GIRAUD

JEAN GIRAUD BLUEBERRY L'Homme qui valait 500 000 dollars (T.14), Dargaud 1973 Original plate no. 39, prepublished in Pilote no. 624, October 21, 1971. India ink and white gouache on paper 38.7 × 51.2 cm (15.24 × 20.16 in.) It goes without saying that Chihuahua Pearl turns heads. In this sequence, where the "gobernador" Lopez tries to marry her off by force, she's the only one to be seen: resplendent, self-assured and leading her little world by the baton - or rather, by the Derringer! Gir's art is all in this sequence: he's able to move from a baroque church setting with a busy, almost musical graphic tempo, to Boudini's pantomime acting, to the kidnapping of the "groom", in the middle of a crowd with different levels of shots. The skill and dazzling clarity of this elegant, precise, expressive and above all intelligent treatment place Jean Giraud among the great masters of the 9th Art.