19 March, 2024
Spirou Comics tryout sample, page 2 color (ill. José María Beroy & Kid Toussaint; Copyright (c) 2017 by the artists; Spirou (c) Dupuis; image from beroyweb.blogspot.com)

Silent Sunday: Spirou Comics Cont’d

Spirou Comics tryout sample, Spirou vs. gangsters (ill. José María Beroy & Kid Toussaint; Copyright (c) 2017 by the artists; Spirou (c) Dupuis; image from beroyweb.blogspot.com)

In March, Spirou Reporter reposted some samples from an abandoned attempt to make a version of Spirou as an American-style superhero comic, written by Kid Toussaint (Magic 7) and illustrated by a variety of different artists. One of those artists was José María Beroy (Versus, Deadman), who worked with Toussaint on À l’ombre du convoi and did the Fantasio design in the first batch. Beroy responded by posting more samples to his own blog, including more character designs (check out his version of Itoh Kata!) as well as four unlettered comic pages.

Beroy writes (the bracketed part is obscure to me, and the translation is merely a guess):

Here I’m sharing some images from an adventure where I threw my hat in the ring, as they say. One of those projects that doesn’t end up going anywhere, but where it was nice to take part. It was about reinventing Spirou in the style of superheroes, which [[it had a certain compatibility with]]. The script was by Kid Toussaint, and there was a good bunch of illustrators working on the project. There’s a bit more explanation on this page.

I gave my version of the characters and a proposal for the style. Here it is. After much back and forth – usual in the publishing world – the project did not go ahead.

Spirou Comics tryout sample, page 1 pencils (ill. José María Beroy & Kid Toussaint; Copyright (c) 2017 by the artists; Spirou (c) Dupuis; image from beroyweb.blogspot.com)
Page 1
Spirou Comics tryout sample, page 2 color (ill. José María Beroy & Kid Toussaint; Copyright (c) 2017 by the artists; Spirou (c) Dupuis; image from beroyweb.blogspot.com)
Page 2
Spirou Comics tryout sample, page 6 pencils (ill. José María Beroy & Kid Toussaint; Copyright (c) 2017 by the artists; Spirou (c) Dupuis; image from beroyweb.blogspot.com)
Page 6
Spirou Comics tryout sample, page 7 pencils (ill. José María Beroy & Kid Toussaint; Copyright (c) 2017 by the artists; Spirou (c) Dupuis; image from beroyweb.blogspot.com)
Page 7
Spirou Comics tryout sample, Spirou (ill. José María Beroy & Kid Toussaint; Copyright (c) 2017 by the artists; Spirou (c) Dupuis; image from beroyweb.blogspot.com)
Spirou
Spirou Comics tryout sample, Fantasio (ill. José María Beroy & Kid Toussaint; Copyright (c) 2017 by the artists; Spirou (c) Dupuis; image from beroyweb.blogspot.com)
Fantasio
Spirou Comics tryout sample, Itoh Kata (ill. José María Beroy & Kid Toussaint; Copyright (c) 2017 by the artists; Spirou (c) Dupuis; image from beroyweb.blogspot.com)
Itoh Kata
Spirou Comics tryout sample, Luna "Fatale" Cortizone (ill. José María Beroy & Kid Toussaint; Copyright (c) 2017 by the artists; Spirou (c) Dupuis; image from beroyweb.blogspot.com)
Luna Fatale
Spirou Comics tryout sample, Zorglub (ill. José María Beroy & Kid Toussaint; Copyright (c) 2017 by the artists; Spirou (c) Dupuis; image from beroyweb.blogspot.com)
Zorglub

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 →

8 thoughts on “Silent Sunday: Spirou Comics Cont’d

  1. Wow, not sure about all the special Spirous, as most comics so far have been a huge let down, but this looks really interesting.

  2. Attempting to translate the phrase in context, maybe it could mean something like “but without leaving its particular characteristics behind”/ “but without forgetting its character”, although my school Spanish could leave something to be desired.

  3. It literally means ‘there is something to it’ (referring to the idea of reinterpreting Spirou in a superhero-esque style). It may mean that it bears a special interest, or that it presents a particular difficulty. Generally speaking, it means its something special, or unusual.

  4. It is an expression that implies that something is both intriguing and interesting. In this case, both things. Thank you very much for mentioning this project on this great page!.

  5. I find the whole sub-clause slightly confusing, although the phrase “tener su aquel” apparently means something like having particular characteristics…

    “…lo que no dejaba de tener su aquel”

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