12 - Franquin and Fournier

Franquin and Fournier FRANQUIN AND FOURNIER SPIROU AND FANTASIO The Goldmaker (Vol. 20), Dupuis 1970 Original page No. 34, first published in *Le Journal de Spirou* No. 1639 of September 11, 1969. The Marsupilami was drawn by Franquin. India ink, blue pencil, and white gouache on paper 32.3 × 44 cm (12.72 × 17.32 in.) The gentle Fournier, a poet of strong character, had the good fortune to take on the world of Spirou—brought to life by Franquin—without ever betraying or plagiarizing it. That is why Franquin held him in such high esteem. Starting in 1957 with the creation of Gaston Lagaffe, the Belgian artist retained the rights to his characters, unlike the characters Spirou, Fantasio, and Spip, whose rights were purchased by Dupuis in the 1940s. When Franquin stopped drawing Spirou in 1968, he had firmly decided that he would not hand over the Marsupilami to Dupuis. But out of friendship, he made an exception for the Breton artist on the condition that he, Franquin, would draw the character himself. This collaboration is very rare and consists of only a few panels. Few artists, like Fournier, can create a nighttime atmosphere with characters that are so clearly recognizable. The sequence brings a smile to your face when you see the two oddballs in the story trying to create special effects to make it seem like the castle is haunted, using equipment as rudimentary as a slide projector. It’s vintage and, at the same time, delightfully naive. Didier Pasamonik When Franquin, having inked the Marsupilami, sent this panel back to me, he included some superb pencil sketches on tracing paper to explain how I should approach drawing a device like a slide projector. I have to admit that my pencil sketches on the subject were pretty terrible. The projector in panel 1 is clearly better drawn (even if it’s not perfect) than my sketch was. This page sat on André’s desk for a few days, because the Marsupilami made quite a few changes to it. Jean-Claude Fournier