mct16:
"The Marsupilami Thieves" is from the better period.
The book is now out and I really enjoyed it. The fact I was coming in without having read the first part turned out to not be such a problem as the volume appears to build on the previous book without completely relying on it.
mct16:
Most of Franquin's output from the 1950s and 60s are considered to be him at his best.
Comparing '..Thieves' to the '..Zorglub' book from Fantasy Flight you can see a definite progression
in craft and quality, but this earlier volume is full of charm and, more importantly, good gags. And it isn't often you see a football match in a European comic, so an extra point for that alone (says the season ticket holder in me. We could've done that extra point at the weekend now I think of it...).
jock123:
it sort of suggests that it's better than the humour comics we had/ have here, and I'm not certain it is
I take your point and yet the UK comic industry was enormous in the 50s through to the 70s, a fact universally unacknowledged (to mangle Jane Austin). The lack of serious cross fertilisation always surprises me. Saying that, I still can't understand why a UK publisher hasn't committed to publishing the full set of Quick & Flupke books, or why Orion passed on the Asterix Birthday book - to me they've both got a built in audience. Yet what do I know?
Eivind:
I can recommend the following blog about Spirou
Agreed, it is a fabulous resource.
Next up from Cinebook is the delayed '...Moscow' book followed by another early Franquin, 'The Rhinoceros' Horn'. Happy days...!
George