Publications Update: Early October 2014

Just a few things to report, so let’s make this super quick: A German Gesamtausgabe, Spirou for Spanish-speakers, K.O. for V.O., and Spirou takes cover in Sniper Alley… (Updated)

Spirou & Fantasio collected edition in German

The first volume of the Spirou & Fantasio collected edition has recently been published in German by Carlsen Comics, as “Spirou und Fantasio Gesamtausgabe (Band 1): Die Anfänge eines Zeichners.” The German book is apparently identical to the French edition, and covers the period 1946–1950, all of Franquin’s stories up to (but not including) Il y a un sorcier à Champignac (“There’s a Sorcerer in Champignac”).

Spirou gets new Spanish publisher?

Over on this Spanish forum, there are rumors that the Spanish publishing rights to Spirou & Fantasio, most recently held by Planeta, have been picked up by another publisher, apparently Dibbuks. There have been no new Spirou albums published in Spanish since 2009, so this might mean the comic’s return to the Spanish market. There is as yet no official confirmation, however.

No more VOs

A statement from Dupuis, posted on Franquin.org, has confirmed that there won’t be any more Franquin “Version Originale” books for Spirou & Fantasio. This series, which consisted of full-size reproductions of the original ink pages and other illustrations for various Franquin albums, were a prestige publication from Marsu Productions. After Dupuis acquired the company, no more books in the series have been announced, and now it’s officially shut down. (Dupuis might however continue the similar Gaston V.O. series.) According to Dupuis, the reason is that many of the original pages for the remaining Spirou albums are missing, making them unsuitable for publication under an “Original Version” label. Instead, they are offering another, more affordable series for collectors, called “Collection 50/60” (released under the Niffle imprint). This will publish classic albums from the great artists of those two decades, in black-and-white, annotated editions. Personally I must say I consider this a very poor substitute.

Update: As Bob mentions in the comments, Dupuis has in fact announced a new V.O. book with Le Marsupilami de Franquin (“Franquin’s Marsupilami”). This will apparently contain the original art for various short Marsupilami stories that Franquin created over the years, such as Le Marsupilami descend sur la ville (“The Marsupilami Goes to Town”) and Touchez pas aux rouges-gorges (“Dont Touch the Red-Breasts!”). Much or all of this material was recently published (in slightly smaller format) as bonus content in the Le Soir Marsupilami collection from Marsu Productions.

Quick Super rolls off the lot

'La Quick Super' (ill. Franquin; (c) Dupuis and the artist)

Meanwhile, Dupuis is continuing their alternative Patrimonie (“Heritage”) series of shorter Franquin stories, presented with the original art (scaled down to album format) and magazine layout, in a recolored version, and with annotations and commentary. The latest story to get this treatment is La Quick Super (“Super-Quick”) from 1955, released this week.