Le dictateur et le champignon
Encyclopedia
Le dictateur et le champignon, written and drawn by Franquin
, is the seventh album of the Spirou et Fantasio
series. After serial publication in Spirou
, the story was released as a hardcover album in 1956.
causes chaos all over town, Spirou
and Fantasio
decide that it is time to take him back to his home in the Palombia
n jungles. After an eventful journey by cruise ship, they find that Fantasio's shady cousin Zantafio
has reinvented himself as General Zantas and become the country's ruthless dictator. The now power-mad Zantafio, intent on invading a neighbouring country, offers them top positions in his army, and when they indignantly refuse throws them in jail. The pair decide to feign a change of heart, and plan to foil the invasion using one of The Count of Champignac's curious inventions...
, but later evolved into a worse villain. Franquin expressed regrets at twisting the character back and forth like this, but later did the same again with Zorglub
.
One of Champignac's most memorable mushroom-based inventions, the "Métomol", a powerful metal-softening gas, is introduced in this story and is later used again in several others.
The sequence where Spirou and Fantasio melt a whole army's gear is an early, still quite gentle, expression of Franquin's anti-militarism, which he would let loose much more ferociously in Gaston Lagaffe
and Idées noires
.
André Franquin
André Franquin was an influential Belgian comics artist, whose best known comic strip creations are Gaston and Marsupilami, created while he worked on the Spirou et Fantasio comic strip from 1947 to 1969, during a period seen by many as the series' golden age.-Franquin's beginnings:Franquin was...
, is the seventh album of the Spirou et Fantasio
Spirou et Fantasio
Spirou et Fantasio is one of the most popular classic Franco-Belgian comic strips. The series, which has been running since 1938, shares many characteristics with other European humorous adventure comics like Tintin and Asterix...
series. After serial publication in Spirou
Spirou (magazine)
Spirou magazine is a weekly Belgian comics magazine published by the Dupuis company...
, the story was released as a hardcover album in 1956.
Story
When the MarsupilamiMarsupilami
Marsupilami is a fictional comic book species created by André Franquin, first published on 31 January 1952 in the magazine Spirou. Since then it appeared regularly in the popular Belgian comic book series Spirou et Fantasio until Franquin stopped working on the series in 1968 and the character...
causes chaos all over town, Spirou
Spirou (character)
Spirou is the main character of the Spirou et Fantasio and Le Petit Spirou comic strips. The character was originally created by Robert Velter for the launch of Le Journal de Spirou in 1938....
and Fantasio
Fantasio
Fantasio is a fictional character from the Spirou et Fantasio comic strip. He was introduced in 1944 by Jijé, who was then drawing Spirou's adventures. Fantasio is Spirou's best friend and co-adventurer, a graphic reporter with an uncontrolled imagination and a mop of blond hair...
decide that it is time to take him back to his home in the Palombia
Palombia
Palombia is a fictitious South American country from the Belgian Spirou et Fantasio and Marsupilami comic book stories. The name is a portmanteau of Paraguay and Colombia. In French, Palombie is especially a word game between Colombie, Colombe and Palombe.-Overview:Palombia is a small country in...
n jungles. After an eventful journey by cruise ship, they find that Fantasio's shady cousin Zantafio
Zantafio
Zantafio is a recurring fictional antagonist in the Spirou et Fantasio comic book series. He was created by André Franquin and first appeared in Spirou et les héritiers . Zantafio bears a strong resemblance to Fantasio, because they are cousins...
has reinvented himself as General Zantas and become the country's ruthless dictator. The now power-mad Zantafio, intent on invading a neighbouring country, offers them top positions in his army, and when they indignantly refuse throws them in jail. The pair decide to feign a change of heart, and plan to foil the invasion using one of The Count of Champignac's curious inventions...
Background
Two characters introduced in previous stories return for the first time in this one: the resourceful Seccotine, and the shifty Zantafio who was last seen repenting his scoundrel ways at the conclusion of Spirou et les héritiersSpirou et les héritiers
Spirou et les héritiers, written and drawn by Franquin, is the fourth album of the Spirou et Fantasio series, and a great leap in the expansion of the Spirou universe...
, but later evolved into a worse villain. Franquin expressed regrets at twisting the character back and forth like this, but later did the same again with Zorglub
Zorglub
Zorglub is a fictional character in the Belgian comic strip Spirou et Fantasio, created by Greg and André Franquin, and first appeared in the serialised story Z comme Zorglub in Spirou in 1959, later published in the diptych albums "Z comme Zorglub" and "L'ombre du Z"...
.
One of Champignac's most memorable mushroom-based inventions, the "Métomol", a powerful metal-softening gas, is introduced in this story and is later used again in several others.
The sequence where Spirou and Fantasio melt a whole army's gear is an early, still quite gentle, expression of Franquin's anti-militarism, which he would let loose much more ferociously in Gaston Lagaffe
Gaston Lagaffe
Gaston is a comic strip created in 1957 by the Belgian cartoonist André Franquin in the comic strip magazine, Spirou. The series focuses on the every-day life of Gaston Lagaffe, a lazy and accident-prone office junior...
and Idées noires
Idées noires
Idées noires is a collection of black comedy comic strips drawn by André Franquin, written by Franquin and Yvan Delporte. The one-page stories first appeared frequently in 1977, in the brief run of the Spirou supplement, Le Trombone illustré...
.