André Franquin
Encyclopedia
André Franquin was an influential Belgian
comics artist
, whose best known comic strip
creations are Gaston
and Marsupilami
, created while he worked on the Spirou et Fantasio
comic strip from 1947 to 1969, during a period seen by many as the series' golden age.
in 1924. Although he started drawing at an early age, Franquin got his first actual drawing lessons at École Saint-Luc in 1943. A year later however, the school was forced to close down because of the war
and Franquin was then hired by CBA, a short-lived animation studio in Brussels
. It is there he met some of his future colleagues: Maurice de Bevere (Morris
, creator of Lucky Luke
), Pierre Culliford (Peyo
, creator of the Smurfs), and Eddy Paape
. Three of them (minus Peyo) were hired by Dupuis
in 1945, following CBA's demise. Peyo, still too young, would only follow them seven years later. Franquin started drawing covers and cartoons for Le Moustique, a weekly magazine about radio and culture. He also worked for Plein Jeu, a monthly scouting magazine.
During this time, Morris and Franquin were coached by Joseph Gillain (Jijé
), who had transformed a section of his house into a work space for the two young cartoonists and Will
. Jijé was then producing many of the comics that were published in the comics magazine
Le Journal de Spirou
, including its flagship series Spirou et Fantasio
. The team he had assembled at the end of the war is often referred to as La bande des quatre (lit. "The Gang of Four"), and the graphical style they would develop together was later called the Marcinelle school
, Marcinelle
being an outskirt of the industrial city of Charleroi south of Brussels
where Spirou's publisher Dupuis was then situated.
Jijé passed the Spirou et Fantasio strip to Franquin, five boards into the making of Spirou et la maison préfabriquée, and from Spirou issue #427 released 20 June 1946, the young Franquin held creative responsibility of the series. For the next twenty years, Franquin largely reinvented the strip, creating longer, more elaborate storylines and a large gallery of burlesque characters.
Most notable among these is the Marsupilami
, a fictional monkey-like creature. The inspiration for the Marsupilami's extremely long, prehensile tail came by imagining an appendage for the busy tram
way conductors the Marcinelle cartoonists often encountered on their way to work. This animal has become part of Belgian and French popular culture
, and has spawned cartoons, merchandise, and since 1989 a comic book series of its own. The cartoons have broadened its appeal to English-speaking countries.
, Jidéhem and Greg, who all worked with him on Spirou et Fantasio.
In 1955, following a contractual dispute with his publisher Dupuis, Franquin went for a short stint at Tintin
, the rival magazine. This led to the creation of Modeste et Pompon
, a gag series which included contributions from René Goscinny
(of Astérix
fame) and Peyo. Franquin later returned to Spirou, but his contractual commitment to Tintin meant that he had to contribute to both magazines, an unusual arrangement in the comic industry. The series was later passed on to authors such as Dino Attanasio
and Mittéï.
In 1957, Spirou chief editor Yvan Delporte
gave Franquin the idea for a new figure, Gaston Lagaffe
(from the French gaffe, meaning "blunder"). Initially a joke designed to fill up blank space in the magazine, the weekly strip, detailing the mishaps and madcap ideas and inventions of a terminally idle office boy working at the Spirou offices, took off and became one of Franquin's best-known creations. The character Gaston Lagaffe is often hailed as the first anti-hero
(in the sense of a protagonist lacking all heroic qualities, not a villain) in the comic's history.
However, Franquin soon suffered a period of depression
, which forced him to stop drawing Spirou for a time. This happened between 1961 and 1963, in the middle of QRN sur Bretzelburg
. During this time, he continued to draw Gaston despite ill health, most likely because of the lighter nature of the series. (In one story, Bravo Les Brothers
, Gaston's antics drive his boss Fantasio
to yet another nervous breakdown. In desperation he takes some anti-depressants which "Franquin left behind".)
In 1967, Franquin passed Spirou et Fantasio on to a young cartoonist, Jean-Claude Fournier
, and began to work full-time on his own creations.
He was part of the team that developed the concept of Isabelle
, the adventures of a little girl in a world of witches and monsters. The character was named after Franquin's daughter.
Gaston gradually evolved from pure slapstick
humor to feature themes important to Franquin, such as pacifism
and environmentalism
. Franquin worked on the strip on and off until his death.
(who on interview said he thought Franquin an artist while he was just a cartoonist), and his influence can be seen in the work of nearly every cartoonist hired by Spirou up until the end of the 1990s. Early comic fanzine
s from around 1970 featured Franquin's Monsters, individual drawings of imaginary beasts highlighting his graphical craftmanship.
The last, and most radical, shift in Franquin's production happened in 1977, when he went through another nervous breakdown and began his Idées Noires
strip (lit. "Dark Thoughts"), first for the Spirou supplement, Le Trombone Illustré (with other cartoonists like René Follet
) and later for Fluide Glacial
. With Idées Noires, Franquin showed the darker, pessimistic side of his nature. In one strip, a pair of flies are seen wandering through a strange landscape, discussing the mistakes of their predecessors. In the final panel, we see the landscape is a city made from human skulls, and one fly responds: "Don't be too hard on them, they did leave us such splendid cities". Drawn entirely in black and white, Idées Noires is much more adult-oriented than Franquin's other works, focusing on themes such as death, war, pollution and capital punishment
with a devastatingly sarcastic sense of humour.
Proof of his popular and critical appeal, Franquin was awarded the very first Grand Prix de la ville d'Angoulême
in 1974. Many books by Franquin have been published, many of which are considered classics of the genre. They have been translated in many languages. Several books have been written about Franquin, such as Numa Sadoul
's Et Franquin créa la gaffe, an exhaustive interview with the artist covering his entire career.
Franquin's death in 1997 in Saint-Laurent-du-Var
didn't quite elicit the kind of worldwide posthumous homage Hergé
received. However, 2004 saw the first major museum retrospective of his work, an exhibit called "Le monde de Franquin"', in Paris
' Cité des Sciences et de l’Industrie this exhibition was continued in 2006 in the city where he was born, Brussels
, the latter was fully bilingual (French/Dutch). In 2005, a Walloon survey elected him as the "16th greatest Belgian ever".
, flat colors and a certain staticism, Franquin’s graphic approach progressively evolved towards a multi-color aesthetics, chiaroscuro and a vigorous sense of movement. Hergé expressed in several occasions his admiration for Franquin’s work: “Compared to him, I’m but a poor draftsman”.
Franquin was a prominent member of the first generation of the “Marcinelle School
” (École de Marcinelle), also formed by Morris and Will, who would be joined during the 50s by the second generation including, among others, Peyo, Tillieux
, Uderzo
, and two subsequent generations joining during the 60s and 70-80s. Within this group, Franquin’s influence was uncontested, especially among the authors that continued the series Spirou et Fantasio after he left. Jean-Claude Fournier, Nic Broca and especially Janry
(Jean-Richard Geurts) showed in this series graphic styles that tried to mimic with varying degrees of success the features of Franquin’s style.
Other Franco-Belgian authors that show Franquin’s influence were Dino Attanasio
and Mittéï (Jean Mariette), both responsible for the series Modeste et Pompon after he left, Jidéhem
(Jean De Mesmaeker), a usual collaborator of Franquin for Spirou et Fantasio and Gaston Lagaffe, Batem
(Luc Collin), artist of the Marsupilami series, or Pierre Seron
, who cloned Franquin’s style in his series Les Petites Hommes.
A most remarkable case is Franquin’s influence in Francisco Ibáñez
, possibly the most widely published Spanish author since the 1950s. Starting in the 1970s, Ibáñez made an extensive use of ideas and designs from Franquin’s works, adapting them to his own universe, but also importing many graphic and narrative solutions. Even one of his characters, “El Botones Sacarino”, can be easily identified as a hybrid of Spirou (he is a bellboy) and Gaston Lagaffe (he works in a publishing company and is the source of never ending disasters), whom he resembles physically. Franquin’s shadow is even more obvious in the work of Ramón María Casanyes, a disciple and ghost collaborator of Ibáñez, especially in some of his solo Works such as the short-lived “Tito, Homo Sapiens 2000”, where the Franco-Belgian descent is unquestionable.
An essential author to understand the evolution of Franco-Belgian comics, Franquin is still a source of inspiration for contemporary artists such as Fabrice Tarrin, Yoann, or even outside the realm of comics in such iconoclastic cases as architect and cartoonist Klaus.
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
comics artist
Comics artist
A comics artist is an artist working within the comics medium on comic strips, comic books or graphic novels. The term may refer to any number of artists who contribute to produce a work in the comics form, from those who oversee all aspects of the work to those who contribute only a part.-Comic...
, whose best known comic strip
Comic strip
A comic strip is a sequence of drawings arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often serialized, with text in balloons and captions....
creations are Gaston
Gaston Lagaffe
Gaston is a comic strip created in 1957 by the Belgian cartoonist André Franquin in the comic strip magazine, Spirou. The series focuses on the every-day life of Gaston Lagaffe, a lazy and accident-prone office junior...
and Marsupilami
Marsupilami
Marsupilami is a fictional comic book species created by André Franquin, first published on 31 January 1952 in the magazine Spirou. Since then it appeared regularly in the popular Belgian comic book series Spirou et Fantasio until Franquin stopped working on the series in 1968 and the character...
, created while he worked on the Spirou et Fantasio
Spirou et Fantasio
Spirou et Fantasio is one of the most popular classic Franco-Belgian comic strips. The series, which has been running since 1938, shares many characteristics with other European humorous adventure comics like Tintin and Asterix...
comic strip from 1947 to 1969, during a period seen by many as the series' golden age.
Franquin's beginnings
Franquin was born in EtterbeekEtterbeek
Etterbeek is one of the nineteen municipalities located in the Brussels-Capital Region of Belgium. It neighbours the municipalities of the City of Brussels, Ixelles, Auderghem, Woluwe-Saint-Pierre, Woluwe-Saint-Lambert and Schaerbeek....
in 1924. Although he started drawing at an early age, Franquin got his first actual drawing lessons at École Saint-Luc in 1943. A year later however, the school was forced to close down because of the war
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
and Franquin was then hired by CBA, a short-lived animation studio in Brussels
Brussels
Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
. It is there he met some of his future colleagues: Maurice de Bevere (Morris
Morris (comics)
Maurice De Bevere , better known as Morris, was a Belgian cartoonist and the creator of Lucky Luke. His pen name is an alternate spelling of his first name.-Biography:...
, creator of Lucky Luke
Lucky Luke
Lucky Luke is a Belgian comics series created by Belgian cartoonist, Maurice De Bevere better known as Morris, the original artist, and was for one period written by René Goscinny...
), Pierre Culliford (Peyo
Peyo
Pierre Culliford , known as Peyo, was a Belgian comics artist, perhaps best known for the creation of The Smurfs comic strip.-Biography:...
, creator of the Smurfs), and Eddy Paape
Eddy Paape
Eddy Paape is a Franco-Belgian comics artist best known for illustrating the series Luc Orient.-Biography:Eddy Paape was born in Grivegnée , Belgium in 1920...
. Three of them (minus Peyo) were hired by Dupuis
Dupuis
Éditions Dupuis S.A. is a Belgian publisher of comic books and magazines.Based in Marcinelle near Charleroi, Dupuis was founded in 1922 by Jean Dupuis, and is mostly famous for its comic albums and magazines. It is originally a French language publisher, but publishes many editions both in French...
in 1945, following CBA's demise. Peyo, still too young, would only follow them seven years later. Franquin started drawing covers and cartoons for Le Moustique, a weekly magazine about radio and culture. He also worked for Plein Jeu, a monthly scouting magazine.
During this time, Morris and Franquin were coached by Joseph Gillain (Jijé
Jijé
Jijé was a Belgian comics artist, best known for being a seminal artist on the Spirou et Fantasio strip and the creator of one of the first major European western strips, Jerry Spring.-Biography:Born Joseph Gillain in Gedinne, Namur, he completed various art studies Jijé (13 January 1914 – 20...
), who had transformed a section of his house into a work space for the two young cartoonists and Will
Will (comics)
Willy Maltaite known by the pseudonym Will, was a comics creator and comics artist in the Franco-Belgian tradition...
. Jijé was then producing many of the comics that were published in the comics magazine
Franco-Belgian comics magazines
Belgium and France have a long tradition in comics. They have a common history for comics and magazines.In the early years of its history, magazines had a large place on the comics market and were often the only place where comics were published. Most of them were kids-targeted.In the 1970s,...
Le Journal de Spirou
Spirou (magazine)
Spirou magazine is a weekly Belgian comics magazine published by the Dupuis company...
, including its flagship series Spirou et Fantasio
Spirou et Fantasio
Spirou et Fantasio is one of the most popular classic Franco-Belgian comic strips. The series, which has been running since 1938, shares many characteristics with other European humorous adventure comics like Tintin and Asterix...
. The team he had assembled at the end of the war is often referred to as La bande des quatre (lit. "The Gang of Four"), and the graphical style they would develop together was later called the Marcinelle school
Marcinelle school
The term "Marcinelle school" refers to a group of Belgian cartoonists formed by Joseph Gillain following World War II...
, Marcinelle
Marcinelle
Marcinelle is a Walloon town in the Belgian province of Hainaut, it is currently a municipality within the Charleroi borders. Until 1977, the town was a municipality of its own....
being an outskirt of the industrial city of Charleroi south of Brussels
Brussels
Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
where Spirou's publisher Dupuis was then situated.
Jijé passed the Spirou et Fantasio strip to Franquin, five boards into the making of Spirou et la maison préfabriquée, and from Spirou issue #427 released 20 June 1946, the young Franquin held creative responsibility of the series. For the next twenty years, Franquin largely reinvented the strip, creating longer, more elaborate storylines and a large gallery of burlesque characters.
Most notable among these is the Marsupilami
Marsupilami
Marsupilami is a fictional comic book species created by André Franquin, first published on 31 January 1952 in the magazine Spirou. Since then it appeared regularly in the popular Belgian comic book series Spirou et Fantasio until Franquin stopped working on the series in 1968 and the character...
, a fictional monkey-like creature. The inspiration for the Marsupilami's extremely long, prehensile tail came by imagining an appendage for the busy tram
Tram
A tram is a passenger rail vehicle which runs on tracks along public urban streets and also sometimes on separate rights of way. It may also run between cities and/or towns , and/or partially grade separated even in the cities...
way conductors the Marcinelle cartoonists often encountered on their way to work. This animal has become part of Belgian and French popular culture
Popular culture
Popular culture is the totality of ideas, perspectives, attitudes, memes, images and other phenomena that are deemed preferred per an informal consensus within the mainstream of a given culture, especially Western culture of the early to mid 20th century and the emerging global mainstream of the...
, and has spawned cartoons, merchandise, and since 1989 a comic book series of its own. The cartoons have broadened its appeal to English-speaking countries.
Mid period
By 1951, Franquin had found his style. His strip, which appeared every week on the first page of Spirou, was a hit. Following Jijé's lead in the 1940s, Franquin coached a younger generation of cartoonists in the 1950s, notably Jean RobaJean Roba
Jean Roba was a Belgian comics author from the Marcinelle school. His best-known work is Boule et Bill.-Biography:...
, Jidéhem and Greg, who all worked with him on Spirou et Fantasio.
In 1955, following a contractual dispute with his publisher Dupuis, Franquin went for a short stint at Tintin
Tintin (magazine)
Le journal de Tintin or Kuifje , was a weekly Belgian comics magazine of the second half of the 20th century...
, the rival magazine. This led to the creation of Modeste et Pompon
Modeste et Pompon
Modeste et Pompon is a Belgian comic series consisting mainly of humorous one-page short stories about a temperamental young man and his girlfriend...
, a gag series which included contributions from René Goscinny
René Goscinny
René Goscinny was a French comics editor and writer, who is best known for the comic book Astérix, which he created with illustrator Albert Uderzo, and for his work on the comic series Lucky Luke with Morris and Iznogoud with Jean Tabary.-Early life:Goscinny was born in Paris in 1926, to a family...
(of Astérix
Asterix
Asterix or The Adventures of Asterix is a series of French comic books written by René Goscinny and illustrated by Albert Uderzo . The series first appeared in French in the magazine Pilote on October 29, 1959...
fame) and Peyo. Franquin later returned to Spirou, but his contractual commitment to Tintin meant that he had to contribute to both magazines, an unusual arrangement in the comic industry. The series was later passed on to authors such as Dino Attanasio
Dino Attanasio
Dino Attanasio is an Italian author of humoristic comics.-Biography:Attanasio was born in Milan....
and Mittéï.
In 1957, Spirou chief editor Yvan Delporte
Yvan Delporte
Yvan Delporte was a Belgian comics writer, and was editor-in-chief of Spirou magazine between 1955 and 1968 during a period considered by many the golden age of Franco-Belgian comics...
gave Franquin the idea for a new figure, Gaston Lagaffe
Gaston Lagaffe
Gaston is a comic strip created in 1957 by the Belgian cartoonist André Franquin in the comic strip magazine, Spirou. The series focuses on the every-day life of Gaston Lagaffe, a lazy and accident-prone office junior...
(from the French gaffe, meaning "blunder"). Initially a joke designed to fill up blank space in the magazine, the weekly strip, detailing the mishaps and madcap ideas and inventions of a terminally idle office boy working at the Spirou offices, took off and became one of Franquin's best-known creations. The character Gaston Lagaffe is often hailed as the first anti-hero
Anti-hero
In fiction, an antihero is generally considered to be a protagonist whose character is at least in some regards conspicuously contrary to that of the archetypal hero, and is in some instances its antithesis in which the character is generally useless at being a hero or heroine when they're...
(in the sense of a protagonist lacking all heroic qualities, not a villain) in the comic's history.
However, Franquin soon suffered a period of depression
Clinical depression
Major depressive disorder is a mental disorder characterized by an all-encompassing low mood accompanied by low self-esteem, and by loss of interest or pleasure in normally enjoyable activities...
, which forced him to stop drawing Spirou for a time. This happened between 1961 and 1963, in the middle of QRN sur Bretzelburg
QRN sur Bretzelburg
QRN sur Bretzelburg , written by Franquin and Greg, drawn by Franquin with assistance by Jidéhem, is the eighteenth album of the Spirou et Fantasio series...
. During this time, he continued to draw Gaston despite ill health, most likely because of the lighter nature of the series. (In one story, Bravo Les Brothers
Panade à Champignac
Panade à Champignac is the nineteenth album of the Spirou et Fantasio series. The story, written and drawn by Franquin, was serialised along with Bravo les Brothers in Spirou, before publication as a hardcover album in 1969.-Story:...
, Gaston's antics drive his boss Fantasio
Fantasio
Fantasio is a fictional character from the Spirou et Fantasio comic strip. He was introduced in 1944 by Jijé, who was then drawing Spirou's adventures. Fantasio is Spirou's best friend and co-adventurer, a graphic reporter with an uncontrolled imagination and a mop of blond hair...
to yet another nervous breakdown. In desperation he takes some anti-depressants which "Franquin left behind".)
In 1967, Franquin passed Spirou et Fantasio on to a young cartoonist, Jean-Claude Fournier
Jean-Claude Fournier
Jean-Claude Fournier , known simply as Fournier, is a French cartoonist best known as the comic book artist who handled Spirou et Fantasio in the years 1969-1979.-Biography:...
, and began to work full-time on his own creations.
He was part of the team that developed the concept of Isabelle
Isabelle (comics)
Isabelle is a Belgian comic series drawn by Will and written by Franquin, Delporte and Macherot.The comic first appeared in Spirou in 1970. Created by a top team of already-famous contributors to the magazine, the series gained a small but fanatical following...
, the adventures of a little girl in a world of witches and monsters. The character was named after Franquin's daughter.
Gaston gradually evolved from pure slapstick
Slapstick
Slapstick is a type of comedy involving exaggerated violence and activities which may exceed the boundaries of common sense.- Origins :The phrase comes from the batacchio or bataccio — called the 'slap stick' in English — a club-like object composed of two wooden slats used in Commedia dell'arte...
humor to feature themes important to Franquin, such as pacifism
Pacifism
Pacifism is the opposition to war and violence. The term "pacifism" was coined by the French peace campaignerÉmile Arnaud and adopted by other peace activists at the tenth Universal Peace Congress inGlasgow in 1901.- Definition :...
and environmentalism
Environmentalism
Environmentalism is a broad philosophy, ideology and social movement regarding concerns for environmental conservation and improvement of the health of the environment, particularly as the measure for this health seeks to incorporate the concerns of non-human elements...
. Franquin worked on the strip on and off until his death.
Franquin's later period
The 1960s saw a clear evolution in Franquin's style, which grew more loose and intricate. This graphical evolution would continue throughout the next decade. Soon, Franquin was considered an undisputed master of the art form, on par with the likes of HergéHergé
Georges Prosper Remi , better known by the pen name Hergé, was a Belgian comics writer and artist. His best known and most substantial work is the 23 completed comic books in The Adventures of Tintin series, which he wrote and illustrated from 1929 until his death in 1983, although he was also...
(who on interview said he thought Franquin an artist while he was just a cartoonist), and his influence can be seen in the work of nearly every cartoonist hired by Spirou up until the end of the 1990s. Early comic fanzine
Fanzine
A fanzine is a nonprofessional and nonofficial publication produced by fans of a particular cultural phenomenon for the pleasure of others who share their interest...
s from around 1970 featured Franquin's Monsters, individual drawings of imaginary beasts highlighting his graphical craftmanship.
The last, and most radical, shift in Franquin's production happened in 1977, when he went through another nervous breakdown and began his Idées Noires
Idées noires
Idées noires is a collection of black comedy comic strips drawn by André Franquin, written by Franquin and Yvan Delporte. The one-page stories first appeared frequently in 1977, in the brief run of the Spirou supplement, Le Trombone illustré...
strip (lit. "Dark Thoughts"), first for the Spirou supplement, Le Trombone Illustré (with other cartoonists like René Follet
René Follet
René Follet , sometimes known by the pen name Ref, is a Belgian illustrator, comics writer and artist.-Biography:René Follet was born in Brussels in 1931. His first publication appeared when he was 14, illustrating a promotional issue of Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island for Aiglon, a...
) and later for Fluide Glacial
Fluide Glacial
Fluide Glacial is a monthly French comics magazine and a publishing house founded on April 1, 1975 by Marcel Gotlib and Jacques Diament. During its years of publication it has featured the work of French and international authors and graphic artists such as Jacques Lob, Édika, Claire Bretécher,...
. With Idées Noires, Franquin showed the darker, pessimistic side of his nature. In one strip, a pair of flies are seen wandering through a strange landscape, discussing the mistakes of their predecessors. In the final panel, we see the landscape is a city made from human skulls, and one fly responds: "Don't be too hard on them, they did leave us such splendid cities". Drawn entirely in black and white, Idées Noires is much more adult-oriented than Franquin's other works, focusing on themes such as death, war, pollution and capital punishment
Capital punishment
Capital punishment, the death penalty, or execution is the sentence of death upon a person by the state as a punishment for an offence. Crimes that can result in a death penalty are known as capital crimes or capital offences. The term capital originates from the Latin capitalis, literally...
with a devastatingly sarcastic sense of humour.
Proof of his popular and critical appeal, Franquin was awarded the very first Grand Prix de la ville d'Angoulême
Grand Prix de la ville d'Angoulême
Every year, the Grand Prix de la ville d'Angoulême is awarded during the Angoulême International Comics Festival to an author for his body of work and/or for his achievement in the evolution of comics....
in 1974. Many books by Franquin have been published, many of which are considered classics of the genre. They have been translated in many languages. Several books have been written about Franquin, such as Numa Sadoul
Numa Sadoul
Numa Sadoul is a French writer, actor, and director, who has been a resident of France since 1966....
's Et Franquin créa la gaffe, an exhaustive interview with the artist covering his entire career.
Franquin's death in 1997 in Saint-Laurent-du-Var
Saint-Laurent-du-Var
Saint-Laurent-du-Var is a commune in the Alpes-Maritimes department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region on the French Riviera.-History:The town was founded in the 11th century when an hospice was founded under Saint Lawrence's protection...
didn't quite elicit the kind of worldwide posthumous homage Hergé
Hergé
Georges Prosper Remi , better known by the pen name Hergé, was a Belgian comics writer and artist. His best known and most substantial work is the 23 completed comic books in The Adventures of Tintin series, which he wrote and illustrated from 1929 until his death in 1983, although he was also...
received. However, 2004 saw the first major museum retrospective of his work, an exhibit called "Le monde de Franquin"', in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
' Cité des Sciences et de l’Industrie this exhibition was continued in 2006 in the city where he was born, Brussels
Brussels
Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
, the latter was fully bilingual (French/Dutch). In 2005, a Walloon survey elected him as the "16th greatest Belgian ever".
Influence
Franquin is, along with Hergé, one of the basic pillars of Franco-Belgian comics. Their styles, however, rest in opposite corners of the aesthetic spectrum: If the pictures of Tintin’s creator were characterized by the use of ligne claireLigne claire
Ligne claire is a style of drawing pioneered by Hergé, the Belgian creator of The Adventures of Tintin. It uses clear strong lines of uniform importance. Artists working in it do not use hatching, while contrast is downplayed as well...
, flat colors and a certain staticism, Franquin’s graphic approach progressively evolved towards a multi-color aesthetics, chiaroscuro and a vigorous sense of movement. Hergé expressed in several occasions his admiration for Franquin’s work: “Compared to him, I’m but a poor draftsman”.
Franquin was a prominent member of the first generation of the “Marcinelle School
Marcinelle school
The term "Marcinelle school" refers to a group of Belgian cartoonists formed by Joseph Gillain following World War II...
” (École de Marcinelle), also formed by Morris and Will, who would be joined during the 50s by the second generation including, among others, Peyo, Tillieux
Maurice Tillieux
Maurice Tillieux was a Belgian writer and comic artist. He is regarded by many as a major figure of post-war Belgian comics.-Early life:...
, Uderzo
Albert Uderzo
Albert Uderzo is a French comic book artist, and scriptwriter. He is best known for his work on the Astérix series, but also drew other comics such as Oumpah-pah, also in collaboration with René Goscinny.-Early life:...
, and two subsequent generations joining during the 60s and 70-80s. Within this group, Franquin’s influence was uncontested, especially among the authors that continued the series Spirou et Fantasio after he left. Jean-Claude Fournier, Nic Broca and especially Janry
Jean-Richard Geurts
Jean-Richard Geurts, perhaps better known under his pseudonym Janry , is a comics artist. With Tome he created Le Petit Spirou and made several Spirou et Fantasio albums.-Biography:...
(Jean-Richard Geurts) showed in this series graphic styles that tried to mimic with varying degrees of success the features of Franquin’s style.
Other Franco-Belgian authors that show Franquin’s influence were Dino Attanasio
Dino Attanasio
Dino Attanasio is an Italian author of humoristic comics.-Biography:Attanasio was born in Milan....
and Mittéï (Jean Mariette), both responsible for the series Modeste et Pompon after he left, Jidéhem
Jidéhem
Jean De Mesmaeker known by the pseudonym Jidéhem, is a Belgian comics artist in the Marcinelle school tradition. A creator of his own series Sophie, and Ginger, and noted for his work with Starter and Uhu-man, he is perhaps best known for his collaborations and assistance to the work of André...
(Jean De Mesmaeker), a usual collaborator of Franquin for Spirou et Fantasio and Gaston Lagaffe, Batem
Batem
Luc Collin, best known by the pen name Batem is a Belgian comics artist best known as the artist successor of André Franquin of the series Marsupilami.-Biography:...
(Luc Collin), artist of the Marsupilami series, or Pierre Seron
Pierre Seron
Pierre Seron is a Belgian comic book artist born in Chênée on 9 February 1942.-Biography:He spent the first few years of his life in Liège then followed the work transfers of his father, an engineer, to Montreal, Canada, Libourne, France, the Bordeaux region, Givet in the Ardennes region and then...
, who cloned Franquin’s style in his series Les Petites Hommes.
A most remarkable case is Franquin’s influence in Francisco Ibáñez
Francisco Ibáñez Talavera
Francisco Ibáñez Talavera , Spanish comic book artist and writer. Born in Barcelona, he is the creator of several comic book series, the most famous of which is Mortadelo y Filemón....
, possibly the most widely published Spanish author since the 1950s. Starting in the 1970s, Ibáñez made an extensive use of ideas and designs from Franquin’s works, adapting them to his own universe, but also importing many graphic and narrative solutions. Even one of his characters, “El Botones Sacarino”, can be easily identified as a hybrid of Spirou (he is a bellboy) and Gaston Lagaffe (he works in a publishing company and is the source of never ending disasters), whom he resembles physically. Franquin’s shadow is even more obvious in the work of Ramón María Casanyes, a disciple and ghost collaborator of Ibáñez, especially in some of his solo Works such as the short-lived “Tito, Homo Sapiens 2000”, where the Franco-Belgian descent is unquestionable.
An essential author to understand the evolution of Franco-Belgian comics, Franquin is still a source of inspiration for contemporary artists such as Fabrice Tarrin, Yoann, or even outside the realm of comics in such iconoclastic cases as architect and cartoonist Klaus.
Series
| Series | Years | Albums | Editor | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spirou et Fantasio Spirou et Fantasio Spirou et Fantasio is one of the most popular classic Franco-Belgian comic strips. The series, which has been running since 1938, shares many characteristics with other European humorous adventure comics like Tintin and Asterix... |
1946 - 1968 | 20 | Dupuis Dupuis Éditions Dupuis S.A. is a Belgian publisher of comic books and magazines.Based in Marcinelle near Charleroi, Dupuis was founded in 1922 by Jean Dupuis, and is mostly famous for its comic albums and magazines. It is originally a French language publisher, but publishes many editions both in French... |
with Jijé Jijé Jijé was a Belgian comics artist, best known for being a seminal artist on the Spirou et Fantasio strip and the creator of one of the first major European western strips, Jerry Spring.-Biography:Born Joseph Gillain in Gedinne, Namur, he completed various art studies Jijé (13 January 1914 – 20... , Henri Gillain Henri Gillain Henri Gillain was a Belgian teacher and comics enthusiast who on several occasions wrote scripts for Franco-Belgian comics publications in the segment known as Bande Dessinée... , Maurice Rosy Maurice Rosy Maurice Rosy , is a Belgian comics writer who also worked as artistic director of Spirou during its golden period.-Biography:... , Will Will (comics) Willy Maltaite known by the pseudonym Will, was a comics creator and comics artist in the Franco-Belgian tradition... , Greg, Jidéhem Jidéhem Jean De Mesmaeker known by the pseudonym Jidéhem, is a Belgian comics artist in the Marcinelle school tradition. A creator of his own series Sophie, and Ginger, and noted for his work with Starter and Uhu-man, he is perhaps best known for his collaborations and assistance to the work of André... , Jean Roba Jean Roba Jean Roba was a Belgian comics author from the Marcinelle school. His best-known work is Boule et Bill.-Biography:... |
| Modeste et Pompon Modeste et Pompon Modeste et Pompon is a Belgian comic series consisting mainly of humorous one-page short stories about a temperamental young man and his girlfriend... |
1955–1959 | 3 | Lombard Le Lombard Le Lombard or Lombard Editions is a Belgian comic book publisher established in 1946 when the Tintin magazine was launched. In 1986 the company was acquired by Média-Participations.-Titles:Lombard's more famous series include:*Clifton... |
with René Goscinny René Goscinny René Goscinny was a French comics editor and writer, who is best known for the comic book Astérix, which he created with illustrator Albert Uderzo, and for his work on the comic series Lucky Luke with Morris and Iznogoud with Jean Tabary.-Early life:Goscinny was born in Paris in 1926, to a family... and Greg |
| Gaston Lagaffe Gaston Lagaffe Gaston is a comic strip created in 1957 by the Belgian cartoonist André Franquin in the comic strip magazine, Spirou. The series focuses on the every-day life of Gaston Lagaffe, a lazy and accident-prone office junior... |
1957–1996 | 19 | Dupuis and Marsu Productions | with Yvan Delporte Yvan Delporte Yvan Delporte was a Belgian comics writer, and was editor-in-chief of Spirou magazine between 1955 and 1968 during a period considered by many the golden age of Franco-Belgian comics... and Jidéhem |
| Le Petit Noël Le Petit Noël Noël, or Le Petit Noël, is the main character of an eponymous Belgian comics series, and a secondary character of Spirou et Fantasio. His name means "Christmas" in French... |
1957–1959 | 1 | Dupuis | 4 volumes half-format editions |
| Idées noires Idées noires Idées noires is a collection of black comedy comic strips drawn by André Franquin, written by Franquin and Yvan Delporte. The one-page stories first appeared frequently in 1977, in the brief run of the Spirou supplement, Le Trombone illustré... |
1977–1983 | 2 | Fluide Glacial Fluide Glacial Fluide Glacial is a monthly French comics magazine and a publishing house founded on April 1, 1975 by Marcel Gotlib and Jacques Diament. During its years of publication it has featured the work of French and international authors and graphic artists such as Jacques Lob, Édika, Claire Bretécher,... |
with Yvan Delporte and Jean Roba |
| Isabelle Isabelle (comics) Isabelle is a Belgian comic series drawn by Will and written by Franquin, Delporte and Macherot.The comic first appeared in Spirou in 1970. Created by a top team of already-famous contributors to the magazine, the series gained a small but fanatical following... |
1978–1986 | 5 | Dupuis | scenarios with Delporte and Macherot Raymond Macherot Raymond Macherot was a Belgian cartoonist. Although not nearly as famous as fellow Belgian cartoonists such as Hergé or André Franquin, Macherot's work, both as artist and writer, remains highly regarded among critics and collectors.-The Tintin years:Raymond Macherot was born in Verviers, Belgium... , art by Will |
| Marsupilami Marsupilami Marsupilami is a fictional comic book species created by André Franquin, first published on 31 January 1952 in the magazine Spirou. Since then it appeared regularly in the popular Belgian comic book series Spirou et Fantasio until Franquin stopped working on the series in 1968 and the character... |
1987–1989 | 3 | Marsu Productions Marsu Productions Marsu Productions, or simply Marsu, is a publishing house and licensing and merchandising company located in Monaco, managing Franco-Belgian comics characters and copyright concerns, chiefly from the comics universe of André Franquin... |
with Batem Batem Luc Collin, best known by the pen name Batem is a Belgian comics artist best known as the artist successor of André Franquin of the series Marsupilami.-Biography:... , Greg and Yann |
- a. The original collection. Some collections consist of four albums. The content is largely the same, however, where the gags have been spread out on thinner albums.
- b. The Special Edition series, published in chronological order by Dupuis and Marsu Productions in connection with the series' 40 year anniversary.
- c. Except for the first three main albums in the series, Franquin was also the creator of No. 0 Capturez un MarsupilamiCapturez un MarsupilamiCapturez un Marsupilami!, written and drawn by André Franquin, is a comic album containing adventures and short gags of the Marsupilami. Although not collected in one album until 2002, the contents are the earliest works of the original artist, from publications in Risque Tout and Spirou, and...
, a collection of earlier short stories with the character.
- For Spirou et Fantasio, Modeste et Pompon, Isabelle and Marsupilami, several new albums were published by other artists after Franquin left the series.
One-shots
- Cauchemarrant (1979, published by Bédérama)
- Les robinsons du rail (1981, art by Franquin, text by Yvan Delporte; published by L'Atelier)
- Les démêlés d'Arnest Ringard et d'Augraphie (1981, art by Frédéric Jannin, text by Franquin and Yvan Delporte)
- L'Encyclopédie du Marsupilami (1991, illustrated faux encyclopedia about Marsupilami)
- Arnest Ringard et Augraphie (2006, art by Frédéric Jannin, text by Franquin and Yvan Delporte; redrawn and extended version of the above)
- Slowburn (1982, art by Franquin, text by Gotlib; published by Collectoropolis)
- Les Tifous (1990, published by Dessis)
- Le trombone illustré (2005, published by Marsu Productions)
- Un monstre par semaine (2005, published by Marsu Productions)
- Les noëls de Franquin (2006, art by Franquin, text by Yvan Delporte; published by Marsu Productions)
Sketchbooks
(published by Marsu Productions)- Les doodles de Franquin
- Le bestiaire de Franquin
- Le bestiaire de Franquin tome 2
- Les monstres de Franquin
- Les monstres de Franquin tome 2
- Tronches à gogo
- Les signatures de Franquin
Books about Franquin
- Jacky Goupil, Livre d'or Franquin: Gaston, Spirou et les autres...
- Numa Sadoul, Et Franquin créa la gaffe
- Philippe Vandooren, Franquin/Jijé
- Les cahiers de la BD #47-48
- Le monde de Franquin (exhibition catalog)
- Kris de Saeger, Dossier Franquin
- Achim Schnurrer and Jef Meert, Archief Franquin
- José-Louis Bocquet and Eric Verhoest, Franquin - Chronologie d'un œuvre
- Xavier Chimits and Pedro Inigo Yanez, Le garage de Franquin
Awards
- 1974: First Grand Prix de la ville d'AngoulêmeGrand Prix de la ville d'AngoulêmeEvery year, the Grand Prix de la ville d'Angoulême is awarded during the Angoulême International Comics Festival to an author for his body of work and/or for his achievement in the evolution of comics....
, FranceFranceThe French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France... - 1980: Adamson AwardAdamson AwardsAdamson Awards is a Swedish award awarded to notable cartoonists, named after the famous Swedish comic strip "Adamson" .They have been presented by the Swedish Academy of Comic Art at the annual Gothenburg Book Fair since 1965...
, SwedenSwedenSweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund.... - 1985: Best Long Comic Strip at the Haxtur Awards, SpainSpainSpain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
, for QRN sur BretzelburgQRN sur BretzelburgQRN sur Bretzelburg , written by Franquin and Greg, drawn by Franquin with assistance by Jidéhem, is the eighteenth album of the Spirou et Fantasio series... - 1987: Grand Prix for the Graphic ArtsAngoulême International Comics Festival Other awardsA number of awards was only presented at the Angoulême International Comics Festival for a short time.-Award for best French artist:* 1974: Alexis* 1975: Jacques Tardi* 1976: André Cheret* 1977: Moebius* 1978: Paul Gillon-Award for best foreign artist:...
at the Angoulême International Comics FestivalAngoulême International Comics FestivalThe Angoulême International Comics Festival is the largest comics festival in Europe. It has occurred every year since 1974 in Angoulême, France, in the month of January.The four-day festival is notable for awarding several prestigious prizes in cartooning... - 1996: Special Prize for outstanding life’s work at the Max & Moritz PrizesMax & Moritz PrizesThe Max & Moritz Prize is a prize for comic books, comic strips, and other similar materials which has been awarded at each of the biennial International Comics Shows of Erlangen since 1984...
in ErlangenErlangenErlangen is a Middle Franconian city in Bavaria, Germany. It is located at the confluence of the river Regnitz and its large tributary, the Untere Schwabach.Erlangen has more than 100,000 inhabitants....
, GermanyGermanyGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
External links
- Franquin official site
- Gaston Lagaffe official site
- Biography on Dupuis.com
- Franquin biography on Lambiek Comiclopedia
- SSZ: The World Around Franquin comics creators discuss Franquin
- Le Monde de Franquin Expo, Franquin dossier pdf downloads