Will - Lot 38

Will WILL ISABELLE Le Grand Bonbon (T.11), Dupuis 1994 Original cover. Signed. Watercolor and India ink on paper 30.5 × 33 cm (12.01 × 12.99 in.) How can we doubt that André Franquin and Yvan Delporte, brilliant, intelligent and avowed free thinkers, have distilled into their stories reflections that speak to their times? In this story, where mischievous korrigans sow havoc that makes life difficult for Isabelle, Hermes, Calendula and their loved ones, our heroes find themselves forced to seek out the followers of the Grand Bonbon, fanatics who intend to impose their faith by force on the rest of humanity, in the city of a hundred thousand idols, where all the world's cults rub shoulders. This caustic, burlesque fable is obviously a satire on religious intolerance, which comes as no surprise from these two close friends of Will's who invented Isabelle for the pleasure of working together. In this rare direct-color cover (there are only twelve Isabelle albums), our heroes ride towards their destiny perched on giant beetles. Will's worlds may be zany and fantastic, but they're always imbued with the good-natured simplicity and poetry that were the hallmarks of this great artist.