Spirou

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de:Spirou und Fantasio fr:Spirou et Fantasio nl:Robbedoes en Kwabbernoot pl:Sprytek

Spirou is:

• a Belgian children's comic magazine;
• one of its serial comic strips, which is also published in hardcover format
• the eponymous character of the comic strip.

The series fits in with the European humorous adventure comics like Tintin and Asterix.

History

The comic strip was originally created by Rob-Vel for the launch of the magazine in 1938. The character Spirou was originally a lift-boy for the Moustique Hotel, and remains dressed with his red uniform to this day, although there has been no mention of his occupation for many years. Spirou had (and still has) a pet squirrel called Spip, and "spirou" means squirrel in Walloon.

Unlike most characters from European comics, Spirou belongs to the editor (Dupuis editions) and not to the author. It was therefore subsequently passed to several different artists, including Jijé in 1943. Jijé introduced a new character known as Fantasio, Spirou's best friend and co-adventurer. He handed the series to the (then) young André Franquin in 1946.

Franquin developed the strip, from single gags and short serials, to long adventures with complex plots. He introduced a plethora of recurring characters, notably the count scientist Champignac, the buffoonish arch-villain Zorglub, and the wannabe dictator Zantafio.

One Franquin creation that went on to develop a life of its own was the Marsupilami, a fictional monkey-like creature with a tremendously long prehensile tail. This has been spun off into its own series and television cartoons.

Franquin's character Gaston taking more of his time, the series passed on to Fournier, then Nic & Cauvin, under whom it dwindled.

In the mid-1980s it was taken up by Tome & Janry, who successfully rekindled it. A spin-off series, Le Petit Spirou (Young Spirou), was also started by Tome & Janry and details the antics of the character as an elementary school boy.

In Machine qui rêve (1998), Tome and Janry tried to revive the series with a much more mature storyline (wounded hero, love relationships, etc.), while imparting a more realistic graphic style. This climax of a darker theme, although already appearing in previous albums and in other series by the same authors (Soda), shocked many readers.

After a 6 years break, the series went back to a more classical humorous adventure storyline with Morvan and Munuera. The latter kept close to the spirit of Franquin's graphical style, while bringing its own touch of modernism.

Albums

French titles, character names and publications dates. To be substitued by the English counterparts if available.

Jijé

• 1. Quatre aventures de Spirou et Fantasio (Spirou et les plans du robot (1948), Spirou sur le ring (1948), Spirou fait du cheval (1949) and Spirou chez les Pygmées (1949))
• 2. Il y a un sorcier à Champignac (1951) (drawing by Franquin; apparition of the mayor and of the count of Champignac)

André Franquin

• 3. Les Chapeaux noirs (1952) followed by Comme une mouche au plafond, Spirou et les hommes-grenouilles and Mystère à la frontière
• 4. Spirou et les héritiers (1952) (apparition of Zantafio and the marsupilami))
• 5. Les voleurs du Marsupilami (1952)
• 6. La corne de rhinocéros (1953) (apparition of Seccotine)
• 7. Le dictateur et le champignon (1953)
• 8. La mauvaise tête (1954)
• 9. Le repaire de la murène (1955)
• 10. Les pirates du silence (1956)
• 11. Le gorille a bonne mine (1956)
• 12. Le nid des marsupilamis (1957)
• 13. Le voyageur du mésozoïque (1957)
• 14. Le prisonnier du Bouddha (1959)
• 15. Z comme Zorglub (1960) (apparition of Zorglub)
• 16. L'ombre du Z (1960)
• 17. Spirou et les hommes-bulles (1961)
• 18. QRN sur Bretzelburg (1963)
• 19. Panade à Champignac (1968)

Jean-Claude Fournier

• 20. Le faiseur d'or (1970)
• 21. Du glucose pour Noémie (1971)
• 22. L'abbaye truquée (1972)
• 23. Tora Torapa (1973)
• 24. Tembo Tabou (1974)
• 25. Le gri-gri du Niokolo-Koba (1974)
• 26. Du cidre pour les étoiles (1977)
• 27. L'Ankou (1978)
• 28. Kodo le tyran (1979)
• 29. Des haricots partout (1980)

Nic & Cauvin

• 30. La ceinture du grand froid (1983)
• 31. La boîte du silence (1983)
• 32. Les faiseurs du silence (1984)

Tome & Janry

• 33. Virus (1984)
• 34. Aventure en Australie (1985)
• 35. Qui arrêtera Cyanure? (1985)
• 36. L'horloger de la comète (1986)
• 37. Le réveil du Z (1986)
• 38. La jeunesse de Spirou (1987)
• 39. Spirou à New-York (1987)
• 40. La frousse aux trousses (1988)
• 41. La vallée des bannis (1989)
• 42. Spirou à Moscou (1990)
• 43. Vito la Déveine (1991)
• 44. Le rayon noir (1993)
• 45. Luna fatale (1995)
• 46. Machine qui rêve (1998)

Jean-David Morvan et José-Luis Munuera

• 47. Paris-sous-Seine (2004)

Hors-séries

1. L'héritage, including le Tank (Franquin), l'Héritage (Franquin, 1946)
2. Radar le robot, including La maison préfabriquée (Franquin & Joseph Gillain, 1946), Radar le robot (Franquin, 1947) and le Homard (Franquin, 1957)
3. La voix sans maître et 5 autres aventures, with contributions by Rob-Vel (La naissance de Spirou [1938] ; Spirou et la puce [1943]), by Franquin (Fantasio et le siphon [1957]), de Nic (Le fantacoptère solaire [1980]) and by Tome & Janry (La voix sans maître [1981], la Menace [1982], la Tirelire est là [1984], Une semaine de Spirou et Fantasio [2001])
4. Fantasio et le fantôme et 4 autres aventures, with contributions by Jijé (Fantasio et le fantôme [1946]), by Franquin (la Zorglumobile [1976], Noël dans la brousse [1949], Fantasio et les pantins téléguidés [1957]), by Yves Chaland (Cœurs d'acier [1982] and by Fournier (Vacances à Brocéliande [1973], Joyeuses Pâques, Papa ! [1971])

See also: Franco-Belgian comics

External link

• http://www.spirou.com - magazine site
• http://www.geocities.com/Paris/Cafe/2877/spirou/spirou.html history with pictures
• sample strip