One Perfect Moment: Spirou & Fantasio

[nezchan.insanejournal.com]

My first post here, although I've been following the community on and off for quite a while. But I couldn't let One Perfect Moment pass by without one of my very favorite teams, Spirou and Fantasio.

A lot of folks in North America have never heard of this series, even though it's been running since the 1930's over in France, and it's a total shame. European comics are fantastic, but hardly anyone scanlates them (does anyone, come to that?) because everyone and their little dog Toto is busy scanning manga to deal with a bit of French. Anyhow, the action is clear enough to know what's going on, so it's still easy enough for us anglophones to follow.

In any case, by way of setup, Spirou is an adventurer/reporter (and former bellhop, who retains elements of his original uniform) who lives with his best friend (wink, wink, nudge, nudge) Fantasio, who's similarly an adventurer/reporter. Spirou tends toward the strong sense of justice and heroism, and is also a well-trained fighter in his own right. Fantasio, by contrast, is much wackier and fun-loving, and is able to pull off rather impressive feats under duress, such as crossing a river by using crocodiles as stepping-stones, and so forth. The third member of the team is Spip, Spirou's pet squirrel, who has rather cynical thought bubbles and seems aware of the narrator, although he gets on well with our two heroes (who I'm convinced are way more than "just friends").



In this scene from Paris Sous-Seine, the duo's inventor friend, Count Champignac, has just shown the two his dual inventions, a gun which instantly turns water to ice and a remote-controlled device that converts standing water to cloud for rain-making purposes when the giant robots show up.








Yes, non-powered Spirou tries to RASSLE a robot three times his size, and when he's knocked out, Fantasio takes charge...and screws it up completely. Totally in character.

And speaking of amazing feats, from Spirou et Fantasio a Tokyo...



And finally to wrap things up on a cute note, how adorable is this?

Comments

[runespoor7.insanejournal.com]

asklj,dskljcds!!!!! ILU.

Okay, it's not my favourite books in the series, or my favourite creative team either, but <333333 SPIROU. FANTASIO. (I was just bemoaning the lack of Spirou in English. ;_; QRN over Bretzelburg, why must you not exist?)

You'll be happy to learn that a recent writer - I think it might've been Manuera, but I'm not sure - said in a interview that he thought that duh Fantasio is in love with Spirou. But I have neither link nor scan of it.

First scan: Spirou being angry and Fantasio being calm, that's some crazy world. <3

[nezchan.insanejournal.com]

Oh, I think that was Yann or Terrin, I can't remember which. My friend has a relatively recent issue of the magazine where he jokingly says Fantasio wouldn't care if Seccotine was sitting in his lap, because Fanta's gay.

Personally, I love Munuera's art, but the new guy, Vehlmann, has a pretty interesting style, so I'll certainly give it a chance.

Oh, have you heard Cinebook going to start translating the books this year? Starting with the Australian adventure, which includes Spirou in that nice red Speedo, yum.

[houbanaut.insanejournal.com]

Fantasio? Nah, he isn't gay. At least the way Tome & Janry wrote him, he was something of a ladies' man, and in "Vito la Déveine" he pines for some Polynesian beauty (no, not Ororea). Besides, I always thought his intense dislike for Seccotine covered up a deeper attraction. And I'm not alone in that idea:
(http://img12.imageshack.us/i/pirates34.jpg/) (http://img196.imageshack.us/i/pirates35.jpg/)
(From the Pirates pirate comic by Sergueï and Mikäelof)

Spirou might be gay. In any case, he rarely shows any interest in women, and when he does it seems out of character.

My preferred reading is that Spirou is gay but repressed, having sublimated his sexuality into adventuring, and that Fantasio is straight but platonically in love with Spirou.

[nezchan.insanejournal.com]

Weird, that's pretty much exactly the opposite to the way my friends and I see it. I know Yann recently made joking reference to Fantasio being gay, and the characterization by Morvan and Munuera certainly doesn't contradict that. But for Spirou's part, he's not so committed and as we see in the latest volume can be swayed by the right woman.

Granted finding a relationship between the two of them in the Tom & Janry volumes is largely fangirling, but it's not too hard to find justification in some of the volumes.

[houbanaut.insanejournal.com]

The best argument for the "Fantasio: straight, Spirou: gay" theory is no doubt "Luna fatale" (1995). While Fantasio is thrilled to dance with two supermodels, Spirou desperately tries to fend off the seductive advances of a third.

For the two of them as a gay couple, well, there's the fact that they always seem to be living together. And who could say what to make of "Spirou et la vieille dame" ("Spirou and the Old Lady", 1946), a bizarre, very early story by Franquin? Fantasio dresses up as an old lady to mess with Spirou (having him carry a ridiculously heavy suitcase, etc.), so Spirou decides to, well...

(http://img140.imageshack.us/i/theoldlady.jpg/)

[queen_marshed.insanejournal.com]

Man, the french have really gotten the whole pacing and action down to a fine art. Makes me wanna learn french just for the comics!

That is serious epic robot fighting there.

[icon_uk.insanejournal.com]

What a fantastic first post! I don't think we had any Spirou even on the old SD!

Makes mental note - Next time I'm in Paris, pick up some Spirou! :)

[nezchan.insanejournal.com]

I've actually got scans of most of the volumes (I'm missing 48 and 50), so I'll probably post more as time goes by. Some of the scenes in the old volumes are pure gold.

[lonewolf23k.insanejournal.com]

I've never really picked up any "Ho Yay" vibes from Spirou and Fantasio, and I've been reading them since I was a kid (yay living in Quebec). If anything, there's been flirtation between either one of them and a recurring female character, Secotine, who's like a hyper-active blonde Lois Lane.

And if one of the more recent graphic novels is to be believed, there was a bit more then flirtation going on between her and Spirou. *nudge nudge wink wink* indeed...

[nezchan.insanejournal.com]

Dunno about that. I read the Spirou/Seccotine thing as more "I'm cornered, so what's the last thing she'd expect me to do?" Why, kiss her, of course. Worked like a charm.

Mind you, Spirou/Flanners is WAAAAAY more WTF to me.

As to Fantasio, the Oroera thing was pretty stupid and abandoned the moment the next creative team came on board, and he doesn't really care for Seccotine. Besides, what straight man goes en pointe (http://bp3.blogger.com/_VceWJ2tR-EQ/RfhWYuIPYfI/AAAAAAAAACU/D-znPlMalGE/s1600-h/page+2+petite.jpg) when surprised? I ask you!

[runespoor7.insanejournal.com]

Do you mean "Machine qui Rêve"? Because that was-- well, there were circumstances.

[nezchan.insanejournal.com]

Oh, hadn't occurred to me they might have meant that one. I was assuming it was the scene in Aux Sources du Z.

I really should scan a few pages of that and do a Zorglub retrospective or something. Not this week, though.

No, no the action's NOT clear enough.

[nefrekeptah.insanejournal.com]

I really have no idea what's going on in these scans.

[(Anonymous)]

Hope!!!
Nice to see you guys talking about my work!!

To follow some of my recent works (spirou sounds as old History to me), please go to http://www.bdgest.com/forum/jose-luis-munuera-talks-ses-projets-t9476.html

Very best from the south of Spain,
JL MUNUERA

[nezchan.insanejournal.com]

Thank you so much for replying, sir. I love what you and Morvan did with Spirou, and I've been meaning to look at your more recent work. It seems like Navis is a great place to start (I did see the pages you posted in your old blog, they've wonderful).

I must also say that your work has been a great inspiration to myself and my friend, who are both animation students here in Canada. Keep up the fantastic work!

[(Anonymous)]

héhé
Hugs from France, guys.
Jean David Morvan

[nezchan.insanejournal.com]

Wow. I am absolutely floored to hear from both of you. I'll be seeking out your new work on Sillage as soon as I'm able.

[damar148.insanejournal.com]

I prefer the Janry comics.

[nezchan.insanejournal.com]

Tome & Janry were great too. Honestly, I like both teams a lot, and they both brought a lot to the characters. Going to be interesting to see what the new team can do.

[arilou_skiff.insanejournal.com]

Wait, Spirou isn't translated into english?

I know a fair bit of them have gotten swedish translations. (read a few at the library and I own at least two, although I was always in it for the Marsupilami)

[nezchan.insanejournal.com]

Nope, just a handful of the early ones and they went out of print a while back. Cinebook is going to start in October with the Australian adventure, though.

I never did care that much for Marsupilami. He was way too powerful, and made it too easy for Spirou & Fantasio to solve their problems. It was like having deus ex machina as a character. Much better in his own book, I think.

[hyaroo.insanejournal.com]

I always thought Marsupilami worked, because his never-ending supply of powers and abilities were always countered by the fact that he was still an animal, with an animal's understanding of things. Which meant that while he would always be handy against the immediate physical threats, very often he was completely useless (more than once even a hinder more than a help) when it came to the major dangers, which were often ones that couldn't be solved by beating them up.

There was one Spirou story that did get translated into English, namely the Franquin/Greg classic Z comme Zorglub (released in 1995 as Z is for Zorglub). It was a pretty good translation too, as I recall... sadly, I don't have it, or I would have presented some scans.

[nezchan.insanejournal.com]

Zorglub, now there was a great creation. Pity we didn't see more of the poor man's Doctor Doom, honestly. He's such a great character design and all sorts of fun in a comic. Also, young Zorglub in the latest volume is kinda hot.

But as to Marsupilami, I always thought he was an odd addition all the same. He made a lot more sense having his own series and continuity (Le Nid des Marsupilamis was great, for instance). I loved the Disney version as a kid, and what I've seen since of the French animated series has been pretty good. Stands up well over time. Although being a bit of a Spip fan, it's sad to see him so marginalized during the Marsupilami years.

[arilou_skiff.insanejournal.com]

The marsupilami album with the kids being left in the cactus valley was pretty cool I thought. I loved that even the jaguar got a happy ending :p

[hyaroo.insanejournal.com]

I sort of agree on Spip, but his mariginalization isn't limited to Marsupilami stories; there are tons of stories where Marupilami doesn't appear and Spip still does nothing but stand around in the background, even going an entire story without a single of his trademark sarcasms.

Thing with Spip is that his role in the stories is horribly inconsistant, even with the same authors/artists; sometimes he's just playing silent comedian in the background, sometimes he's the snarky, sarcastic commentator, and sometimes he's ignored by everyone including characters, author and the majority of readers... and of course sometimes he's ignored by the characters and spends his time wallowing in self-pity and breaking the fourth wall a lot in order to tell the reader what an awful comic he's in and how everyone but him is a big moron. (The highlight of those moments was when he tried getting a "no to animals as comedy sidekicks in comics" campaign going, only to be ignored again...)

Still, while the inconsistency of Spip's role in the series sometimes frustrates me, I do admit to having a soft spot for him... how can you hate a sarcastic squirrel?

[arilou_skiff.insanejournal.com]

Hey, I was like, 7. I didn't mind :P

Although I think in retrospect one of the funniest part of "The Valley of Madmen" (something like that?) which was a very creepy story overall, was when he heard the "Hubba" and expected rescue only for it to be some kind of hippotamus thing...

[nezchan.insanejournal.com]

"Valley of the Banned" I think is the closest English translation. I should do a post on that one, it was one of the great Tome/Janry moments. Spirou getting so hopeful at the sound of what he thought was Marsupilami was really great in the story.

It's always fun when you see a little stuffy or picture of him on the wall somewhere in the modern volumes, though.

[arilou_skiff.insanejournal.com]

Do that! We need more franco-belgian stuff on Daily_Scans!

[ceru.insanejournal.com]

This is very cool, and thanks for sharing. (I can definitely follow the action, although I have no idea why they're doing what they're doing.)

Re: scanning manga: I don't think I'd look to the people who do translations of Japanese comics for either the cause or cure of the American lack of interest in French and Belgian comics. People who work with manga do it because they like manga storytelling, and are interested in Japanese culture--that doesn't extend automatically to all other non-American comics. The people in the best position to promote stuff like this are the French-speaking equivalents to manga scanlators--people who are already interested in European comics and culture, and eager to share that.