We’re nearing the end of May, and with that, probably, the deluge of commemorations of the revolutionary month of May, 1968 that has swept across the media in France and a bit of Belgium (when it rains in Paris, it drizzles in Brussels). It was as if soixante-huitard all of a sudden was no longer a derogatory term, and that the world really was on the brink of revolution in 1968, when De Gaulle fled Paris, only to send in tanks and later return, victoriously.
One of the most interesting publications that have come out this month is the one-off resurrection of legendary comics magazine Pilote by publisher Dargaud, almost twenty years after its final demise. Luminaries from the world of French comics were asked to do a short comic about what May 1968 means to them. There are real revolutionary veterans, such as Gotlib (see our earlier post), Giraud, Pétillon, Fred and Cestac. There are revolutionaries of a later age, such as Killofer, J.-C. Menu and Manu Larcenet. The youngest generation, with cartoonists like Diego Aranega, Pluttark, Riad Sattouf and Riss quite remarkably are very sceptical about what May 68 realised in the end, and focus on today’s problems (while also quite clearly developing a clear graphical style of their own). Outsiders like Munoz or Mattotti, and Annie Goetzinger, make this pantheon complete.
With his strip “Une fille”, Christophe Blain does a nice job at emulating Peellaert’s op-art style at the time of Pravda (see here for an earlier article on Peelaert). Also interesting in a graphical sense, is Hervé Bourhis’ Le Petit Mai 68 Illustré, which borrows iconic imagery from the time (the “This Man Has Talent” Apple ad, “Nous Sommes Tous Des Juifs Et Des Allemandes”, Pravda – again), to evoke the looks of the time.
(“Le Petit Mai 68 Illustré” by Hervé Bourhis from the special Pilote Mai 68 collection)
The best strip, in my opinion, is Clo-Clo by Jean-Paul Krassinsky, in which French singer Claude Francois returns from the grave to devour a Karaoke singer who was torturing his “Comme d’habitude”, ands then is electrocuted while trying to fix a faded light, again, comme d’habitude. That said, the Achille Talon pastiche by Moski and Veys (featuring an annual get-together between police and protesters who got to know one another during the 68 riots) is a worthy afterword.
This magazine is, in my opinion, quite indispensable. It’s only € 7.90 for 160 pages in full colour, and you can order it (I think), from the Fnac website. You can also read more here (in French) on Radio France Internationale’s site or here (again in French, but you can always use an online translator to help) on NouvelObs. Dargaud’s site has several preview pages up which you can browse here.
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.
Tue, May 27, 2008
Comics and cartoons, From our Continental Correspondent