Will - Lot 44

Will WILL TIF AND TONDU Tif et Tondu contre La Main Blanche (T.4), Dupuis 1956 Original plate no. 27, prepublished in Le Journal de Spirou n° 885 of March 31, 1955. Signed. India ink and white gouache on paper 36.4 × 49 cm (14.33 × 19.29 in.) A very fine plate from the 4th album, typical of Will's early Tif et Tondu style. He finally succeeded in ridding himself of the guardianship of Fernand Dineur, the creator of the characters, who sold them to Dupuis after trying to publish them in Héroïc-Albums for thirteen episodes in 1949. Dineur held the script reins until 1951, forcing Will to draw his characters without touching them too much: Tondu absolutely had to have seven locks of hair, not one more! This is Rosy's first story, written as part of his duties at Dupuis, where he was employed as an "idea contributor". The story begins in Tokyo on a Navy ship. This is to be expected: under American occupation since 1945, Japan has only just resumed governance of its country, which was still under American trusteeship in 1954. Our heroes' journey ends in San Francisco, with a certain Marilyn Scarol - a contraction of the surnames of Marilyn Monroe and Martine Carol, the most famous French actress before Brigitte Bardot - traveling with them. This journey between Japan and the USA is explained by the international nature of the mafia association La Main Blanche, whose deus ex machina we'll soon discover: Choc!