Spirou et les hommes-bulles

Graphicnovelbox| title= Spirou et Fantasio #17 Spirou et les hommes-bulles
englishtitle=
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caption=Cover of the Belgian edition
publisher=Dupuis
date=1964
series="Spirou et Fantasio"
origlanguage=French
origpublication="Le Parisien Libéré", "Le Journal de Spirou"
origissues= Unknown, #1272 - #1302
origdate= Late 1958 - 1960 1962 - 1963
origisbn= 2-8001-0019-2
transtitle=
transpublisher=
transdate=
transseriestitle=
transisbn=
translator=
writers=Franquin
artists=Franquin with Jean Roba
colorists=
previssue= "L'ombre du Z", 1962
nextissue= "QRN sur Bretzelburg", 1966

"Spirou et les hommes-bulles", written and drawn by Franquin, is the seventeenth album of the "Spirou et Fantasio" series. The title story appeared sequentially (in black & white) in "Le Parisien Libéré", and only the accompanying story "Les petits formats" was serialised in "Spirou" as well, before both were published in a hardcover album in 1964.

tory

In "Spirou and the Bubble Men", memories of "Le repaire de la murène" are invoked as John Helena, "the Moray", escapes from captivity, and Spirou, Fantasio and the Count suspect he is going after the gold that is still in the wreckage of "Le Discret". A sudden trend of mini-submarine sabotage prompts the heroes to investigate, and the mystery becomes no more clear when Helena is discovered barely conscious, with gold, feebly warning of an attack by the "Bubble Men".

In "The Miniatures", Marsupilami playfully exposes Fantasio's unused film, forcing him to go to Mr.Flashback's photo store to buy replacements. When Spirou next meets Fantasio, he is reduced to a palm-sized, paralyzed miniature statue, which causes Spirou to question his own sanity. In a setting of other similar incidents involving Mr.Flashback, and a suspicious collector of miniatures, Spirou is set on a desperate mission to somehow restore his friend back to normal.

Background

Uniquely, "Spirou et les hommes-bulles" was never published in "Le Journal de Spirou" but only in "Le Parisien Libéré", uncoloured, and subsequently the later colour treatment of the two stories in this album is distinctly different from that of other "Spirou" albums. In comparison to its "prequel", "Le repaire de la murène", hailed for its rich and atmospheric colour-use, it is criticized for falling short in this respect, as well as other, more typical, sequel disgruntlement.

References

* [http://bdoubliees.com/journalspirou/auteurs2/franquin.htm Franquin publications in "Spirou"] BDoubliées fr_icon

External links

* [http://www.spirou.com/spirou/albums.shtml Spirou official site album index] fr_icon
* [http://www.franquin.com/spirou_fantasio/albums_spirou.php Franquin site album index] fr_icon