This is a 1977 hardback in French from Dupuis. Serialised between 1953 and 1954 this story was published in book form in 1956.
It’s a very simple story. Spirou and Fantasio decide to take the Marsupilami back to where they captured it and along the way prevent a war between two banana republics orchestrated by the recurring villain Zantafio. With lots of anti-war and anti-corruption sentiment and a humanitarian mission, this story shows a newfound maturity in the art and plot, as well as a campaigning identity for the adventurous pair.
Fellow reporter Seccotine also has an important part, quite unusually for female characters of the time, including flying a jet bomber.
All told, the series takes a big step forwards at this point.
The Marsupilami has been living on the estate of the Count of Champignac, and although it gives him plenty of space to roam, it isn’t the tropical rainforests of Palombia. When Spirou and Fantasio arrive to visit they discover that the Count has developed an amazing new technology from a rare mushroom that turns rigid metal into something soft and spongey. Ever curious, the Marsupilami gets ahold of it and to everyone’s horror runs amok in the nearby town softening everything from bicycles to drain covers. It’s agreed that it’s now or never to re-home the Marsupilami, so Spirou and Fantasio’s first stop is the zoo where he once resided. However, the zoo has fallen on hard times and has had to close, but a chance meeting with tits director encourages them to bite the bullet and return their arboreal friend to Palombia.
After a difficult journey they arrive in the country only to find a heavy military presence. The country is under the control of a new leader, and it’s someone the two friends have come across before, so Spirou and Fantasio are forced to compromise their convictions to stand a chance of ever leaving the country again. Fortunately they have help, and the hope that word can get to the Count so they can utilise his latest invention.
I love the way Cinebook are now alternating the newer and older adventures of Spirou and Fantasio, meaning we get the best of both worlds. This book, by the master cartoonist Franquin, is crispy fresh and just as funny as when it first saw print sixty years ago, and I’m particularly pleased that we’re getting more Marsupilami into the bargain. Franquin’s story switches from madcap chases to comic peril, allowing him to show his cartooning off to best effect.
There’s been very little opportunity to read an English translation so I highly recommend you grab these with both hands and devour them with relish.
Miellyttävän rauhaan pyrkivä juoni sekä Marsupilami kaikkein ärsyttävimmillään + hassuja keksintöjä ja Tiina. Loistavuutta. Jos edellisessä albumissa hämmensi Franquinin ennustuksen osuvuus autotekniikassa, niin tässä hämmentää se yhdennäköisyys, mikä on Palombian diktaattorin (vm. 1954) lipuissa ja viireissä kotimaisen kusimöllökoplan, Kansallisen Vastarinnan, viljelemän logon kanssa.
This adventure is centered around one of Champignac’s inventions — a mushroom-derived spray that renders metal soft as jelly. It’s a brilliant and original conceit which provides a plethora of gags and great visuals.
What could go wrong with such an invention? What could you use it for? These are the questions which must have inspired Franquin’s script.
The strongest section is the opening, where we are introduced to “metalsoft”. Of course, the marsupalami immediately steals it and goes on a rampage through the town. The string of gags Franquin has arranged here are a delight — melting cars, sagging balconies, a deflated statue, and a pancaked pavilion. A whimsical tour de force.
Once the Marsupalami is recaptured, Spirou and Fantasio set out to return the incorrigible beast to the jungles of South America from whence it came. But of course the trip does not go as planned. The marsupalami wreaks havoc at sea and in the air. This is another section of brilliantly staged and executed slapstick comedy.
The heroes crash land in Palombia and discover the country has undergone a military coup led by Fantasio’s cousin, Zantafio, who is planning to invade a neighboring country. The new goal of Spirou and Fantasio is to stop the invasion and the perfect tool to do so is Champignac’s metalsoft, which can turn tanks and planes to butter.
This is by far the longest section and tbh it grows somewhat tedious. It lacks gags and spectacle; none of it is very memorable. The heroes don’t do much, instead waiting for Cellophine and Champignac to bail them out. The climax is distinctly underwhelming.
The denouement, wherein the heroes finally return the marsupalami to the jungle, wraps things up nicely and features a great last-page visual gag.
The art is a step up from the prior volume. This is Franquin at peak form or close to it, many beautiful panels, lively characters, and attention to detail.
I read most of Spirou and Fantasio comics - especially the early ones - far too young to have any real recollection of them anymore, thus warranting no ratings or reviews. But I remember this one being a favourite of mine, the one I read more often than the rest put together, and having picked it up recently it does still hold up. I enjoyed seeing the main characters posing as high-ranking dictatorial officers, yelling around, and then melting all metal into goop.
It's a thrilling and funny little tale that turns war into farce better than many things I've read.
So many pages of so much going on and I found it all leading up to much of nothing. The plotting is poorly thought out with a story drawn waaaaay out. Editing half out would've helped.
The core bad guys have a story that is very similar to other Spirou books. The Marsupilami character is a key to the story, but the character is used more for filler scenes.
The artwork is superior to just about anything produced today, but lesser to other volumes.
Bottom line: I don't recommend this book. 4 out of ten points.
— Ouvrez vos atlas, bande de cancre, et trouvez-moi la Palombie dessus ! Mais si, ça existe la Palombie ! Non, bande de moules, elle n’est pas voisine du royaume de Syldavie ! La Syldavie est dans les Balkans, nom de Zeus, Marty. Comme vous séchez, je vous donne un premier indice : Amérique du Sud !
Lorsque j’étais gamine et que je relisais cet album (j’ai commencé jeune), je riais toujours des facéties du Marsupilami avec la bonbonne de Métomol, faisant fondre tous les métaux dans la petite ville de Champignac.
Hurlant de rire devant les bêtises du même Marsupilami lors de leur traversée vers la Palombie, pour aller le relâcher dans la forêt vierge et je repartais de plus belle avec la seconde partie du voyage, en avion…
Fantasio avec son caractère soupe au lait est un bon client pour faire démarrer les gags, lui qui s’emporte toujours, entraînant Spirou dans les bagarres, malgré lui.
Je riais des discours alambiqués du maire et de toutes les situations cocasses, dont celle faites par le dictateur qui, après un attentat à la bombe, demandais au directeur de la sécurité de faire emprisonner des tas de gens, dont le directeur de la sécurité même !
C’est une aventure avez du rythme, de l’action, et des gags. Publié avant dans l’hebdo Spirou, les dessinateurs/scénaristes se devaient de terminer les pages avec un brin de suspense pour que le lecteur revienne la semaine suivante.
Donc, on ne s’emmerde pas et on sourit beaucoup, même si les sourires sont jaunes, car depuis, j’ai bien grandi et je sais maintenant que les dictatures ne sont pas des trucs drôles comme celle de Palombie…
En poussant la réflexion à son paroxysme, il est clair que les gags de Franquin dénoncent les régimes autoritaires avec les ambitions folles du chef suprême, ses discours où toute la ville se doit d’assister, d’applaudir, de crier « viva Zantas », où la liberté de la presse n’existe pas, où les gens sont pauvres et sous la coupe d’un taré qui ne rêve que d’attaquer le pays voisin, quitte à mettre en scène des problèmes à la frontière.
Tout ça, je ne le voyais pas quand n’étais gosse. Je ne comprenais pas non plus que les mimiques exécutées par le dictateur Zantas lors de son discours avaient été copiées sur celle de Chaplin dans le film « Le dictateur », elles mêmes copiées du triste sire moustachu…
Comme quoi, sous couvert de l’humour, des gags amusant, Franquin dénonçait le régime des dictatures et moi, enfant, je ne le comprenais pas vraiment… Il a fallu que je grandisse pour redécouvrir une partie des albums avec un autre œil.
Oui, je ris toujours, mais dans le fond, quand je referme l’album, j’ai un petit serrement au cœur, les tripes qui se nouent et les mains un peu moites.
Un bel album où Spirou et Fantasio auront fort à faire pour empêcher l’invasion du pays voisin, jouer les agents doubles, faire preuve de duplicité afin d’être convaincant dans leurs rôles de colonels de l’armée et devront affronter cette même armée avec la dernière invention de Champignac, le tout sans faire de victimes !
Le Métomol, une super invention !
Avec tout ça, on en oublierait presque de déposer le Marsupilami dans la forêt vierge, tout content de retrouver son environnement, sous les yeux tristes de Spip qui voit son copain de jeu s’en aller.
Ça m’arrachait une larme, gamine, mais la dernière case me remontait toujours le moral.
Uma aventura cativante e divertida até para adultos.
Logo no primeiro contacto com Spirou e Fantásio, somos abraçados por um sentimento de familiaridade com duas personalidades opostas mas complementares, como se a sua amizade estivesse no nosso imaginário desde sempre.
A simultânea profundidade e leveza de espírito das personagens acompanha-nos ao longo de toda a história. E a história é ingenuamente simples: a de uma criatura rebelde que precisa de ser devolvida às florestas da América do Sul, e cuja viagem de regresso é marcada por uma aterragem no coração de uma ditadura militar fascista.
Franquin consegue retratar fenómenos políticos sensíveis num tom leve e caricatural. O seu olhar satírico ao regime revela-se nos gestos teatrais e viris do discurso do General Zantas - que ninguém ouve mas todos aplaudem - ou nos vários retratos do grandioso líder que habitam cada parede da Palombia.
Diante do ditador e ciente dos seus projetos belicistas, Spirou, o eterno humanista, mostra a sua fibra e confronta-o desde o primeiro momento, planeando o boicote às suas operações militares.
Uma mensagem para as crianças de ontem, os adultos de hoje, que esqueceram ou deixaram ser tomados os valores da democracia, da ética e da paz.
the seventh book in the series, Fantasio and Spirou plan to return Marsupilami back to the wild, and arrive to Palombie, the Latin American country where he comes from, only to find that Fantasio's cousin Zantafio has become a dictator there. They are forced to paticipate in a war plan against a neighboring country, and yet, with the help of Seccotine and the Count of Campignac, they also plan to stop the army from occupying the other country just in the nick of time. They are successful in all their endeavors, but find that love is sometimes stronger than freedom...
Le retour du cousin Zantafio ! Spirou et Fantasio doivent tout faire pour empêcher le déclenchement d'une guerre... et pour ce faire, quoi de mieux que les champignons du Comte de Champignac?