By Goscinny & Tabary, translated by Jerome Saincantin (Cinebook)
ISBN: 978-1-84918-209-6
For the greater part of his far-too-short lifetime René Goscinny (1926-1977) was one of the most prolific and widely-read writers of comic strips in history.
He still is.
Amongst his most popular and enduring comic collaborations are Lucky Luke, Le Petit Nicolas, Signor Spaghetti and, of course, Asterix the Gaul, but there were so many others, such as the despicably dark deeds of a dastardly usurper whose dreams of diabolical skulduggery perpetually proved to be ultimately no more than castles in the sand…
In the wake of the Suez crisis, the French returned Рby way of comics, at least Рto the hotly contested Arabian deserts after Goscinny teamed with hugely gifted Swedish ̩migr̩ Jean Tabary (1930-2011) Рwho numbered Richard et Charlie, Grabadu et Gabaliouchtou, Totoche, Corinne et Jeannot and Valentin le Vagabond amongst his other hit strips Рto detail the innocuous history of imbecilic Arabian (im)potentate Haroun el-Poussah.
However, as is so often the case, it was the strip’s villainous foil, power-hungry vizier Iznogoud, who stole the show… possibly the conniving little blackguard’s only successful insurrection.
Les Aventures du Calife Haroun el Poussah was created for Record; the first episode appearing in the January 15th issue of 1962. A petite hit, the feature subsequently jumped ship to Pilote – a new comics magazine created and edited by Goscinny – where it was artfully refashioned into a starring vehicle for the devious little Tuareg toe-rag who had been hogging all the laughs and limelight.
Insidious Iznogoud is Grand Vizier to Haroun Al Plassid, the affable, easy-going Caliph of Ancient Baghdad, but the sneaky little second-in-command has loftier ambitions, or as he is always declaiming “I want to be Caliph instead of the Caliph!â€â€¦
The retooled rapscallion resurfaced in Pilote in 1968, quickly becoming a massive hit, resulting in 29 albums to date, his own solo comic, a computer game, animated film, TV cartoon show and even a live-action movie.
Like all great storytelling, Iznogoud works on two levels: for youngsters it’s a comedic romp with adorably wicked baddies invariably hoisted on their own petards and coming a-cropper, whilst older, wiser heads can revel in pun-filled, witty satires and superbly surreal antics.
Following Goscinny’s death in 1977, Tabary began scripting his own tales, switching to book-length complete adventures rather than the short, snappy vignettes which typified his collaborations. Upon his own passing, Tabary’s children Stéphane, Muriel and Nicolas took over the franchise.
The deliciously malicious whimsy is always heavily dosed with manic absurdity, cleverly contemporary cultural critiques, brilliantly delivered creative anachronisms and fourth-wall busting episodes which serve to keep the assorted escapades bizarrely fresh and hilariously inventive.
La tete de turc d’Iznogoud (The Turkish Head of Iznogoud) was originally released in 1975, the 11th mirthfully malignant album compilation, offering a rather remarkable quartet of trend-setting tales with our ambitious autocrat as ever scheming to seize power from his good but gullible Lord and Master. Following the traditional preface page introducing our tawdry star and other regulars, the devious deceptions resume with the epic length saga of ‘The Jigsaw Turk’.
With Baghdad gripped in a strike by refuse collectors, a fuming Vizier visits the freshly-opened magical accessories shop of Dokodah Bey in search of something to solve his promotion-impeding problem. The proprietor is an annoyingly jolly japester who typically meets his intellectual equal in the Vizier’s foolish flunky Wa’at Alahf, but finds time between pranks to sell the surly insurgent a magic puzzle of a Turk’s head.
All one has to do is complete the 10,000 piece jigsaw, but just before adding the final tile, think of the thing you want to get rid of: he/she/it will crumble into as many fragments as the puzzle with the addition of that last component…
And thus begins a catalogue of chaos, with every moment of the weeks that follow finding the Vizier intolerably interrupted. Eventually however he finally finishes the infernal pasteboard pastime only to discover the last piece is missing. Now he has to endure an epic voyage to the faraway factory to replace the missing trigger to all his dreams coming true, but even after he secures it, Iznogoud has no idea his problems are only just beginning…
A commotion in the harbour at Basra is the opening movement in the next cacophonous composition of calamity as the Vizier and his hulking henchman buy a most unlovely mermaid trawled up by Crawdad the Sailor. The deaf, daft seadog needs to get rid of the Siren in his bathtub because ‘The Freezing Song’ she shrieks paralyzes all who hear it…
Smelling opportunity, the ambitious autocrat buys the garrulous nymph and sneaks her into the palace, but as usual there’s hitch after hitch and in the end it’s the Vizier’s stinking scheme which ends up going flat…
Next up is a tantalising oddment. ‘The Adventures of Caliph Haroun Al Plassid: The Sheik’s Potion’ looks to me like an earlier yarn of Les Aventures du Calife Haroun el Poussah from Record, recycled and remastered for the contemporary series. In it a much altered Iznogoud attempts to administer a shrinking potion to his Lordly Master but, after a furore of frantic attempts meet with ever-diminishing success, only succeeds in making himself look small…
This sublime selection ends on a superbly surreal note as the Vile Vizier consults a chronally adrift Gypsy seer and buys ‘The Magic Calendar’ which will allow its careful owner to move about in time. With such an arcane addition to his arsenal, surely his ambitions must be realised?
Of course the most important word here is “careful†and before/after/between long the impatient impotentate is lost many somewheres in time and ends up annoying a most confused cartoonist who only wants a little time to finish his latest script about that obnoxious oaf who wants to be Caliph instead of the Caliph…
Such convoluted witty, fast-paced hi-jinks and craftily crafted comedy set pieces have made this addictive series a household name in France where “Iznogoud†is common parlance for a certain kind of politician: over-ambitious, unscrupulous – and frequently insufficient in inches (or should that be centimetres?).
Desiring to become “Caliph in the Caliph’s place†is a popular condemnation in French, targeting those perceived as overly-ambitious, and since 1992 the Prix Iznogoud is awarded annually to “a personality who failed to take the Caliph’s placeâ€.
Nominees are chosen from prominent French figures who have endured spectacular failures in any one year and been given to the likes of Édouard Balladur (1995) and Nicolas Sarkozy (1999). The jury panel is headed by politician André Santini, who gave himself one after failing to become president of Île-de-France in regional elections in 2004.
When first released in Britain during the late 1970s and 1980s (and again in 1996 as a periodical comicbook) these tales made little impression, but at last this wonderfully beguiling strip has deservedly found an appreciative audience among today’s more internationally aware, politically jaded comics-and-cartoon savvy connoisseurs…
Original edition © 2012 IMAV éditions by Goscinny – Tabary. All rights reserved. English translation © 2014 Cinebook Ltd.