The latest edition of the Angoulême Festival once again highlighted hundreds of authors, attracting an audience of 200,000 readers. An attendance that confirms the good health of the comics sector in bookstores with 85 million copies sold in 2022compared to more than 87 million in 2021.
This 50th vintage is marked in particular by the coronation of Riad Sattouf, Grand Prix 2023, whose final volume of his successful saga The Arab of the Future was released in bookstores in November 2023. Since then, many readers have felt orphaned by this hero who has moved them and made them laugh since 2014. On this occasion, 20 minutes wanted to know which were the comic strips, recurring characters or fetish authors who marked his readers.
With Gaston Lagaffe, it’s the crisis… to laugh
Unsurprisingly, some iconic comic book heroes continue to bring smiles to readers who never tire of turning the yellowed and dog-eared pages of their childhood. And it is the funniest and dreamiest employee in the history of comics that particularly attracts attention. “I loved and I still love Gaston Lagaffe, explains Sylvie, 63, how many giggles during my readings… I reread the pages several times in a row, which make me burst out laughing every time… Laugh out loud! »
A nostalgic feeling shared by Pierre, 54, “this character taught me humor. I laughed out loud when a new album was released! Even today, long after Franquin’s death, there are reissues and I must admit that I bring out an album from time to time and the magic of laughter is still intact! “. Aside from Gaston Lagaffe, other characters in the work of Belgian author Franquin have marked generations. Michel, 71, is categorical: “For me, Franquin is the greatest. I practically learned to read with Spirou and Fantasio”.
Gotlib’s “intelligent but not rude humour”
It is another author who gave strong emotions to Fabien, 50 years old. More than a character, it’s an author who marked me as a kid and remains to this day a sort of idol for me: Gotlib. He adds : ” La Rubrique à Brac, Les Dingodossiers, Pervers Pépère, Rhââ Lovely and Rhââ Gnagna, Cinémastock (with Alexis)… My grandmother had collections of Pilot. I grew up reading them, rereading them, to understand a little more the valves of Gotlib, not always intended for a young audience… His humor has become mine, intelligent without being intellectual, gritty without being coarse, first degree or 237th degree. Difficult to single out a character from the lot in Gotlib, as he has managed to bring many to life, often drawing inspiration from his pen pals, even from himself (yes, megalomaniac, but not too much). »
The Franco-Belgian review Spirou has definitely given the taste of bubbles to many readers. Like Benoît, 38, “the comic strip that marked my childhood is undoubtedly Soda. I started by following the episodes published in The little Spirou then I acquired the volumes being larger. None gave me so much pleasure. Whether it’s the graphic style, the cynical humor of the character or the scenario, each album is a nugget. My only regret is the lack of a real ending for the moment, and the many questions that remain.
Blueberry, “a visual slap”
The name of Moebius also comes up several times. ” blueberry (album Broken nose), a visual slap. From this comic, I devoured the albums of Gir or Moebius and, at 56 years old, I’m still a fan”, explains Sébastien. “If only one should be kept, then it would be theInccal by Jodorowsky and Moebius, the 6 volumes. An extraordinary fresco, a fantastically accomplished scenario, a drawing of genius” for Jean-Christophe, 53 years old.
Jacques, 64, even drew answers to family secrets from a comic strip: “ The Eternal War by Joe Haldeman and Marvano is one of the most relevant accounts of the absurdity of war and the disconnect felt by combatants and their loved ones who cannot understand what they are facing. This discrepancy, described by many authors who participated in the butcheries of the First World War and by the soldiers of the colonial wars, is brilliantly illustrated in Joe Haldeman’s novel by the time lag between the soldiers traveling at relativistic speeds and their families left behind. on earth. A brilliant, poignant, yet optimistic book written by a Vietnam veteran author and physicist who manages to convey the unspeakable. »