarely show up. The second story Het meesterwerk (The Masterpiece) starts with Franka being invited by her neighbour, a formerly struggling artist, who now has enjoyed a bit of success, for dinner. He never shows up and Franka investigates his disappearance. A few characters are introduced, including Furora, a fortune teller, who spends her time swindling money out of gullible rich people. Furora would be Franka's best friend in a couple of issues, though even she appears rarely (in other issues Laura Lava would fill the role of best friend, but more about her later). The story, while still lighthearted, is more serious than the first issue and future stories would be more serious still, though lighthearted elements would always remain (usually in the form of Bars).