ROCHETTE

JEAN-MARC ROCHETTE LE TRANSPERCENEIGE (T.1), Casterman 1984 Original plate no. 86, prepublished in (À Suivre) no. 65, June 1983. Signed. India ink, white gouache and graphite on paper. 34.3 × 45.7 cm (13.5 × 17.99 in.) An epidemic spreads aboard the Transperceneige. Taken from the first volume of the saga, this plate shows that Rochette had already made use of "scopes", the famous horizontal boxes he placed at the heart of his narrative. In a highly realistic style borrowed from the American comics of the 1950s, the artist delivers a gallery of portraits sketched from life. A true character study in both foreground and background. It's a chapter opener, a rare plate, almost a collector's item, because it shows the whole Transperceneige. I think there are only ten plates in the whole series where it's depicted this way: they're highly sought-after. J.-M.R.