78 - Bar2

Bar2 BAR2 JOE BAR TEAM (Vol. 1), Vents d'Ouest 1990 Original plate no. 38, first published in Moto Journal in 1989–1990. Signed. India ink and white gouache on paper 33 × 41 cm (12.99 × 16.14 in.) Christian Debarre, alias Bar2, is Franquin’s most worthy successor. He emerged with *Joe Bar Team* in 1990, just as the humble creator of *Gaston Lagaffe* was quietly slipping away on tiptoe. Bar2 grasped the essence of Franquin right from the start: the perfection of his line work, the accuracy of his observations, and his meticulous research. Bar2’s motorcycles, like Franquin’s cars, really do run. His sense of humor is evident both in his inventive onomatopoeia—the result of genuine attention to sound—and in his settings, which are never mundane and so vividly capture France in the 1970s and 1980s. Finally, regarding the psychology of his characters, this panel is the ultimate demonstration: the attitudes are accurate, precise, and well-researched; any motorcycle enthusiast can put a name to these characters and a date to these iconic bikes. This goes beyond a mere gag: it’s the quintessence of a society, a subculture, and an era that’s depicted here. Didier Pasamonik I do wonder what strange path led this gag to pop into my head. In any case, it works a treat! At least, that’s my very humble opinion. However, for fear that not everyone might understand it, it might be worth providing a few clarifications. In the first panel, the vehicle speeding by is a powerful and very fast 900 Kawasaki. And the “WOOOSH” refers not to the sound of its engine, but to the faint sound of it cutting through the air. In the next panel, the speed slows but the noise increases. For while this is merely a wheezing Malaguti, everyone knows that owners of these tiny bikes made it a point to modify their exhaust pipes. Next comes a Harley-Davidson chopper ridden by a rather sluggish biker. But while our man, in his aversion to speed, is even slower than the youngster in the previous panel, his Harley’s exhausts make a much louder racket. And in the last panel, the motorcycle is even slower because it’s broken a connecting rod. This doesn’t seem to amuse its owner, as the insults he’s hurling are even louder than the Harley’s exhaust. Bar2