29 March, 2024

Scanlation Sunday: Fantasio’s Further Heroic Youth?

I said last week that there hasn’t been any more of The Heroic Youth of Fantasio. Well, that’s almost true. While there hasn’t been another episode of the actual series, its future has been hinted at in two magazine features…

Remember all that stuff about the Mayan prophecy that the world would end in December 2012? The Journal de Spirou used it as an excuse for a special “End of the World” issue, #3897, and Tarrin did a one-pager on the back cover about his series. I’ve also included the front cover, by Yoann & Vehlmann:


The lemur character is Tarrin’s alter-ego, from his autobiographical comic Maki. The other character (a dog? a walrus?) resembles the late Charles Dupuis, and obviously represents the publisher.

Before this, in issue #3881 (August 2012), the magazine had featured previews of a number of upcoming series, including The Heroic Youth of Fantasio:

From Journal de Spirou #3881 ((c) Dupuis)
In the last frame of the sketch, Zantafio says: “I need you for another mission!” Fantasio: “Now?! Uh… But I have gym for another hour, and…” Zantafio: “It’s to save the world!”

The text of the article reads:

To get a scoop, the best thing is to ask a journalist. So Fantasio, what do you have in store for us in the the continuation of your heroic youth?

Tarrin: I have finished the outline of the new adventures of Fantasio, and I am currently working on the detailed script. I sketch the scenes and place the dialogue and the gags very carefully. Unlike with the Maki adventures, where I improvise step by step, here I have decided to write out the story to the end before I begin drawing.

My scoop: All I can say is that Fantasio will experience the first great adventure of his career. And that there will be an encounter that will determine the rest of his life. As for Zantafio, his real nature will finally reveal itself.

While it’s been a year since this preview and 8 months since the one-pager without any more news, hopefully Tarrin is still working on the series, so that we can expect further adventures of young Fantasio and Zantafio at some future date.

Spirou Reporter

I grew up reading Spirou in Scandinavian translations. Now I'm learning French and trying to decode the originals.

View all posts by Spirou Reporter →

2 thoughts on “Scanlation Sunday: Fantasio’s Further Heroic Youth?

Leave a Reply to Odd Eivind Torp Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *