{"id":35759,"date":"2026-06-20T08:00:06","date_gmt":"2026-06-20T08:00:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/?p=35759"},"modified":"2026-06-19T17:43:55","modified_gmt":"2026-06-19T17:43:55","slug":"spirou-and-fantasio-the-marsupilami-thieves-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/2026\/06\/20\/spirou-and-fantasio-the-marsupilami-thieves-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Spirou and Fantasio: The Marsupilami Thieves"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\nBy Andr\u00e9 Franquin<\/strong>, translated by Jerome Saincantin<\/strong> (Cinebook)
\nISBN: 978-1-84918-167-9 (Album PB\/Digital edition)<\/p>\n

This book includes Discriminatory Content<\/strong> produced in less enlightened times. This book also contains Discriminatory Content<\/strong> included for comedic effect.<\/em><\/p>\n

Andr\u00e9 Franquin was born in Etterbeek, Belgium on January 3rd<\/sup> 1924 and died on January 5th<\/sup> 1997. In between there were good times and bad, which he handled by creating the most incredible characters and stories, and by making people laugh and think… but mostly laugh. This is one of the very best you can find translated into English.<\/p>\n

Adventure-seeking brave lad Spirou<\/strong> headlined the magazine he was named for from the first issue (dated April 21st<\/sup> 1938). He was devised and realised by French cartoonist Fran\u00e7oise Robert Velter using his pen-name Rob-Vel for Belgian publisher \u00c9ditions Dupuis in direct response to the success of Herg\u00e9\u2019s Tintin<\/strong> over at rival outfit Casterman. Originally a plucky bellboy\/lift operator employed by the Moustique Hotel<\/em> (a sly reference to the publisher\u2019s premier periodical Le Moustique<\/em><\/strong>), his improbable exploits with pet squirrel Spip<\/em> gradually but steadily evolved into highflying, far reaching, surreal comedy dramas. That evolution was mainly thanks to Velter\u2019s wife Blanche \u201cDavine\u201d Dumoulin who took over the strip when her husband enlisted in 1939 and Belgian artist\/assistant Luc Lafnet\u2026 at least until 1943 when Dupuis purchased all rights to the property, after which comic-strip prodigy Joseph Gillain (Jij\u00e9<\/em>) took over.<\/p>\n

When Jij\u00e9 handed his own trainee\/assistant total responsibility for the flagship feature part-way through serial Spirou et la maison pr\u00e9fabriqu\u00e9<\/em> (Le Journal de Spirou<\/em><\/strong> #427, June 20th<\/sup> 1946), Andr\u00e9 Franquin ran with it for the next 20 years, enlarging the scope and expanding its horizons until the feature was purely his own. Almost every week fans would meet startling new characters such as comrade\/rival Fantasio<\/em> or crackpot inventor and Merlin of mushroom mechanics The Count of Champignac<\/em>. Spirou and Fantasio<\/strong> became globetrotting journalists, travelling to exotic places, uncovering crimes, exploring the fantastic and clashing with a coterie of exotic arch-enemies such as Zorglub<\/em> and Fantasio\u2019s unsavoury cousin Zantafio.<\/em><\/p>\n

Gradually sidelining short, done-in-one gag vignettes in favour of longer epic adventure serials, Franquin\u2019s growing cast of engaging regulars soon included one of the first strong female characters in European comics (rival journalist Seccotine<\/em>, renamed Cellophine<\/em> in the current English translation) and ultimately led to the debut of a scene-stealing, phenomenally popular apparently-magic animal. Marsupilami<\/strong> arrived during 1952\u2019s serial Spirou et les h\u00e9ritiers <\/em><\/strong>and never left…<\/p>\n

Franquin, plagued in later life by bouts of depression, died in 1997 but his legacy remains and still grows; a vast body of work which reshaped the landscape of European comics inspiring many others to carry on in his name and manner.<\/p>\n

The Marsupilami<\/strong> Thieves<\/strong> was originally serialised in LJdS <\/em><\/strong>#729-761 (collected into an album in 1954); a direct sequel to Spirou et les h\u00e9ritiers<\/em><\/strong>, in which the valiant inseparable companions encountered an incredible elastic-tailed anthropoid in the rain forests of Palombia<\/em> before bringing the fabulous, affable creature back to civilisation. Franquin\u2019s follow-up, fleshed out from an idea by fellow cartoonist Jo Almo (Geo Salmon), sees the triumphant journalists visit the vast City Zoo where their latest headline ended up, only to be stricken with guilt and remorse at the poor creature\u2019s sorry state of incarceration.
\n\"\"
\nResolved to free the poor thing and return him to his jungle home, their plan is foiled when the critter suddenly dies in its cage. Distraught and suspicious, they muscle their way in to see the vet and discover the corpse has gone missing…<\/p>\n

Acting quickly, Spirou & Fantasio rouse the authorities. The commotion prevents the body thief escaping and all through the night Keepers and our heroes scour the institution. Thus, in the deadly dark they finally spook the mystery malefactor from his cosy hiding place…<\/p>\n

There follows a spectacular and hilarious midnight chase through the zoo, with the lads harrying a dark figure – who must be some kind of athlete – past a panoply of angry animals, hindered more than helped by inept animal custodians. Nevertheless, they almost catch the intruder, but a last burst of furious energy propels the bandit over a back wall, although not before Spirou snatches a paper clue from him…
\n\"\"
\nThe precious scrap takes our resolute investigators to the flat of Victor Shanks<\/em>, where his wife Clementine<\/em> provides further information. Her man is flying off to the city of Magnana<\/em> for his new job… and to deliver a package! The lads\u2019 frantic chase to the airport is plagued by manic misfortune and they miss Victor by moments. Undeterred, they borrow a neighbour\u2019s car and attempt to follow overland, leading to a fractious episode of fisticuffs with striking Customs Officers (they\u2019re withholding their labour, not exceptionally attractive…). After a night in jail, the undeterred duo and kvetching Spip eventually fetch up in Magnana and the search begins…<\/p>\n

One month later, they are fully frustrated and ready to throw in the towel when Spirou literally runs into Clementine Shanks and trails her to a football stadium where formerly unemployed, desperate Victor is now a star of the local soccer team. Confronting the essentially good-hearted rogue, Fantasio & Spirou force the truth from him. In return for his new job, Victor drugged and swiped the Marsupilami for ruthless showman The Great Zabaglione<\/em> who sees an irresistible star attraction for his circus and travelling menagerie…
\n\"\"
\nDetermined to see the little creature free, the boys try to infiltrate the show but are quickly discovered and forcefully expelled. Then, following a chance meeting with weird science savant the Count of Champignac, they try once more, perfectly disguised as miraculous magic act Cam and Leon<\/em>…<\/p>\n

This time the ruse succeeds, but after a phenomenally outrageous opening performance, brutal but sharp Zabaglione rumbles the reporters. Things look bleak for the lads and the Marsupilami until guilt-wracked Victor steps in to save the day. Once the dust settles, the wondrous beast is freed, but gleefully opts to stay with the lads and share their fun-filled, exciting exploits…<\/p>\n

Soaked in superb slapstick comedy and with gallons of gags throughout, this exuberant yarn is packed with angst-free action, thrills and spills and also offers an early ecological message and an always-timely moral regarding the humane treatment of animals. There\u2019s even a fascinating history and creative overview of the timeless wandering heroes in back-up text feature \u2018Spirou & Fantasio\u2019s Stories Last Through Generations\u2019<\/em>.<\/p>\n

The Marsupilami Thieves <\/strong>is the kind of lightly-barbed, comedy romp to delight readers fed up with a marketplace far too full of adults-only carnage, testosterone-fuelled breast-beating, teen-romance monsters or sickly-sweet fantasy. Easily accessible to readers of all ages and drawn with all the beguiling style and seductive yet wholesome verve and panache which make Asterix<\/strong>, Lucky Luke<\/strong>, and Yakari <\/strong>so compelling, this is a truly enduring landmark tale from a long line of superb exploits, and deserves to be a household name as much as those series… and even that other kid with the white dog…
\nOriginal edition \u00a9 Dupuis, 1954 by Franquin. All rights reserved. English translation 2013 \u00a9 Cinebook Ltd.<\/p>\n

Born today in 1934, Mexican artist, cartoonist and political thinker Eduardo Humberto del R\u00edo Garc\u00eda<\/strong> AKA Ruis<\/em><\/strong> (the …for Beginners <\/strong>series) shared the occasion with master of all comics trades John E. Workman<\/strong> (Thor<\/strong>, Star*Reach<\/strong>, Heavy Metal<\/strong>, Eros Comics, Sonic the Hedgehog<\/strong>) from 1950 onwards. So do writer Marc Andreyko<\/strong> (Jinx: Torso<\/strong>, Manhunter<\/strong>) from 1970 and, in 1974, Canadian art ace Karl Kerschl<\/strong> (Adventures of Superman<\/strong>, Majestic<\/strong>, All-Flash<\/strong>, Teen Titans: Year One<\/strong>, Gotham Academy<\/strong>).<\/p>\n

The date also saw Andr\u00e9 Franquin<\/strong> debut as Spirou\u2019s new controlling creator in 1946 (halfway through ongoing serial Spirou et la maison pr\u00e9fabriqu\u00e9e<\/em>) and, in 1964 the launch of pivotal UK weekly Wham!<\/strong>, as well as the death of Belgian superstar Jij\u00e9<\/em><\/strong> in 1980.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Andr\u00e9 Franquin, translated by Jerome Saincantin (Cinebook) ISBN: 978-1-84918-167-9 (Album PB\/Digital edition) This book includes Discriminatory Content produced in less enlightened times. This book also contains Discriminatory Content included for comedic effect. Andr\u00e9 Franquin was born in Etterbeek, Belgium on January 3rd 1924 and died on January 5th 1997. In between there were good … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “Spirou and Fantasio: The Marsupilami Thieves”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_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},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[335,191,280,113,75,255,63,125,356,184],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-35759","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-activism","category-adventure","category-animal-antics","category-comedy","category-crime-comics","category-environmentalism","category-european-classics","category-humour","category-marsupilami","category-spirou-fantasio"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4AFj-9iL","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35759","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=35759"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35759\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":35764,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35759\/revisions\/35764"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35759"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35759"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35759"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}