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Rose Profond
Au Pays Rose, tout va pour le mieux dans le meilleur des mondes... Comme toujours. Ce soir, c’est l’anniversaire de Malcolm, Malcolm le rat, Malcolm la star, Malcolm le héros au grand coeur : 50 ans et des dizaines d’aventures en technicolor. Mais alors qu’on célèbre toutes ces années de vie en rose et de bonheur planifé, Malcolm boit et brise le miroir ! Pauvre Mimi qui va en faire les frais...
Cette édition restaurée et revue de l’ouvrage culte de Pirus et Dionnet est accompagnée d’un dossier qui, pour la première fois, tente de percer le mystère des mythiques studios d’animation AAA (American Association of Anmiation)
Cette édition restaurée et revue de l’ouvrage culte de Pirus et Dionnet est accompagnée d’un dossier qui, pour la première fois, tente de percer le mystère des mythiques studios d’animation AAA (American Association of Anmiation)
96 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1989
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
May 16, 2023
I’d never heard of this comic until I stumbled upon it while browsing a second-hand shop. It caught my eye with its sheer size (27 by 35 cm) and then piqued my interest with a pair of familiar names on the cover: Michel Pirus wrote the excellent “King of the Flies”, while Jean-Pierre Dionnet co-founded “Métal Hurlant” and wrote the fantastic “Conquering Armies”. A quick glance at the blurb and a flip through the pages gave me the impression that the comic was essentially an obscene spoof of Mickey Mouse – something in the underground comix tradition, perhaps similar to Winshluss’s profane, carnivalesque take on “Pinocchio”. This honestly isn’t a premise that appeals to me much – crude shock humour isn’t my thing – but the art was too gorgeous for me to resist, beautifully imitating the style of classic Disney and Fleischer animations, with wonderful colours provided by Véronique Dorey.
Upon reading, I found the artwork even more impressive than I did at first glance – stunning to behold and highly adept at conveying motion and emotion. Moreover, the story quickly proved itself to be much more sophisticated than I expected. Rather than aiming for cheap laughs with a gratuitous orgy of sex and violence, the comic provides a pitch-black, genuinely harrowing deconstruction, with real emotional punch and a gripping plot that in many ways feels like an actual Disney story – just a lot more adult.
For 60 pages, this comic is absolutely brilliant. Unfortunately, after that it falls apart. Just as the story seems to be approaching a climax, a page turn reveals an unexpected word: "epilogue". This is followed by an indeterminate time jump and then a 6-page section that wraps up the plot in a hasty, almost insultingly unsatisfactory manner. Not only does this closing chapter fail to resolve – or even elaborate upon – the intriguing mysteries at which the preceding 60 pages hint, but it also undermines the nuance of what comes before, with an ending that's crass, tasteless and totally lacking believability.
I have no idea why this comic was truncated in this way, but it's a bitter disappointment, because if the first 60 pages had been followed by another 60 of the same quality, I really think it could have been one of my all-time favourite comics. In fact, considering that it was published in 1988–1989, if it had been finished properly, I think it could have become a landmark masterpiece of the medium.
My edition – published by Casterman in 2015 – follows the comic with an extensive section of back matter, mostly revolving around an essay ostensibly sent to Dionnet by a man who spent his life searching for a bunch of mysterious lost golden age animations. The essay, clearly fictional, alleges that Dionnet and Pirus directly based "Rose Profond" on these animations and alludes to some kind of sordid conspiracy behind them. For me this material goes some way to redeeming the comic, adding a fun layer of metafictional mythology, and also featuring more great Pirus art.
Upon reading, I found the artwork even more impressive than I did at first glance – stunning to behold and highly adept at conveying motion and emotion. Moreover, the story quickly proved itself to be much more sophisticated than I expected. Rather than aiming for cheap laughs with a gratuitous orgy of sex and violence, the comic provides a pitch-black, genuinely harrowing deconstruction, with real emotional punch and a gripping plot that in many ways feels like an actual Disney story – just a lot more adult.
For 60 pages, this comic is absolutely brilliant. Unfortunately, after that it falls apart. Just as the story seems to be approaching a climax, a page turn reveals an unexpected word: "epilogue". This is followed by an indeterminate time jump and then a 6-page section that wraps up the plot in a hasty, almost insultingly unsatisfactory manner. Not only does this closing chapter fail to resolve – or even elaborate upon – the intriguing mysteries at which the preceding 60 pages hint, but it also undermines the nuance of what comes before, with an ending that's crass, tasteless and totally lacking believability.
I have no idea why this comic was truncated in this way, but it's a bitter disappointment, because if the first 60 pages had been followed by another 60 of the same quality, I really think it could have been one of my all-time favourite comics. In fact, considering that it was published in 1988–1989, if it had been finished properly, I think it could have become a landmark masterpiece of the medium.
My edition – published by Casterman in 2015 – follows the comic with an extensive section of back matter, mostly revolving around an essay ostensibly sent to Dionnet by a man who spent his life searching for a bunch of mysterious lost golden age animations. The essay, clearly fictional, alleges that Dionnet and Pirus directly based "Rose Profond" on these animations and alludes to some kind of sordid conspiracy behind them. For me this material goes some way to redeeming the comic, adding a fun layer of metafictional mythology, and also featuring more great Pirus art.
June 12, 2023
I can't help but compare this to Winshulss' Pinocchio, which takes a similar approach to deconstructing our beloved Disney characters. And I had a similar reaction to it. Absolutely love the art, not quite so hot on the story. There's some interesting stuff in there, some societal commentary on happiness and freedom, even if I don't agree with all of it. But the treatment of rape... It starts out pretty straight forward: rape is terrible and the "hero" is cast out for it. But by the end, the victim says that "maybe it's her fault" ??? What the hell where they thinking ?? I was warned though. And it's a pretty decent read outside of that
July 28, 2015
I just hated it.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews