Modeste et Pompon
Encyclopedia
Belgian comics
Belgian comics are a distinct subgroup in the comics history, and played a major role in the development of European comics, alongside France with whom they share a long common history...
series consisting mainly of humorous one-page short stories about a temperamental young man and his girlfriend. Created by André 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...
, it was first published in Le journal de Tintin
Tintin (magazine)
Le journal de Tintin or Kuifje , was a weekly Belgian comics magazine of the second half of the 20th century...
on October 19, 1955.
Publication history
In 1955 comic-book artist André FranquinAndré 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...
got into a dispute with 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...
, the publishers of Spirou magazine, over financial arrangements concerning his characters. Since Franquin was unable to find the written confirmation of their agreement, he left to join the staff of the rival Tintin magazine, where he introduced the series Modeste et Pompon. Writers who contributed to the series included 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...
(the writer of Asterix
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...
), 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), Greg (another leading writer and artist) and even Franquin's mother-in-law.
Franquin later found the written confirmation and the matter was settled with Dupuis. However, he was on a five-year contract with Tintin and was thus obliged to provide to both magazines, an unusual arrangement in the comic industry. He thus contributed a weekly page to Tintin and a weekly page-and-a-half to Spirou.
In 1959 the publishers of Tintin bought the rights to the characters. Franquin's obligation to Tintin ended and he stuck to Spirou
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...
and 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...
. Modeste et Pompon continued until 1988, handled by other writers and artists.
Characters
- Pompon is Modeste's best friend. Her main occupation is to appeal to him to stay calm.
- Modeste is a short-tempered young suburbSuburbThe word suburb mostly refers to a residential area, either existing as part of a city or as a separate residential community within commuting distance of a city . Some suburbs have a degree of administrative autonomy, and most have lower population density than inner city neighborhoods...
anite who is easily angered when things go wrong. Among those causing him to lose his cool are: - Félix, a friend and a cousin but also a pesky salesman whose products invariably lead to disaster;
- A group of boys who are Félix's and Modeste's nephews, but who hang around Modeste most of the time;
- Mister Dubruit, a neighbour with a noisy family (Du bruit is the French for "noise"), only featured by Goscinny;
- Mister Ducrin, another neighbour with whom Modeste is always feuding, only featured by Greg;
- Uncle Symphorien who sometimes stays with Modeste, bringing along his pet roosterRoosterA rooster, also known as a cockerel, cock or chanticleer, is a male chicken with the female being called a hen. Immature male chickens of less than a year's age are called cockerels...
Jules, whose crowing proves very trying to Modeste's nerves.
Trivia
Remote control
A remote control is a component of an electronics device, most commonly a television set, used for operating the television device wirelessly from a short line-of-sight distance.The remote control is usually contracted to remote...
and a battery
Battery (electricity)
An electrical battery is one or more electrochemical cells that convert stored chemical energy into electrical energy. Since the invention of the first battery in 1800 by Alessandro Volta and especially since the technically improved Daniell cell in 1836, batteries have become a common power...
-powered drill
Drill
A drill or drill motor is a tool fitted with a cutting tool attachment or driving tool attachment, usually a drill bit or driver bit, used for drilling holes in various materials or fastening various materials together with the use of fasteners. The attachment is gripped by a chuck at one end of...
which, though common enough today, were rather new at the time. The artists who succeeded Franquin updated the fashions to their own time periods and even removed Pompon's namesakes from her hair.
When the group of boys were first introduced, they were Félix's five cousin
Cousin
In kinship terminology, a cousin is a relative with whom one shares one or more common ancestors. The term is rarely used when referring to a relative in one's immediate family where there is a more specific term . The term "blood relative" can be used synonymously and establishes the existence of...
s. Later they became his nephew
Nephew
Nephew is a son of one's sibling or sibling-in-law, and niece is a daughter of one's sibling or a sibling-in-law. Sons and daughters of siblings-in-law are also informally referred to as nephews and nieces respectively, even though there is no blood relation...
s and numbered four before settling on just three. Franquin only named one of them: Dédé. Later writers varied the names. The boys appear to be identical and wear different-coloured shirts.
At one stage Modeste was asked to look after a relative's baby and faced the dilemmas of feeding, changing and sleepless nights. This set of stories coincided with the early months of the life of Franquin's daughter
Daughter
A daughter is a female offspring; a girl, woman, or female animal in relation to her parents. The male equivalent is a son. Analogously the name is used on several areas to show relations between groups or elements.-Etymology:...
Isabelle (who was to lend her name to another popular comic series
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...
in which her father was involved).
Timeline
- 1955-1959: Franquin (stories by Franquin, Goscinny and mostly Greg)
- 1959-1968: Dino AttanasioDino AttanasioDino Attanasio is an Italian author of humoristic comics.-Biography:Attanasio was born in Milan....
- 1968-1975: Mitteï
- 1975: Griffo
- 1976-1984: Dupont
- 1980-1988: Walli
- 1981: Eric
Sources
Footnotes