13 - Fournier

Fournier JEAN-CLAUDE FOURNIER SPIROU AND FANTASIO Dupuis Original cover of *Le Journal de Spirou* No. 1639, September 11, 1969. Signed. Indian ink and gouache on paper 27 × 35 cm (10.63 × 13.78 in.) 1968 wasn’t just the year when cobblestones were flying in the Sorbonne neighborhood—it was the year Franquin found himself in a bind (… in Champignac!) and decided to stop drawing Spirou. With Franquin gone, it was revolution in Marcinelle! Who would replace him? A certain Jean-Claude Fournier from Brittany, chosen by Franquin himself. As much as Franquin was edgy and virtuosic, Fournier was calm and imbued his drawings with a good-natured poetry… This suited both Charles Dupuis—who found Franquin’s latest stories too aggressive—and the creator of Gaston Lagaffe, who didn’t see him as a plagiarist. Out of gratitude, Franquin even lent him the Marsupilami for a while, but he made a point of drawing it himself—except for this particular illustration. Fournier’s “rounder,” less realistic, more schematic style is clearly recognizable, particularly in the silhouetting of the backgrounds. Didier Pasamonik André Franquin, with his legendary generosity, had let me use the Marsupilami for my first Spirou adventure. I would draw my panels, ink the panels where the little animal didn’t appear, and send those panels to him so he could ink the Marsu himself. He would send them back to me so I could finish inking them. But for this cover, which was done in spot colors and gouache—a process that made that procedure difficult to carry out—André allowed me to draw the Marsupilami myself. That was the only time that ever happened. Jean-Claude Fournie