This four page strip was published in the special edition of the magazine Pilote, published to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the Mai 1968 (see the earlier post), when the students rioted in Paris and France trembled on its foundations. Christophe Blain, well-known for his Donjon books (with Lewis Trondheim and Joann Sfar) and his Le Réducteur de vitesse, wanted to salute Guy Peellaert and his héroine Pravda. As written before (see here), Peellaert was one of the first to apply the style of pop art to comics, which, combined with an atmosphere of sexual liberation, resulted in a comic that’s not so much a story as a testimony to an exiting age. Blain’s heroine is more of a cutie than a femme fatale, but she’s just as independent and strong. And did you spot the Peellaert reference in the pictures? Click on the pictures (all images (c) Blain/Pilote) for the larger version; the translation is under each image.
The Girl
- When will we see each other again?
- Hmm
- Listen
- We won’t see each other again.
- But, but, but…
-Well!
- That bike is yours?
- Yes
- She’s beautiful
- Those are beautiful too.
- Come and make a run with us.
- We’ll take you along to a place where we’ll have a good time.
- Wow!
- She’s excitingly fast!
- Wow!
- Yeah!
- There it is.
- Where did the girl go?
- Didn’t see her.
- Hello, Dolly.
- Hey, tell me, what’s all that hubbub about?
- What a beating!
- Hey, girl! We didn’t see much of you around!
- Wow!
- How well she rides!
Next morning, in a motel.
- Oh, how you’ve grown.
- Well, really, yes.
- Mmmmh
- Again.
- Listen, I don’t want to cause you any trouble.
- I’ll just shave off my moustache and throw away my hat.
- And we’ll leave quietly as if nothing happened.
- Oh no! Not the moustache!
- She’s even more beautiful than Robert Redford’s in “Butch Cassidy”.
- Well, I’d like to, but…
- Keep it.
- Put your hat back on.
- Kill her!
- A Cowboy!
- We want a cowboy too!
- We want one!
- Quick!
Wim Lockefeer lives in Belgium and when not thinking about the benefits of their fine waffles writes extensively on comics culture and art; you can read more of his work on his own Ephemerist blog.
June 17th, 2008 at 7:54 am
Thanks for these pages ! Since I’ve been living in England it’s not always to see what’s going on in the belgian/french comic world.
The style of these pages is very close to the one Blain uses in Gus (I don’t think it’s been translated yet) wich is a very funny western.