JIJE

JIJÉ SPIROU AND FANTASIO Comme une mouche au plafond, Dupuis 1952 Original plate no. 10, prepublished in Le Journal de Spirou no. 585 July 7, 1949. India ink and blue pencil on paper 40 × 40 cm (15.75 × 15.75 in.) In 1946, Jijé handed over to Franquin the task of continuing the La Maison préfabriquée episode of the Spirou et Fantasio series. He gradually abandoned the adventures of the bellboy, but not only: he entrusted Valhardi to Eddy Paape and Blondin et Cirage to Hubinon, to devote himself to biographical realist "big machines", graphic novels ahead of their time, including the impressive Baden Powell in 1949. Thanks to his production power - it must be said that he still lived with his family in Connecticut, USA, and needed money - Jijé distracted himself by drawing a few complete Spirou stories, just to let Franquin get ahead of him. His drawing is as lively and playful as ever, but this time you can feel the influence of American cartoonists, particularly Virgil Partch, in his schematic, vaudevillian treatment of the characters. This is an important plate, as documents from this period in Jijé's work are particularly rare. This four-strip square waffleboard corresponds to the front page of the Journal de Spirou, which at the time was presented in this way.