When the news hit the wires about Raymond Macherot’s death last week, it struck me that a whole generation of comic artists that I grew up with is slowly disappearing. All the greats that I learned to read with in the 70′s are either growing old or have left us for the Great White Page Beyond.
It would seem I wasn’t the only one. My long-time pal Arthur Van Kruining reminded me of a hilarious Natasha story that the great François Walthéry did in 1978, Natacha et les petits miquets (published in 1979 as a backup story to L’hôtesse et Mona Lisa). In this story, each and every creator working for Spirou at that time, is kidnapped en route to a comic convention in Nice. Their plane is hijacked by a Greek Tycoon, and the creators are taken to an island in Greece where they each have to create a full comic album for the tycoon’s two spoilt little daughters (at which Monsieur Dupuis, their publisher, complains, “But it takes even the fastest artist at least six months to make a 44-page album.”).
The story is a nice little peek into the productive habits in the Spirou bullpen, with some creators carefully planning and documenting their work, while others are constantly struggling against deadlines. In the end, when they are allowed to leave the island, Monsieur Dupuis tries to smuggle out the comics they had made, only to see the finished pages blown away across the sea by their plane’s propellers.
The story ends with a picture (above – click for a larger version) of the entire cast celebrating their liberation. It’s quite striking that now, thirty years on, only eleven out of a total of twenty eight of them are still alive:
1) Berck (1929)
2) Cauvin (1938)
3) Deliege (1931 – 2005)
4) Delporte (1928 – 2007)
5) Devos (1924 – 1992)
6) Fournier (1943)
7) Francis (1937 – 1994)
8) Franquin (1924 – 1997)
9) Gos (1937)
10) Hausman (1936)
11) Hubinon (1924 – 1979)
12) Jidehem (1935)
13) Jije (1914 – 1980)
14) Lampil (1936)
15) Leloup (1933)
16) Macherot (1924 – 2008)
17) Mittei (1932 – 2001)
18) Morris (1923 – 2001)
19) Peyo (1928 – 1992)
20) Piroton (1931 – 1996)
21) Roba (1930 – 2006)
22) Sirius (1911 – 1997)
23) Tacq (1927 – 1994)
24) Tillieux (1921 – 1978)
25) Vittorio (1938)
26) Walthery (1946)
27) Wasterlain (1946)
28) Will (1927 – 2000)
I’m aware that this is the way of the world, and that new creators have stepped up since then, but still, it looks to me like a golden age is slowly fading away. (With thanks to Arthur Van Kruining – artwork © Dupuis)
Wim Lockefeer lives in Belgium, where he’s just counted the number of candles on his last birthday cake and thought, no, that can’t be right…; you can read more of his work on his own Ephemerist blog.
Fri, Oct 3, 2008
Comics and cartoons, From our Continental Correspondent