227 - Gillon

Gillon PAUL GILLON THE CASTAWAYS OF TIME The Winding Death (Vol. 2), Hachette 1975 Original plate no. 24. The speech bubbles are added to the original. Indian ink on paper 70 × 92 cm (27.56 × 36.22 in.) The artist, who had made his debut illustrating Charles Trenet’s songbooks, published his first major series in *Vaillant* in 1950 with *Fils de Chine*, a series in which he sought to rival the American artist Alex Raymond. This panel from *Les Naufragés du Temps* is taken from one of his most legendary sagas. Gillon had suggested to Jean-Claude Forest—whom he had known since his early days at *Vaillant*—the story of a couple propelled through time and space to save humanity, yet who never manage to be together. The first pages of the script were conceived over the phone. The large format of the panels has a reason: afflicted by coxalgia (tuberculosis of the hip) in his childhood, Paul Gillon was unable to walk until he was twelve years old, and sitting was painful for him throughout his life. So he drew while standing, which explains the verve and sweeping gestures in his artwork.