Publications update (week 38/2013)

Since publishing schedules are always in flux, and pretty much every week brings new releases or news of some change, a semi-regular update column might be helpful to keep track of it all. (And make it easier to ignore for visitors who don’t care.)

Recent releases

Spirou & Fantasio: The Marsupilami Thieves (Spirou #5, Les voleurs du Marsupilami)
Franquin; English (Cinebook), 30. Aug, 64 pp., 8.99 GBP

Officially released on 30. August, this album is now in stock and shipping from major online retailers. (Amazon, Book Depository)

Le prisonnier du Bouddha V.O. (Spirou #14, “The Prisoner of the Buddha: Original Version”)
Franquin, Jidéhem, Greg; French (Marsu Productions) 6. Sept, 111 pp., 119 EUR

This collector’s book reproduces the original drawn pages of the album, in actual size, along with extras. (Amazon, fnac)

Spirou sous le manteau (“Spirou Under the Counter”)
Alec Séverin; French (Dupuis), 6. Sept, 48 pp., 15.50 EUR

This book, collecting retro-style, WWII-themed Spirou cartoons by Al, was previously discussed here. (Amazon, fnac)

Update on upcoming releases

Franquin et le design (“Franquin and the Design”)
Augustin David; French (Dupuis), Jan 2014, 224 pp., 32 EUR

This book, which was already pushed back from June, has now been pushed back again, this time to January. (Due to all the schedule-slips, the Spirou Anniversary Year looks set to last well into 2014!)

Splint: Portræt af helten som troskyldig ung mand (Spirou One-Shot #4, Le journal d’un ingénu)
Bravo; Danish (Cobolt), 7. Oct, 72 pp., 198 DKK

Cobolt’s Carsten Sørensen has confirmed that the Danish edition of “A Naive Young Man’s Diary” (in Danish as “Portrait of the Hero as a Naive Young Man”) will not include Émile Bravo’s short prequel story ‘La loi du plus fort’ (“The Law of the Jungle”), which – though not part of the French album – was incorporated into the German album release.

Cinebook’s Spirou Releases

In a Facebook comment, a Cinebook representative tells a commenter that, “We don’t like to drop series mid-publication, so you can expect them (i.e. the later Franquin albums, like Z comme Zorglub – SR) to come out – eventually.” Great to hear Cinebook is committed to the series!

Upcoming releases

Apart from the Danish Portræt af helten som troskyldig ung mand a day before, the next releases are scheduled for 8. October, both in French: Spirou et Fantasio: L’Intégrale 1986–1988 (“Spirou & Fantasio: Complete Collection 1984–1987”), the second Tome & Janry volume in the collected edition series, and Spirou par Chaland (“Spirou by Chaland”). More info here. (Thanks to InediSpirou for updated release dates.)