55 - Schwartz

Schwartz OLIVIER SCHWARTZ AN ADVENTURE OF SPIROU AND FANTASIO Dupuis Original illustration for the 2025 Spirou calendar, a supplement to Spirou magazine No. 4524, December 26, 2024. Signed. Gouache on paper 29.8 × 42 cm (11.73 × 16.54 in.) For this illustration, Olivier Schwartz drew inspiration from Franquin’s comic book *Spirou and the Heirs*, which was first serialized in *Spirou* magazine in October 1951. At the controls of the Fantacopter designed by Fantasio, Spirou rescued a little boy trapped in a house engulfed in a fire set by Zantafio. Seventy-five years later, the setting has been modernized. Our hero’s rescue takes place in a highly urbanized city center—even Americanized. The contrast between the red of Spirou’s costume and the shades of gray on the building facades, as well as the window from which the child is escaping, accentuates the dramatic and spectacular nature of the scene. “Since this drawing was created in 2024, the kid wasn’t carrying a Franquin comic book under his arm, but *La Mémoire du futur*. We had to do a little self-promotion!” O.S.