610 - Forton / Bob Morane. Set of 5 original art pages comprising the story “Barnum, Prince of Charlatans and King of the Circus,” published in Spirou magazine No. 891 in 1955 in the “Uncle Paul’s Beautiful Stories” section. Signed in India ink. Color guides on the back. Dutch text included. Rare. BE/TBE. 55 x 42 cm (X5)

Forton / Bob Morane. Set of 5 original art pages comprising the story “Barnum, Prince of Charlatans and King of the Circus,” published in Spirou magazine No. 891 in 1955 in the “Uncle Paul’s Beautiful Stories” section. Signed in India ink. Color guides on the back. Dutch text included. Rare. BE/TBE. 55 x 42 cm (X5) The phrase “prince of charlatans” was the nickname Phineas Taylor Barnum (1810–1891)—the famous American showman and pioneer of the modern circus—gave himself. Far from hiding it, he proudly claimed his ability to manipulate public opinion and exploit people’s gullibility and voyeurism to make a fortune. Gérald Forton (1931–2021) began his career at Spirou in 1952, where—like any self-respecting realist cartoonist—he created nearly 40 stories for *Les Belles Histoires de l’Oncle Paul*. After also drawing for the magazine *Tintin*, he resumed illustrating the adventures of Bob Morane in 1962 and produced 14 episodes published in *Femmes d’Aujourd’hui*, *Pilote*, and *Het Laatste Nieuws*. For over 20 years, Gérald Forton has been creating storyboards for music videos, commercials, animated films (Toy Story), and feature films (Coyote Ugly, Ali, etc.). Not limiting himself to any specific genre, he is equally at home with historical, adventure, Western, and science fiction stories. His realistic style and energetic pencil strokes were a perfect fit for Bob Morane, for whom he created some of the best adventures.