Spirou & Fantasio Book 5: The Marsupilama Thieves

Spirou & Fantasio Book 5: The Marsupilama Thieves by Franquin, Cinebook

AFTER COMMENCING their English translations of Spirou & Fantasio with contemporary stories by Tome & Janry that have proved popular on the continent, Cinebook feel secure enough to dip into the past and bring us a less sophisticated work, but one from the series’ classic period when the celebrated cartoonist Franquin was involved and increasing its popularity.

First published in 1958, and taken from an idea by one Joe Almo, Franquin had the intrepid reporters return to the scene of the crime as it were, for in a previous adventure in the Palombian jungle they had discovered a rare mammal known as a marsupilama, and as this story opens they go to visit it at the zoo. Not all is well though, and the creature dies. Or at least appears to, for it is a ruse and when they go to locate the body that vanishes! Believing it still hidden within the zoo they wait at night and discover the thief hidden now trying to escape with the marsupilama in a bag, a chase of the Keystone Cops variety ensues but the man escapes. So tremendous were the feats performed they assume him to be an athlete, and they are right as they later find out, but not before more obvious clues lead to the man’s family and our heroes discover the thief was forced to do it because he was desperate for money. Thus the first part of the book ends, and Spirou & Fantasio a month later have driven to Magna where the athletic thief is now a professional soccer player, regrets his past deed and admits that he sold the creature to a circus. Thereafter part two’s comedy of errors ensues.

I give little away with these plot details, it is the gentle comedy that’s played out sequentially that takes us along, Franquin’s actual character drawings during this period are seemingly influenced by American newspaper strips like Blondie; the charm of the series being the affinity readers will have for the lead characters and the premise of this series wherein people are not bad, but misunderstood or make poor decisions that can be made good upon. As a series originally intended for the young, but enjoyed by all ages, these good moral tales, without preaching, show their worth and while a little dated this book remains a good enough read.

The feature in the book about how Spirou & Fantasio developed as a series proves rather interesting, as it will if Cinebook continue to dip into other stories from the past by different creators.

For more information Spirou & Fantasio visit Cinebook.

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