29 March, 2024
Fix und Foxi Extra #31 (ill. unknown artist after Franquin; (c) Gevacur Verlag, Dupuis and the artist)

It’s Official: Kokomiko behind bars

Fix und Foxi Extra #31 (ill. unknown artist after Franquin; (c) Rolf Kauka Comics, Gevacur Verlag, Dupuis and the artist; Image from comics.org))
Fix und Foxi Extra #31 (1975). Image from The Grand Comics Database (restored).

As mentioned last week, Spirou and Fantasio appeared in German first as “Fridolin und Ferdinand”, and then as “Pit und Pikkolo” in various magazines from Kauka Publishing. Founded by Rolf Kauka, these popular magazines contained a mix of licensed material and original comics from Kauka’s studio, such as Fix & Foxi. The Adventures of Spirou and Fantasio ran in Kauka’s magazines from 1964 to 1977, with stories by Franquin and Fournier. (Since 1981, the series has been published by Carlsen Verlag using the original names, “Spirou und Fantasio”.)

In this period, Kauka’s comics had a “house style”, which was also used for most covers. So Spirou and Fantasio are drawn to fit in with the look of the Kauka series. A bit similar to Parme’s style, perhaps?

The cover shown is for the printing of Les voleurs du Marsupilami (Spirou #5, “The Marsupilami Thieves”), in a 192-page paperback digest. It went by the title Kokomiko hinter Gittern (“Kokomiko Behind Bars”), using Kauka’s name for the Marsupilami. The volume also contains several other comics, including Gaston (here “Jo-Jo”).

Spirou Reporter

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

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