“Spirou and Fantasio” is a Franco-Belgian comic,
mostly associated with Franquin, who wrote and illustrated the albums during
the comic's “golden” age. The parallels to Hergé's “The Adventures of Tintin”
are pretty obvious, as both comics feature a brave but boyish reporter, his
comic relief partner, an intelligent pet, a distracted scientist, recurring
villains and even a fictitious Latin American nation. Overall, however,
Tintin's bravados seem more realistic than Spirou's and Fantasio's. Ironically,
the most popular character in Franquin's comic is a non-human creature: the
egg-laying monkey-like “Marsupilami”, which eventually got its own spin off.
“The Dictator and the Mushroom” is set in Palombia, the previously mentioned faux nation, where the main heroes get stuck as they attempt to return Marsupilami to his native jungle. They discover that Fantasio's crafty cousin Zantafio has somehow managed to take power in Palombia through a military putsch and is plotting the invasion of a neighboring nation. Both Nazi and Latino stereotypes abound as Spirou, Fantasio and the female reporter Seccotine attempt to stop Zantafio with the aid of a secret gas made from rare Belgian mushrooms…
The plot isn't bad, as comic albums go, but unfortunately there's just too much slapstick. A large part of the “plot” isn't even set in Palombia, but revolves around Marsupilami's mischief in Spirou's and Fantasio's Belgian home town. But sure, stuff like this is really for kids, not adults. Eventually, I give the dictator and his mushroom nemesis three stars.
Incidentally, this is the French-language version. The English ditto is due to be published later this year.
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