BAR2

BAR2 JOE BAR TEAM Volume 1, Vents d'Ouest, 1990 La Bourre, original plate no. 1, prepublished in Moto Journal in 1989-1990. The title was printed on a mount and affixed to the original. Signed. India ink and white gouache on paper 35.4 × 39.3 cm (13.94 × 15.47 in.) This is the first plate - and the first to be published - in the exciting adventures of the Joe Bar Team. "Moto Journal asked me to do two comic strips to brighten up their special vacation issue, and I jumped at the chance. Two or three days is all I need to define the theme, the look and personality of the main characters, and the setting for the story. And to kick things off, to set the tone, I decide to play the "western" card. To do this, I imagine a Sergio Leone-style opening. The only problem is that this type of introduction, with its multiple shots and slow pace, takes up a lot of space. I've only got two pages to work with, whereas to get to the end of the gag I've imagined, I'd need three. After some thought, I decided that the atmosphere that would emerge from this first page would probably be more important than the gag itself. So I decided to truncate the story I'd imagined and bring it to a close - momentarily! because I'm convinced this comic will have a sequel - with the "half-fall" that concludes the second panel."