FOURNIER Lot n° 1

JEAN-CLAUDE FOURNIER SPIROU AND FANTASIO Dupuis 1976 Original cover of the newspaper Spirou 2000 of August 12, 1976. Signed. India ink, watercolor, colored inks and gouache on paper 50.7 × 36.2 cm (19.96 × 14.25 in.) On August 12, 1976, the beautiful newspaper Spirou celebrates its two-thousandth issue, which is no small feat! For the occasion, this "Super 2000" has a new panoramic cover, signed by Jean-Claude Fournier. The author will, on a single illustration, gather the main stars of the periodical, under the bright glance of a giant Spirou. On the left, we notice the sententious Papa Smurf, the enigmatic Mr. Choc, the beautiful Aymone, the improbable Boumptéryx, the inseparable Atchi and Atcha and their friend Archibald, three figures of the Ribambelle. Others like Blackbeard, Isabelle, Foufi, Marc Lebut and his neighbor, Poussy and Papyrus, Calebasse and Jess Long, Johan and Pirlouit. On the right, Gaston Lagaffe tries to seduce Natacha, while the Marsupilami is visibly attached to Tif and Tondu. There are also some Smurfs and a Little Man, Bobo and the Flagada, Spip and Fantasio, Boule and Bill, Benoît Brisefer, Sibylline, Buck Danny, the Bluecoats and the "gorilla" Jack Attaway and his Thompson machine gun. In the center, surrounded by Scrameustache, the grumpy Lampil, the heroines Sophie and Yoko Tsuno, the detective Gil Jourdan, the tandem Blondin and Cirage, the western trio Lucky Luke, Jerry Spring and Pancho, Bizu is in very good company. When Martens, the editor of Spirou, ordered me the cover of the 2000 issue, a double cover in fact since it was reproduced on the front and back, I almost fainted. I was proud as anything. I drew a great Spirou, a kind of Mr. Loyal, surrounded by the main stars of the newspaper. It was a tribute to my colleagues. I tried not to forget any of them. It took me quite a long time, because I had to make sure that each character mentioned was drawn as if he had been drawn by his original creator. J.-C.F.