{"id":31259,"date":"2025-01-05T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-01-05T09:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/?p=31259"},"modified":"2025-01-03T19:17:22","modified_gmt":"2025-01-03T19:17:22","slug":"spirou-fantasio-volumes-14-16-the-comet-and-the-clockmaker-and-the-z-rises-again","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/2025\/01\/05\/spirou-fantasio-volumes-14-16-the-comet-and-the-clockmaker-and-the-z-rises-again\/","title":{"rendered":"Spirou & Fantasio volumes 14 & 16 – The Comet and the Clockmaker and The Z Rises Again"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\" \"\"
\nBy Tome & Janry<\/strong> with Carlos Rocque<\/strong> and Stuf<\/strong>, translated by Jerome Saincantin<\/strong> (Cinebook)
\nISBN: 978-1-84918-404-5 (Album PB\/Digital edition Clockmaker)
\nISBN: 978-1-84918-441-0 (Album PB\/Digital edition Z Rises Again)<\/p>\n

These books include Discriminatory Content<\/strong> produced in less enlightened times.<\/em><\/p>\n

Apparently, there\u2019s no time like the present!<\/p>\n

Spirou<\/em><\/strong> (whose name translates as \u201csquirrel\u201d, \u201cmischievous\u201d and \u201clively kid\u201d in the language of the Flemish Walloons) was created by French cartoonist Fran\u00e7ois Robert Velter – AKA \u201cRob-Vel\u201d – for Belgian publisher \u00c9ditions Dupuis. The evergreen youngster in red was a response to the success of Herg\u00e9\u2019s Tintin<\/strong> at rival outfit Casterman. In the beginning, the character Spirou was a plucky bellboy\/lift operator employed by the Moustique Hotel<\/em> (an in-joke reference to Dupuis\u2019 premier periodical Le Moustique<\/em><\/strong>) whose improbable adventures with pet squirrel Spip<\/em> evolved into astounding and often surreal comedy dramas.<\/p>\n

The other red-headed boy adventurer premiered on April 21st<\/sup> 1938 in an 8-page tabloid (in (French and\/or Dutch) magazine bearing his name to this day. Fronting a roster of new and licensed foreign strips – Fernand Dineur\u2019s Les Aventures de Tif<\/em> (latterly Tif et Tondu<\/em><\/strong>) and US newspaper imports Red Ryder<\/strong>, Brick Bradford<\/strong> and Superman<\/strong> – Le Journal de<\/em><\/strong> Spirou<\/em><\/strong> expanded exponentially, adding Flemish-edition Robbedoes<\/em><\/strong> on October 27th<\/sup> 1938, boosting page counts and adding action, fantasy and comedy features until it was an unassailable, unmissable necessity for continental kids. His likeness and exploits fuelled mountains of merch, public acclaim, statues and civic art and in 2018 he got his own theme park.<\/p>\n

Spirou and chums helmed the magazine for most of its life, with many notable creators building on Velter\u2019s work, beginning with his wife Blanche \u201cDavine\u201d Dumoulin, who took over the strip when her husband enlisted in 1939. She was aided by Belgian artist Luc Lafnet until 1943, when Dupuis purchased all rights to the feature. Thereafter comic strip prodigy Joseph Gillain (\u201cJij\u00e9<\/em>\u201d) carried it until 1946 when his assistant Andr\u00e9 Franquin inherited the entire affair. Gradually, the new auteur retired traditional short gag vignettes in favour of longer adventure serials, introducing a wide returning cast. Ultimately, Franquin created his own milestone character. Phenomenally popular animal Marsupilami<\/strong> debuted in 1952\u2019s landmark yarn Spirou et les h\u00e9ritiers<\/em><\/strong>, swiftly evolving into a scene-stealing regular and eventually one of the most significant stars of European comics.<\/p>\n

Jean-Claude Fournier succeeded Franquin: overhauling the feature over nine stirring serial adventures between 1969-1979 by tapping into a rebellious, relevant zeitgeist in tales of drug cartels, environmental concerns, nuclear energy and repressive regimes. By the 1980s, the series seemed stalled; three different creative teams alternated on the serial: Yves Chaland, Raoul Cauvin & Nic Broca, and Philippe Vandevelde writing as \u201cTome\u201d<\/em> & illustrator Jean-Richard Geurts – AKA Janry<\/em>. These last reverently referenced the revered and adored Franquin era: reviving the feature\u2019s fortunes over 14 wonderful albums between 1984-1998. On their departure the strip diversified into parallel strands: Spirou\u2019s Childhood<\/strong>\/Little Spirou <\/strong>and guest-creator specials A Spirou Story By\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n

Later teams and guests to tackle the wonder boys include Lewis Trondheim, Jean-Davide Morvan & Jose-Luis Munuera, Fabien Vehlmann & Yoann, Beno\u00eet Feroumont, Emile Bravo, Jul & Libon, Makyo, Toldac & Tehem, Guerrive, Abitan & Schwartz, Frank le Gall, Flix and many more. By my count that brings the album count to approximately 92 if you include specials, spin-offs series and one-shots, official and otherwise. Happily, in recent years, even some of the older vintages have been reprinted in French, but there are still dozens that have not made it into English yet. Quelle sodding horreur!<\/em><\/p>\n

Cinebook have been publishing Spirou & Fantasio\u2019s exploits since October 2009, initially concentrating on bringing Tome & Janry\u2019s superb pastiche\/homages of Franquin before dipping into the original Franquin oeuvre and latterly adding tales by some of the bunch listed above.<\/p>\n

On January 3rd<\/sup> 1924, (belated bon anniversaire!<\/em>) Belgian superstar Andr\u00e9 Franquin was born in Etterbeek. Drawing from an early age, he began formal art training at \u00c9cole Saint-Luc in 1943. When the war forced the school\u2019s closure a year later, he found work as an animator at Compagnie Belge d\u2019Animation in Brussels. There he met future bande dessin\u00e9e superstars Maurice de Bevere (Lucky Luke-<\/strong>creator \u201cMorris\u201d), Pierre Culliford\/Peyo (creator of The Smurfs<\/strong>) and Eddy Paape (Valhardi<\/em><\/strong>, Luc Orient<\/strong><\/em>). In 1945 everyone but Culliford signed on with Dupuis, and Franquin began his career as a jobbing cartoonist\/illustrator. He produced covers for Le Moustique<\/em><\/strong> and scouting magazine Plein Jeu<\/em><\/strong> and, throughout those early days, was (with Morris) trained and mentored by Jij\u00e9. At that time main illustrator at Le Journal de Spirou<\/em><\/strong>, Jij\u00e9 turned the youngsters and fellow neophyte Willy Maltaite – AKA Will (Tif et Tondu<\/em><\/strong>, Isabelle<\/em><\/strong>, Le jardin des d\u00e9sirs<\/em><\/strong>) – into a creative bullpen known as the La bande des quatre<\/em>. This \u201cGang of Four\u201d promptly revolutionised Belgian comics with their engaging \u201cMarcinelle school\u201d style of graphic storytelling.<\/p>\n

Jij\u00e9 handed Franquin all responsibilities for the flagship strip part-way through Spirou et la maison pr\u00e9fabriqu\u00e9e<\/em><\/strong>, (LJdS<\/em><\/strong> #427, June 20th<\/sup> 1946) and the eager beaver ran with it for two decades, enlarging the scope and horizons until it became purely his own. Almost every episode, fans would meet startling new characters like comrade\/rival Fantasio <\/em>or crackpot inventor The Count of Champignac<\/em>. Spirou & Fantasio<\/strong> were globe-trotting troubleshooting journalists, endlessly expanding their exploits in unbroken four-colour glory. They travelled to exotic places, uncovering crimes, capturing the fantastic and clashing with a coterie of extraordinary arch-enemies such as Zorglub<\/em> and Zantafio<\/em>. Along the way Franquin premiered one of the first strong female characters in European comics – competitor journalist Seccotine<\/em> (Cellophine<\/em> in current English translations).<\/p>\n

In an admirable example of good practise, Franquin mentored his own apprentice cartoonists during the 1950s. These included Jean Roba (La Ribambelle<\/em>, Boule et Bill<\/em><\/strong>), Jid\u00e9hem (Sophie<\/em>, Starter<\/em>, Gaston Lagaffe<\/em><\/strong>) and Greg (Bruno Brazil<\/em><\/strong>, Bernard Prince<\/em><\/strong>, Zig et Puce<\/em><\/strong>, Achille Talon<\/strong><\/em>), who all worked with him on Spirou et Fantasio<\/em><\/strong>. <\/em>In 1955, a contractual spat with Dupuis led to Franquin signing up with rivals Casterman on Le Journal de<\/em><\/strong> Tintin<\/em><\/strong>, where he collaborated with Ren\u00e9 Goscinny and old pal Peyo whilst also creating raucous gag strip Modeste et Pompon<\/em><\/strong>. Franquin quickly patched things up with Dupuis and returned to LJdS<\/em><\/strong>, subsequently co-creating Gaston Lagaffe<\/em><\/strong> (AKA Gomer Goof<\/strong>) in 1957, but was still obliged to carry on those Casterman commitments too\u2026<\/p>\n

From 1959, writer Greg and background artist Jid\u00e9hem began regularly assisting Franquin, but by 1969 the master storyteller had reached his Spirou<\/strong> limit. He quit, taking his mystic yellow monkey with him. Later creations include fantasy series Isabelle<\/em><\/strong>, illustration sequence Monsters<\/strong> and bleak adult conceptual series Id\u00e9es Noires<\/em><\/strong>, but his greatest creation – and one he retained all rights to on his departure – was Marsupilami<\/strong>, which – in addition to comics – has become a megastar of screen, plush toy store, console and albums.<\/p>\n

Plagued in later life by bouts of depression and cardiac problems, Franquin passed away on January 5th<\/sup> 1997, but his legacy remains: a vast body of work that reshaped the landscape of European comics. The payout for all that good practise can be enjoyed here as we review hopefully happier if undoubtedly weirder days as,via the vagaries of publishing (almost as byzantine as time travel in its own way) we encounter a continued story annoyingly broken up for English readers due to an adventure published out of sequence…<\/p>\n

Spirou & Fantasio volume 14 – The Comet and the Clockmaker <\/strong><\/p>\n

Serialised in 1984, Tome & Janry\u2019s L\u2019Horloger de la com\u00e8te<\/em><\/strong> was their 4th<\/sup> tale together, running in Le Journal de Spirou <\/em><\/strong>\u00a0#2427-2448 before becoming the 36th<\/sup> S&F album in February 1986). In it, the valiant lad and his inseparable pal are foolishly left housesitting the wonder-packed chateau of their inspirational boffin buddy: mushroom-mutating magician Pac\u00f4me H\u00e9g\u00e9sippe Ad\u00e9lard Ladislas, comte de Champignac <\/em>AKA Count Champignac<\/em>… and someone else who turns 75 this year…<\/p>\n

In the course of the evening, the lads use the installed telescope to track a comet across the sky but are distracted by a ship crashing into the lawn. Inside it is a time traveller who is also the Count\u2019s descendant Aur\u00e9lian<\/em> de Champignac<\/em>. Accompanied by his faithful pet Snuffeller Timothy<\/em>, Aur\u00e9lian has come on a mission of extreme importance, one crucially linked throughout history by the comet\u2019s regularly returning appearances. Sadly, his task – to gather plants and reseed the barren world of tomorrow – is made more dangerous by unsuspected and extremely sinister seeming pursuers from beyond his own lifeless era, intent on keeping the future\u2019s status quo intact…
\n\"\"
\nAnd then the new allies are off, triggering alarms and military responses all over the world as they head for deepest, greenest Palombia, land of lunacy and the Marsupilami. Of course, everything goes wrong and before long our dauntless saviours are not only lost in the green hell but also in time. Fetching up in Portuguese-colonised climes circa 1531 anno Domini, the regreening of Earth seems destined to fail when they crash smack in the middle of a native resistance to European expansion and an internal power-grabbing insurrection amongst the invaders. But then…<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re fussy, the Zordolt story which breaks up the narrative flow (volume 15: Shadow of the Z<\/strong>) was reviewed here<\/a><\/strong>, so if it makes you more comfortable stop now, go read that and return here once that affirms your particular or preferred take on reality.<\/p>\n

Spirou & Fantasio volume 16 – The Z Rises Again<\/strong><\/p>\n

In Europe, L\u2019Horloger de la com\u00e8te<\/em><\/strong> was promptly followed in Le Journal de Spirou<\/em><\/strong> #2487-2508 by Le r\u00e9veil du Z<\/em><\/strong> which in September 1986 became the 37th<\/sup> collection. A wry, satirically-charged notional sequel to Franquin\u2019s 1960 yarn Z is For Zorglub<\/a><\/strong>, it sees a kind of return for the pompous, conflicted Bond-style supervillain…<\/p>\n

Back in their present, Spirou & Fantasio strive to return to their regular lives only to discover that although they have had enough of time travel, it has not had enough of them. Scorned, derided and disbelieved at home and the editorial office, our unruly investigators are suddenly kidnapped to 2062 by Aur\u00e9lian de Champignac\u2019s assistant So-Yah<\/em>, where Zorglub Junior<\/em> is using his ancestor\u2019s mind-bending technologies and mastery of Champignac\u2019s time travel techniques to become ruler of the world…<\/p>\n

Happily, the Count has a plan to foil the ascendant tyrant, so all Spirou & Fantasio – with Timothy the Snuffeller – have to do is liberate Aur\u00e9lian from the forbidding timeless citadel where the villain\u2019s army of ruthless Zorglmen are holding him captive until their war of chronal conquest is won…<\/p>\n

… Oh and probably destroying the giant Zorglock device enslaving every mind and directing every life on Earth might be beneficial too…
\n\"\"
\nFast-paced, wry, edgily-barbed, compellingly convoluted and perfectly blending helter-skelter excitement with keen suspense and outrageous slapstick humour, The Z Rises Again <\/strong>is a terrific romp to delight devotees of easy-going adventure and a perfect counter to the riotous eco-adventure that precedes it. Read together, they comprise a superbly wild sci-fi ride any fan of the genre or just good storytelling will adore. Easily accessible to readers of all ages and drawn with the beguiling style and seductively wholesome \u00e9lan that make Asterix<\/strong>, Lucky Luke<\/strong> and Tintin<\/strong> so compelling, these are enduring tales from a long line of superb exploits, as deserving to be a household name as much as those series.
\nOriginal editions \u00a9 Dupuis, 1986 by Tome & Janry. All rights reserved. English translations 2018, 2019 \u00a9 Cinebook Ltd.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Tome & Janry with Carlos Rocque and Stuf, translated by Jerome Saincantin (Cinebook) ISBN: 978-1-84918-404-5 (Album PB\/Digital edition Clockmaker) ISBN: 978-1-84918-441-0 (Album PB\/Digital edition Z Rises Again) These books include Discriminatory Content produced in less enlightened times. Apparently, there\u2019s no time like the present! Spirou (whose name translates as \u201csquirrel\u201d, \u201cmischievous\u201d and \u201clively kid\u201d … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “Spirou & Fantasio volumes 14 & 16 – The Comet and the Clockmaker and The Z Rises Again”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[191,113,255,63,122,125,107,184],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-31259","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-adventure","category-comedy","category-environmentalism","category-european-classics","category-historical","category-humour","category-science-fiction","category-spirou-fantasio"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4AFj-88b","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31259","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31259"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31259\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31264,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31259\/revisions\/31264"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31259"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31259"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31259"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}