{"id":34424,"date":"2025-12-05T12:32:50","date_gmt":"2025-12-05T12:32:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/?p=34424"},"modified":"2025-12-05T12:32:50","modified_gmt":"2025-12-05T12:32:50","slug":"glorious-summers-volume-4-the-runaway-1979","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/2025\/12\/05\/glorious-summers-volume-4-the-runaway-1979\/","title":{"rendered":"Glorious Summers volume 4: The Runaway 1979"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\nBy Zidrou<\/strong> & Jordi Lafebre<\/strong>, with additional colour by Mado Pe\u00f1a<\/strong>, translated by Lara Vergnaud<\/strong> (Europe Comics)
\nNo ISBN: Digital edition only<\/p>\n

Win\u2019s Christmas Gift Recommendation: Holiday Joy and Heartbreak in the Balance… 9\/10<\/strong><\/p>\n

Until comparatively recently, comics in the English-speaking world mostly countenanced comedic or numerous adventure sub-genres (crime, superhero, horror, sci fi), with only a small but vital niche of \u201cmundane world\u201d ventures, usually depicted via graphic biographies and autobiographies like They Called Us Enemy<\/strong>, Breakwater<\/strong>, Love on the Isle of Dogs, Wage Slaves<\/strong> or Sour Pickles<\/strong> offering a different feel and flavour. Even historical sagas were treated as extraordinary moments with larger-than-life characters whenever possible.<\/p>\n

What we have never had – and still largely don\u2019t – is a comics equivalent to general fiction, and drama. That\u2019s not so in Japan, South Korea or Europe, where a literal \u201canything goes\u201d attitude has always accommodated and nurtured human-scaled, slice-of-life tales depicting ordinary people in as many quiet as extraordinary moments. Surely it can\u2019t be that hard to tell engaging stories in pedestrian, recognisably ordinary settings? Medical traumas, love stories, school tales and family tragedies about common folk seem to play well on various-sized screens around the world, so why not in English language comics? The closest we seem to get are comedies like John Allison\u2019s superb Giant Days<\/strong>\u2026<\/p>\n

People being people is more than enough for Europeans. Apparently, there\u2019s an insatiable appetite for everyday events aimed at properly \u201cmature readers\u201d, joyfully sans vampires, aliens or men in tights. These even have sub-genres of their own. For example, there\u2019s a wealth of superb material just about going on holiday: the highly ritualised une petite vacances<\/em>. Let\u2019s stare & glare covetously at them having a good time, because over there holidays are an inalienable right, and thus they have some simply fabulous tales about a simple break. If you can remember the 1970s, this one is probably the best you\u2019ll ever see\u2026<\/p>\n

An absolute exemplar of fantasy vacations made real, Glorious Summers: Southbound! (1973)<\/a><\/strong> was a nostalgia-drenched confection by Zidrou and regular collaborator Jordi Lafebre: a sublime example of idyllic group memory made into graphic sorcery in an everyday account utterly unafraid to temper humorous sweetness and light with real-world tragedy and suspense.<\/p>\n

Peut-\u00eatre<\/em> a little context is in order. Summer holidays – \u201cMidi\u201d – are a big deal in France and Belgium. The French divide into two tribes over the annual rest period, which generally lasts an entire month. Juilletistes<\/em> vacation in July, wielding dogmatic facts like rapiers to prove why it\u2019s the only way to take a break. They are eternally opposed, heart, soul and suntan lotion, by majority faction the Ao\u00fbtiens<\/em>, who recharge their batteries in August whilst fully reciprocating the suspicion, disdain and baffled scorn of the early-leavers. Many European sociologists claim the greatest social division today is not race, religion, gender, political affiliation or whether to open boiled eggs from the top or the bottom, but when summer holidays begin and end\u2026<\/p>\n

In 2015, courtesy of scripter Beno\u00eet \u201cZidrou\u201d Drousie and Spanish illustrator Jordi Lafebre, Les Beaux \u00c9t\u00e9s 1: Cap au Sud!<\/em><\/strong> began a string of family visits that beguile and charm every time we reread them. Zidrou is Belgian, Brussels-born in 1962 and was a school teacher prior to quitting marking books in 1990 to begin making them. His main successes include school dunce series L\u2019El\u00e8ve Ducobu<\/em><\/strong>, Petit Dagobert<\/em><\/strong>, Scott Zombi<\/em><\/strong>, La Ribambelle<\/strong>, Le Montreur d\u2019histoires<\/strong><\/em>, the revival of Ric Hochet<\/em><\/strong>,<\/em> African Trilogy<\/em><\/strong>, L\u00e9onardo<\/em><\/strong>, Shi<\/em><\/strong> and many more. His most celebrated and beloved stories are this memorable sequence and 2010\u2019s Lydie<\/em><\/strong>,<\/em> both illustrated by Lafebre.<\/p>\n

That gifted, empathically sensitive illustrator and art teacher was born in Barcelona in 1979 and has created comics professionally since 2001, first for magazines like Mister K<\/em><\/strong>, where he limned Toni Font\u2019s El Mundo de Judy<\/em>. He found regular work at Le Journal de Spirou<\/em><\/strong>, creating the romance Always Never<\/em><\/strong> and collaborated with Zidrou on La vieille dame qui n\u2019avait jamais jou\u00e9 au tennis et autres nouvelles qui font du bien<\/em><\/strong>, Lydie<\/em><\/strong>, and La Mondaine<\/em><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

A combination of feel-good fable and powerful comedy drama, Glorious Summers<\/strong> depicts memories of an aging couple recalling their grandest family moments, beginning with a momentous vacation in 1973 where their four kids nearly lost their parents\u2026.<\/p>\n

However, fourth reverie The Runaway<\/strong> is slightly askew of the regular time frame and schedule, focusing on 1979 after a constantly deferred getaway due to dad\u2019s deadline woes and relentless bad fortune leads to animosity and upset…
\n\"\"
\nWeary frazzled 41-year-old Maddie<\/em> Fald\u00e9rault<\/em> is on a slow burn. Her life is a constant drain. The job at the shoe shop is a demeaning nightmare, but money is scarce. Old Fat Pop Pop<\/em> is really sick and so is her beloved car Little Miss Esterel<\/em>. Moreover her adorable, wonderful kids are growing up too fast and becoming more and more trying. And Christmas is days away and Maddie could really use a break…<\/p>\n

When a call comes of a medical emergency she dashes over expecting to see hubby Pierre <\/em>finally crippled by his literally back-breaking toil over a drawing board. After years of whining about being an anonymous assistant, he had at last made the jump to create his own feature, and everyone was a delighted when his Zoombies<\/em> were picked up by an animation studio. Now many months later, and tied to a vile contract, he\u2019s drawing more and more and hasn\u2019t yet seen a penny for all his trouble…<\/p>\n

Thankfully, he\u2019s not the problem. His old boss Garin<\/em> has had a career-ending stroke and the publisher want Pierre to come back and take over the soul-destroying mega-strip he used to ghost. It means financial security (maybe even a by-line), but only at the cost of his dreams…<\/p>\n

Maddie\u2019s immediate relief extinguishes all thoughts of her own miseries but as the parents reach home and comfort their panicking brood – effusive 9-year-old precociously hyperactive Paulette<\/em> (AKA Peaches<\/em>), moody, music mad 14 year old Louis<\/em>, weight obsessed Nicole<\/em> and college crushed Jolly-Julie<\/em> (whose homework over the holidays includes 10 kilos of law books!) – the thought of a family Christmas is quashed as her son reveals his plans to travel unsupervised to England to see some band called Pink Floyd…<\/p>\n

Acrimony and argument end the day badly for all, but the real trigger comes later when Pierre accidentally reminds her that his job and a total lack of rejuvenating sun and sand utterly ruined her precious August getaway…<\/p>\n

After she explodes, it takes a very long time for the spouses to be friends again…<\/p>\n

The next day the shoe shop is a living hell but when she gets home it\u2019s to a family packed and ready for a holiday in the sun – even if he has to drive Little Miss Esterel all the way to the C\u00f4te d’Azur<\/em> or even Africa to find it…
\n\"\"
\nPierre has cajoled the entire pack – all but revision wracked Jolly-Julie – to rerun the annual Fald\u00e9rault escape from gloomy Brussels just for her, but not without some effort… and unrealised deception. Louis is in prime teen rebel mode now and once they\u2019re out of Belgium and have played their usual games with the French border guards, he absconds determined to get to London by Christmas at all costs. After all its not just the music. There\u2019s someone waiting for him there\u2026<\/p>\n

Of course, once he vanishes, the family goes into overdrive to find The Runaway, and as ever, the company of strangers is a powerful reminder of just how kind people can be – even the cops! – and the surprise holiday recharge becomes a most special Christmas: one that significantly changes life for all of them…
\n\"\"
\nThis sublimely understated seasonal treat is a sentimentally witty gem polished to perfection by the addition of an \u2018epilog\u2019<\/em> and pictorial codicil in the form of a charming fantasy postscript from Peaches. Her illustrated prose letter \u2018The House that Dreamed of Going on Vacation – by Paulette Fold\u00e9rault\u2019<\/em> neatly adds all the warmth lost in unused summer sunshine and ends the saga on a cosy note of promise…
\n\"\"
\nThis tale is another beautifully recalled, rendered and realised basket of memories stitched seamlessly together. It\u2019s funny, sweet and charming whilst delivering sharp swipes you never see coming. There aren\u2019t any spectacular events and shocking crises (well, just the one here) and that\u2019s the whole point\u2026<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re British – and old enough – this series (six translated albums thus far, plus a French omnibus edition) will echo revered family sitcoms like Bless This House<\/strong> or Butterflies<\/strong> and generational ads starring the \u201cOxo Family\u201d. (If that description doesn\u2019t fit you, I pity your browsing history if you look up any of that\u2026). The rest of you in need of an opening (but unfair) comparator could break out the Calvin and Hobbes<\/strong> collections and re-examine the bits with his embattled parents when the kid\u2019s out of the picture\u2026<\/p>\n

Lyrical, laconic, engagingly demure, and debilitatingly nostalgic, this holiday romance is sheer visual perfection wrapped in sharp dialogue and a superbly anarchic sense of mischief. Vacations and occasions are built of moments and might-have-beens, packaged here in a compelling melange making the mundane marvellous.
\n\u00a9 2018 -DARGAUD BENELUX (Dargaud-Lombard s.a.) – ZIDROU & LEFEBRE, LLC. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n

Today in 1924 superstar Sam Glanzman<\/strong> was born. You should read everything he ever did but perhaps start with A Sailor\u2019s Story<\/a><\/strong>?<\/p>\n

Britain\u2019s WWII secret weapon Jane <\/strong>by Norman Pett<\/strong> opened in The Daily Mirror<\/strong> dated December 4th<\/sup> 1932. We\u2019ve shamefully peeped at her a few times, most recently in The Misadventures of Jane<\/a><\/strong>. She has the same birthdays as V.T. Hamlin<\/strong>\u2019s magnificent Alley Oop<\/strong> feature, for which Alley Oop by V.T. Hamlin<\/a> <\/strong>must be your first port of call…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Zidrou & Jordi Lafebre, with additional colour by Mado Pe\u00f1a, translated by Lara Vergnaud (Europe Comics) No ISBN: Digital edition only Win\u2019s Christmas Gift Recommendation: Holiday Joy and Heartbreak in the Balance… 9\/10 Until comparatively recently, comics in the English-speaking world mostly countenanced comedic or numerous adventure sub-genres (crime, superhero, horror, sci fi), with … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “Glorious Summers volume 4: The Runaway 1979”<\/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":[113,63,125,328,127,148,230],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-34424","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-comedy","category-european-classics","category-humour","category-music","category-nostalgia","category-romance","category-travelogue"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4AFj-8Xe","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34424","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=34424"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34424\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":34432,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34424\/revisions\/34432"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34424"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34424"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34424"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}