Le gorille a bonne mine
Encyclopedia
Le gorille a bonne mine, written and drawn by Franquin
André Franquin
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.-Franquin's beginnings:Franquin was...

, is the eleventh album of 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...

 series. The title story and Vacances sans histoires (A Quiet Holiday), were serialised in Spirou
Spirou (magazine)
Spirou magazine is a weekly Belgian comics magazine published by the Dupuis company...

, before the hardcover album release in 1959.

The title literally means roughly The Gorilla's in Good Shape, but the title is also a pun on the "mine d'or" ("goldmine") which appears in the story.

When Egmont
Egmont Publishing
The Egmont Group is a media corporation founded and rooted in Copenhagen, Denmark. The business area of Egmont has traditionally been magazine publishing but has over the years evolved to comprise media generally....

 (on its imprint "Euro Books") published this album in English for the Indian market, it was given the title "The Gorilla Gold Adventure".

Story

In Le gorille a bonne mine, Spirou
Spirou (character)
Spirou is the main character of the Spirou et Fantasio and Le Petit Spirou comic strips. The character was originally created by Robert Velter for the launch of Le Journal de Spirou in 1938....

 and 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...

 journey to Molomonga in central Africa, on a journalistic expedition to seek out the rare gorillas of Mount Kilimaki. In a setting of uneasy atmosphere amidst questionable characters and unlikely accidents, their efforts become increasingly difficult, justifying the suspicion that someone tries to prevent the reporters from reaching their goal.

In Vacances sans histoires , the heroes take a road-trip south to the French riviera. This leads to an encounter with Ibn-Mah-Zoud, an abundantly wealthy sheikh
Sheikh
Not to be confused with sikhSheikh — also spelled Sheik or Shaikh, or transliterated as Shaykh — is an honorific in the Arabic language that literally means "elder" and carries the meaning "leader and/or governor"...

 and allegedly the worst motorcar driver in the world, and who tries out their Turbotraction:Turbot-Rhino I.

Background

During the title story's original serial publication in Spirou, it was named Le gorille à mauvaise mine, but, after previously published La mauvaise tête
La mauvaise tête
La mauvaise tête, written and drawn by Franquin, is the eighth album in the Spirou et Fantasio series. After serial publication in Spirou the complete story was published, along with the Marsupilami short story Touchez pas aux rouges-gorges, in a hardcover album in 1957.-Story:In A Head for Crime,...

, the hardcover album was renamed by editors who wanted to avoid establishing a trend of negative names (i.e. The Bad Head, The Bad Expression).

With Vacances sans histoires, this album contains the second Spirou adventure cameo appearance of 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...

, although the first would be released in a later album, Le voyageur du Mésozoïque
Le voyageur du Mésozoïque
Le voyageur du Mésozoïque, written by Franquin and Greg, drawn by Franquin with assistance by Jidéhem, is the thirteenth album of the Spirou et Fantasio series...

.

At the end of Vacances sans histoires, the Turbot 2 is revealed for the first time, as a replacement for the Turbotraction wrecked by the Sheik.

External links

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