In honor of the ongoing Tour de France, here's a taste of a classic Spirou & Fantasio story newly available in English, A Head for Crime by André Franquin (La Mauvaise Tête, 1956, 54pp).
Let's start from the beginning:
Fantasio is being a big drama queen as usual. His personality has changed a lot through the series' run, but "excitable" remains a constant characteristic. By the way, the "Mosquito" is Le Moustique, a real Belgian news/celebrity/lifestyle magazine now known as Télémoustique, from the same publisher as Spirou magazine.
Also, Spirou and Fantasio apparently live apart in this story. In the early years of Franquin's run, Spirou had an apartment and Fantasio lived in the house seen here. At some point, Spirou moved in with him, and they've been sharing that house at least up until Machine Qui Reve (1998).
Anyway, Spirou and Fantasio get into an argument over racquetball and part in a huff. Later that evening, Spirou is walking around Brussels:
I love Franquin's depiction of Brussels on an apparently quite chilly 1950s summer evening. Some stylish fashions, too! Also, if you look closely you'll notice that when Fantasio snubs him, Spirou drops the newspaper he was carrying in shock.
While the police are taking down statements, Fantasio shows up, and the goldsmith identifies him as the robber! Fantasio denies it, giving an alibi Spirou knows is completely false. After the police let them go, they have another argument, leaving Spirou hurt and confused:
Again, the top-modern TV models in the shop window (and the fact that people hang around outside an electrical appliances store to watch TV) serve to date the story.
Fantasio is now wanted by the police, but he insists to Spirou that he has been framed. Spirou investigates and manages to track down the real robbers, but they escape with the loot and most of the evidence.
Spirou and a fugitive Fantasio pursue the criminals to the south of France, but a dogged police inspector is on their trail. To evade the law, Spirou has an idea: Fantasio should hide in the crowd of Tour de France riders! But things don't turn out entirely according to plan:
Fantasio is captured, and the cops want to arrest Spirou too, for assisting a fugitive. However, he makes a break for it and gets away. The rest of the story has Spirou confronting the robbers and trying to get the evidence that can clear Fantasio's name.
The last time I posted Spirou scans, I said that Eurobooks didn't respond to online orders. Well, they seem to have got their act together since then, working with the most excellent Granth Book Shop, and I was able to get all 12 books sent to the US. (Although it did involve wiring the payment through Western Union.)
The books are quite nice on the whole. Softcover on glossy paper, apparently working from the latest French-language editions (judging by the coloring and the inclusion of front-page art from the original magazine installments). However, the typesetting leaves quite a lot to be desired. Newspapers are set like speech balloons, in a total mess of type. The translation isn't up to Kim Thompson's work on Z is for Zorglub, either. And purists should be aware that most names have been changed, for example Champignac --> Culdesac (that one is quite funny, in my opinion), Marsupilami --> Beastie(!), Seccotine --> Snoopie, and Zantafio --> Pathetico. And in something of a blasphemy, "Beastie" no longer goes "Houba Hop!", but "Gleep Gloop!" instead. Still, it's a lot better than nothing.