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Last week, belgian comics icon André-Paul Duchâteau passed away at the the age of 95.

Duchâteau was most known for his scenarios for Ric Hochet (drawn by Tibet), but he wrote scenarios for many, many more comics. He worked with artists like Grzegorz Rosinski, Christian Denayer, William Vance and many others – with some he worked on long running series, for others he made a few loose stories. He also was chief editor of Journal Tintin (from 1976 onwards).

In the very beginning of Cosey’s career, in 1971, André-Paul Duchâteau wrote three scenarios for him. They were stories for ‘Monfreyd & Tilbury’, three stories of only 8 pages, that were published in the belgian newspaper ‘Le Soir’. Some of these stories were later included in ‘Super Tintin’ collections.

André-Paul Duchâteau was one of these last surviving comic giants who laid the foundations of the vivid belgian (and french) comics culture in the late 1940/1950s.

As you could read on ‘The World of Cosey’, Galerie Barbier in Paris will host a Cosey exposition this september.

On this occasion, Éditions Barbier will publish a luxury album with black-and-white versions of the following stories: Le Voyage en Italie, Orchidea, Saïgon-Hanoï and Joyeux Noël, May!

A second volume will contain the other ‘Aire Libre’ albums made by Cosey.

Details:

• 350 copies, numbered and signed
• September 2020
• Format: 320 pages, 23 x 30 cm
• Price: 150 euros

Visit the site of Galerie Barbier.

Like everyone else, the annual comic festival in Lausanne, BDFIL, suffers from restrictions due to corona. They came up with some nice ideas to have at least some buzz around comics.

One of them is to display works of artists on posters in the streets of Lausanne.

On 8 August, Swiss newspaper 24Heures published an article about these (and other) posters, that can be read here.

On the website of BDFIL, you can the program of this years festival: click here.

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Thanks to Philippe Regottaz

Lombard recently published this print, a picture taken from ‘À la recherche de Peter Pan’. Size: A4.

I couldn’t find more information about the print, so my swiss correspondent and I think it is a print meant for relations of the publisher.

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Thanks to Bernard Matthey-Doret

Last 14 June, Cosey celebrated his 70th birthday. As a birthday present, his friend François Matille offered him a flight in a bi-plane over the Swiss Alps.

You will remember those first pages of the first Jonathan album, when Jonathan jumps from a yellow plane to land in the Himalayan mountains. 45 years later, Cosey follows his hero… More or less: he didn’t jump out of the plane, instead, he made a looping.

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Thanks to Bernard Matthey-Doret

Big news: Cosey is working on a 17th episode of Jonathan.

He told me this 17th album will be the ultimate final Jonathan, that concludes the series. After Jonathan 16 (Cell qui fut), Cosey also thought it would be de closing episode, but since then, he got ideas for a better end to the Jonathan saga.

As always, Cosey is very cautious to reveal any secrets about the story of an album he is working on. But we can expect a story playing in Ladakh and Tibet, that brings back four characters from previous albums.

We need some patience to know the full story: the planning is to publish the album at the end of 2021. Publisher: Lombard.

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Thanks to Thomas Geertz and Cosey

From 4 September till 3 October, Galerie Barbier in Paris will have a Cosey exposition. Title of the expo: Même poursuivi le papillon jamais ne semble pressé (‘Even chased, the butterfly doesn’t seem to be hurried’).

The exposition will be centered around three albums of the Aire Libre collection (published by Dupuis): Le Voyage en Italie, Orchidea and Joyeux Noël, May!. More than 100 drawings will be on show.

And… this is not all! Barbier will publish the Aire Libre albums in black-and-white editions (two album containing all the stories). A limited edition.

This september: Volume 1 – Le Voyage en Italie, Orchidea, Joyeux Noël, May! and Hanoï-Saigon.

In 2022, the other Aire Libre albums will follow in Volume 2 (Zeke raconte des histoires, Une maison de Frank L. Wright and Le Bouddha d’Azur).

Galerie Barbier (website)
10 rue Choron, 75009 Paris.

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Thanks to Claude Stern and Bernard Matthey-Doret
Thanks to Cosey for the corrections

‘Old news’: in 2018, this poster was published to celebrate the 50th issue of the magazine Transhelvetica. I think it is one of the best ‘À la recherche de Peter Pan’-posters that exists, because it is so clean.

And: the poster is still for sale in de shop of Transhelvetica: click here.

The drawing has not been used for a cover of the magazine, but while I checked this, I saw this one, that is a funny image rhyme to Cosey’s drawing.

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Thanks to Cuno Affolter

‘Hun – ti tusind ildfluer’, that is how the fourteenth Jonathan album is called in danish. The release date is not yet precisely announced, but publisher Forlaget Fabel expects to release the album in september/october of this year.

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Thanks to Thomas Geertz

In 1991, Cosey made the drawing for this wall painting in Morges. In 2016, I got the photo below, of the painting damaged by graffiti hooligans.

The good news: Ivan Micello, who made the wall painting in Pully, has got the commission to restore this fresco to its original glory. The work will be executed this summer.

Ivan Micello and Cosey have finished the work on the mural in Pully. Cosey helped a last day to make some corrections and sign the work, of course.

I admire the works on the fresco – while it is a huge enlargement of the original drawing, the painters have managed to maintain the typical line of Cosey. I also like the subtility of the work – see for example the three slightly different hues of blue that have been used for sky, mountains and lake, no shortcuts here!

Below, you see a panorama of the painting, a collage of different photos. Click on the image for a larger version!

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Thanks to Ivan Micello

Pictures of yesterday’s progress. Ivan Micello told me he needed one more day to finish the painting – only some slight corrections. The whole painting will be covered with an anti-graffiti coating.

On the picture below, you see the painters at work.

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Thanks to Ivan Micello

This is the drawing made by Cosey for the mural in Pully. You see that the road goes up on the left side (or goes down, depending how you look at it).

Click on the image and you will see a larger version on a new tab.

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Thanks to Ivan Micello

Daily progress pictures of Ivan Micello. The wall painting becomes more and more colourful!

I didn’t know these YouTube-broadcasts, but I enjoyed no. 32 of the Journal de la BD, made by Pal Degome. A ‘Spécial Confinement’ with an interview with Cosey.

Links to the interview, click here.

Link to all ‘Journal de la BD’ by Pal Degome: click here.