Spirou (character)

Beginnings: Rob-Vel and Jijé

Spirou begins its career as a groom in Moustic Hotel, function of which it will preserve the costume of many years. Rob-Vel is inspired in the function and the color by the costume by its young last years on transatlantic liners, where he exerted similar functions. With his Davine wife, it carries out initially gags in a board which are transformed gradually into aventurettes which will lead it until in space. It associates to him as of 1939 the squirrel Spip, which it saves of an insane scientist.

Rob-Vel admits referring hesitant. The intrigues fall under the line of the stereotypes of the popular novel (the kid débrouillard vis-a-vis the adversity, the heirs who between-tear, the son of removed billionaire) and of the science fiction (the space flight, the invisible man). Spirou is a luke-warm kid judicious being with the image of the dear blond of the time, targets of the Dupuis editions.

The character finds himself quickly in the middle of a muddle of authors and intrigues, consequence of the Second world war. Rob-Vel, mobilized then captive, being cut editions Dupuis, the character passes between several hands (Davine, an obscure painter Lafnet and Jijé) and knows astonishing changes of aspect.

The logic of the intrigue is often put at evil by the passages of relay: thus Jijé, when it takes again the character in full adventure of the son of the billionaire, obviously little inspired by this never-ending story of Rob-Vel and Davine, bâcle the episode in a board to make of Spirou an American movie star before sending it… to the north pole! Begun again by Rob-Vel since 1941, the character continues to travel and makes the meeting of its first large companion, African named the Chip. In these dark moments of the Occupation Nazi it is of good tone in the magazines to take the option " dépaysement". Hergé sends its Tintin under water to the research of the Unicorn, Rob-Vel sends its Spirou on the planet… Zigomus.

One retains of Spirou de Rob-Vel the Spip squirrel and the annoying tendency to trott oneself with the four corners of the sphere but always with this famous costume of groom which feels good its time and which will annoy the successors of Rob-Vel so much.

Joseph Gillain, known as Jijé, briefly takes again the character in 1940, whereas its author recovers from a wound of war, then definitively starting from 1943. He makes live with his hero short adventures, and will associate a team-member mild nutter, Fantasio to him, in order to counterbalance the serious one of the character. The series " Spirou and Fantasio" was born.

The Franquin period

In 1947, Spirou is dealt with by Franquin, author today celebrates, who will revolutionize the graphics and the universe of the series. The adventures of Spirou become from now on much longer, and the three heroes are joined by a gallery of new characters. One will note obviously the Marsupilami, which will remain in their company during all this period, but also the young journalist Seccotine, as well as the Count de Champignac, which will remain a little the grandfather of heart of the two heroes. One notes also the arrival of recurring enemies such as malefic the cousin of Fantasio, Zantafio, or the irresponsible and mégalomaniaque scientist Zorglub, as well as outstanding places: the village of Champignac and its castle, or Palombie. At the beginning, alive in separated residences, Spirou and Fantasio move jointly into a house.

Psychologically, the character of Spirou loses his good mood while its adventures become more serious. In addition to the fact that he does not smoke nor does not drink, he shows an altruism even more outstanding than his competitor Tintin: Spirou estimates that it is of its duty and that of his companions to fight the gangsters and to reverse the dictators.

Baker

Under Fournier, and even as of Panade with Champignac, Spirou starts to leave its costume of groom for more common costumes, even if it preserves his hat and its pants, and that the red remains its favorite color. The Seventies obliges, Spirou lets itself push the hair the time of four albums. Psychologically, Spirou and its companions, who count from now on beautiful Polynesian Ororéa and the Japanese illusionist Itoh Kata, openly express ecological concerns such as the refusal of the proliferation of the nuclear plants.

The transition

With beginning of the year 80, three groups of authors share the destiny of the groom.

Yves Chaland tries a return to a spirit closer to the Fifties, while preserving the long adventures introduced by Franquin. In the absence of a sufficient promotion, the project is quickly abandoned.

NIC and Cauvin, because of extreme simplicity of their stories, brings little to the series. Spirou preserves the behavior introduced by Fournier, but their residences separate again.

Volume and Janry

The third duet, Volume and Janry, gain finally the continuity of the series. In particular introducing new enemies such as Gift Cortizone, alias " Vito Déveine" , or malefic Cyanure which will know especially its hours of glory in the televised series, they also bring a graphics plus iconoclast to the series. The character of Spirou appears increasingly human there: initially in its wilder sarcastic remarks with regard to the other characters, then in its disappointments in love towards the end with this period, with Luna, more known by the fans under the name of Luna fatal , of the name of the album where it appears, girl of Cortizone, then even Seccotine in Machine which dreams will reveal interested by the hero. He is in addition in this album clone, and its alter ego crosses depression, panic and anger.

Morvan and Munuera

Morvan and Munuera ensured the destiny of the groom of 2004 to 2006. Under their feather, Spirou still develops its human character: it is deeply shocked by its own attitude in the Paris-under-Seine and consults a psychiatrist in the man who did not want to die . After three albums, the duet, thanked for artistic incompatibility , is replaced by a new team.

Family and passed of Spirou

Relatively few things are known as in the principal series on the family life of Spirou. A history of Rob-Vel had given him a twin brother, while Franquin offered an uncle in to him the heritage . These stories not forming part of the principal collection, one can think that they do not belong any more to the current universe of the character.

Parallel series develop the mysterious last one of Spirou: Small Spirou , realized by Volume and Janry, puts in scene Spirou child gaffor and badly high, surrounded companions nonresulting from the original series. This series was originally inspired by a short history published in the album of the same name, the Youth of Spirou , fruit of the imagination deteriorated by the alcohol of a parody of the Uncle Paul, character fictitious telling of the stories in the newspaper of Spirou until in the Eighties. The history in question put in scene a Spirou young person also turbulent, but accompanied by the characters of its universe, them also children.

Since Volume and Janry do not ensure any more the destiny of the groom, Small Spirou is regarded as a different universe. Morvan recently launched with Oshima Hiroyuki, a famous mangaka, a project consisting in telling the adolescence of Spirou to Tokyo in manga! An extract was provided with a number of the Journal of Spirou , taken again in integrality in the episode 49Z, supplement with Spirou in Tokyo .

The new one did much noise and divided the Franco-Belgian community. Currently, there is still little information about the series, if it is not that Morvan would wish to rehabilitate certain old episodes as There is a wizard with Champignac so that it occurs to Japan, to believe of it an interview carried out for the newspaper Bodoï . One can once again expect strong reactions.

Internal bond

External bonds

Spirou.com, the official site of the character
Inedispirou, a site proposing of information on the series and its past
Spirouworld, another site of fan on the universe of Spirou

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