Page 47 - Studio Internatinal - October 1974

land on his feet. His only weak point, if he has creator, Morris, critics have said that his Dalton is shot in a duel because he has had a
one, is to underestimate others. Herge's parodies of the Western style were a sleepless night; Luke had slipped a gnat into
primitive people are consistently presented as demystifying exercise. It may be Jacobs's epic his bedroom.
very dumb and very childish. Put in two lines, style that he aims to imitate: 'The dead Micheline van Lier
Herge's equation would go something like this: silence was broken only by the noise coming
everybody is childlike, except Tintin, who from the undertaker's shop. A sinister noise of
alone looks it. hammer and saw. Inquisitive onlookers at their
In Jacobs's cartoons, the two main heroes, windows braced themselves for the macabre
Captain Blake and Professor Mortimer are a spectacle. At last, the fateful stroke of twelve
modest pair: bravery and science unite against noon was heard.' Lucky Luke fights like a
strength, fear, human and inhuman monsters of Belgian: cheerfully and competently. But his
the totalitarian type. The structure of Jacobs's experience of over powerful enemies has shown
pictures is interesting: very static, yet by no the Belgian how to take advantage of their weak
means lifeless. A comparison with Jacobs's spots. Phil de Fer, the outlaw, is superstitious.
early model, Alex Raymond, proves a revealing That is where Luke will strike. His adventures (Opposite page) From 'The crab with the golden claws'
exercise. The dynamics of Jacobs's drawings lie are an apt illustration of the sort of by Hergé Published in England by Methuen Children's
Books Ltd.
in his use of diagonal lines without ever sinking resourcefulness that helps the weakest come
(Below) Cover of 'Les Cousins Dalton' by Morris
into a third dimension, his is a flat world. out on top, even with weaker weapons. Averell Published by Dupuis
Raymond's world has depth, and his anxiety
makes one sweat. Jacobs's universe, though flat,
is impressive, and anxiety there is only the
product of a sense of disproportion. The enemy
dwarfs everything else and is colossal to the
point of abstraction, a psychoanalytical figure
of the legal and paternal type. Terror originates
from a flat process, that of retribution. The only
possible passion is ambition. No women there
either, but a world of busy bees. This powerful
universe is paternal but can be maternal;
taking shape of final destruction — thunder-
storms, apocalyptic disasters, threat of a return
to chaos. God may dwarf us, but at least
represents culture, and this should be dutifully
preserved. (In the rubble of destroyed London,
the public monuments still stand erect.) The
heroes are puny, submissive pawns, and if they
escape from bondage their only choice on the
road to emancipation is treason; this causes
Jacobs's language to be epic. As in the 'Iliad',
certain names are inseparable from their
epithets, as in 'lugubrious ululation', or 'the
orgulous city'. Perpetually egged on by duty,
the hero is the witness of great revelations.
'At last, the storm subsided, and presently the
moon flooded the bay with its silvery light.
Suddenly, like a hawk, the hunter dived upon
his prey...' It is as if we heard the reports of
messengers in the great tragedies.
The Schtroumpfs' predicament is that they
have to defend themselves against their too
eager curiosity, such as their desire to fly or
to become sorcerers as well as against powers
stronger than themselves. The final achievement
consists in their returning to earth: starting with
sorcerers' concoctions, a Schtroumpf ends up
inventing cooking recipes. Gaston Lagaffe is in
constant battle with the rules of society. In a
way, he is a disciple of Marcuse without
suspecting it. Not only do the others tolerate
him, but they fail to overcome the passive
resistance of this ingenious jack-of-all-trades. A
word should be said about the anti-hero. Lucky
Luke, the cowboy, is a modern knight-errant,
just as Tintin was the boy-scout, and Blake and
Mortimer the dutiful sons. Lucky Luke, for his
part, is lucky and never worries: 'Everything's
gonna be OK and, boy, isn't this fun!' Of his
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