PEYO

PEYO BENOÎT BRISEFER Les Taxis rouges (T.1), Dupuis 1962 Original plate no. 27, prepublished in Le Journal de Spirou no. 1199 and 1200, April 6 and 13, 1961. Backgrounds by Will. India ink and graphite on paper 32.4 × 44.9 cm (12.76 × 17.68 in.) Benoît Brisefer is, if anything, a Belgian parody of American superhero stories - he was born the same year as the Fantastic Four - just as Asterix's magic potion is for France, parodying Popeye's spinach. As we all know, he has superhuman strength, except when he's got a cold - that's his very own kryptonite. In this plate, we find Peyo's intrinsic qualities: simple but always original ideas and situations, a character with obvious charisma, and, above all, unrivalled clarity of narration. Franquin used to say of Peyo that you could pick up any one of his plates, step back five meters and still understand what was going on. In Peyo's little theater, the characters are often placed right on the frame, clearly drawn, with a Disney-like roundness. Only Will's sets "swing" in a profusion of detail that's always wise.