Champignac, or specifically Champignac-en-Cambrousse, is a fictional village frequently featured in the adventures of ''

Spirou et Fantasio ''Spirou & Fantasio'' (), commonly shortened to ''Spirou'', is one of the most popular classic Franco-Belgian comics. The series, which has been running since 1938, shares many characteristics with other European comics, European humorous adventu ...

'' by

André Franquin André Franquin (; 3 January 1924 – 5 January 1997) was an influential Belgian comics artist, whose best-known creations are ''Gaston (comics), Gaston'' and ''Marsupilami''. He also produced the ''Spirou et Fantasio'' comic strip from 1946 to ...

and the successive authors. The initial idea of Champignac is attributed to Henri Gillain. The village was introduced in the adventure '' Il y a un sorcier à Champignac'', first published in '' Spirou'' magazine in 1950.

Features

The village is placed in a rural region of

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

(despite the name's suffix suggesting a location in the south of

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

), and is known for its prolific occurrence of

mushroom A mushroom or toadstool is the fleshy, spore-bearing Sporocarp (fungi), fruiting body of a fungus, typically produced above ground on soil or another food source. ''Toadstool'' generally refers to a poisonous mushroom. The standard for the n ...

s. Mainly a farming community, the commune is home to several central and more obscure characters of the ''Spirou'' adventures, most notably the Count of Champignac whose

château A château (, ; plural: châteaux) is a manor house, or palace, or residence of the lord of the manor, or a fine country house of nobility or gentry, with or without fortifications, originally, and still most frequently, in French-speaking re ...

is a prominent fixture of the region. The Mayor of Champignac, Gustave Labarbe, is also a public presence, in statues, billboards and in person. The Mayor's assistant, Duplumier is often seen on his bicycle, and the former pharmacist and town drunk, Dupilon, is frequently visible. Other inhabitants from the wide gallery of secondary characters are Noël, a little boy and friend of the

Marsupilami ''Marsupilami'' is a comic book character and fictional animal species created by André Franquin. Its first appearance was in the 31 January 1952 issue of the Franco-Belgian comics magazine '' Spirou''. Since then it appeared regularly in th ...

, Jérôme the policeman, Jules the who runs the local garage and

filling station A filling station (also known as a gas station [] or petrol station []) is a facility that sells fuel and engine lubricants for motor vehicles. The most common fuels sold are gasoline (or petrol) and diesel fuel. Fuel dispensers are used to ...

, A. Tachetoux (French for "Stains-everything") the bookseller, and Eugene the grocer.

Role

During the course of the ''Spirou'' stories that have taken place in Champignac, the village population as a whole has been exploited as a "victim character" in several of the plots. The ways in which the population has been victimized are: *'' Il y a un sorcier à Champignac'': confused

guinea pigs The guinea pig or domestic guinea pig (''Cavia porcellus''), also known as the cavy or domestic cavy ( ), is a species of rodent belonging to the genus ''Cavia'', family Caviidae. Breeders tend to use the name "cavy" for the animal, but "gui ...

in the Count's mushroom experiments, they turn into an angry lynch-mob. *'' Le voyageur du Mésozoïque'': the village is devastated by a

dinosaur Dinosaurs are a diverse group of reptiles of the clade Dinosauria. They first appeared during the Triassic Geological period, period, between 243 and 233.23 million years ago (mya), although the exact origin and timing of the #Evolutio ...

. *'' Z comme Zorglub'': the villagers are mass-hypnotized into angry, destructive vandals. *'' L'ombre du Z'': the entire population is paralyzed by Zorglub's ''zorglonde'' stunning-ray. *'' Qui arrêtera Cyanure?'': the villagers are being mind-controlled. *'' Le Rayon noir'': the predominantly

white White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

population is turned

black Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...

References

Franquin publications dans ''Le Journal de Spirou''
BDoubliées

External links

Spirou official site albums

Franquin site Spirou albums
Fictional populated places Fictional locations in comics Spirou et Fantasio 1950 in comics Works set in Wallonia André Franquin {{FrancoBelgian-comics-stub