JIJE - Lot 136

JIJE JIJÉ ◊ TANGUY ET LAVERDURE Lieutenant Double Bang (T.13), Dargaud 1970 Original plate no. 44, prepublished in Pilote n° 498, May 22, 1969. India ink and white gouache on paper 46.4 × 54.8 cm (18.27 × 21.57 in.) This plate is a pure gem, a synthesis of Jijé's realist work: it has both the orientalist flavor of his Charles de Foucauld, and his Jerry Spring-style knowledge of the western. Yet it's a contemporary Tanguy & Laverdure story, by Jean-Michel Charlier, in which our two heroes protect a young emir - an apprentice pilot in France. The quality of the black and white, the precision of the details and the accuracy of the characters' attitudes do justice to Jijé, the genius of Belgian comics.