Richard Peyzaret (March 31, 1946 – April 10, 2018),
better known by his pen name F'Murrr or F'Murr, was a French
cartoonist
A cartoonist is a visual artist who specializes in both drawing and writing cartoons (individual images) or comics (sequential images). Cartoonists differ from comics writers or comics illustrators/artists in that they produce both the litera ...
and
comic book writer
A script is a document describing the narrative and dialogue of a comic book in detail. It is the comic book equivalent of a television program teleplay or a film screenplay.
In comics, a script may be preceded by a plot outline, and is almost al ...
. He was most famous for the long-running series ''
Le Génie des alpages'' (''The Genius of the Mountain Pastures'').
Biography
Peyzaret grew up as an admirer of
Hergé
Georges Prosper Remi (; 22 May 1907 – 3 March 1983), known by the pen name Hergé ( ; ), from the French pronunciation of his reversed initials ''RG'', was a Belgian comic strip artist. He is best known for creating ''The Adventures of T ...
and
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 ...
, but studied Applied Arts for six years in Paris before meeting the
BD industry, by arriving at the workshop of
Raymond Poïvet.
This led to an introduction to
René Goscinny
René Goscinny (; ; 14 August 1926 – 5 November 1977) was a French comic editor and writer, who created the ''Asterix, Astérix'' comic book series with illustrator Albert Uderzo. Born in France to a Jewish family from Poland, he spent his chil ...
and starting work for ''
Pilote
''Pilote'' (), for a while subtitled ''the magazine of Asterix and Obelix'' (French: ''Le Journal D’Astérix et D’Obélix'' ) was a French comics magazine published from 1959 to 1989. Showcasing most of the major Franco-Belgian comics, French ...
'' magazine in 1971, making his debut with the gags series ''Contes à Rebours''. The unused boards of this strip later formed the basis of his first album, ''Au loup!''.
While at ''Pilote'', he began his most famous work, ''Le Génie des alpages'' in 1973. This series features an old and a young shepherd, their talking shepherd's dog, a flock of mad sheep and other abnormal characters behaving unpredictably in alpine surroundings. When ''Pilote'' ceased publication, the series were issued directly into albums.
He also held a long associations with several of the other francophone serial magazines of this period. ''Naphtalène'' was also published in ''Pilote'', ''Porfirio et Gabriel'' in ''Le Canard Sauvage'' and ''
Circus
A circus is a company of performers who put on diverse entertainment shows that may include clowns, acrobats, trained animals, trapeze acts, musicians, dancers, hoopers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, magicians, ventriloquists, and unicy ...
'', ''Jehanne d'Arc'' in ''
Métal Hurlant'', ''Robin des Boîtes'' in ''
Fluide Glacial
''Fluide Glacial'' () is a monthly French comics magazine and a publishing house founded on 1 April 1975 by Gotlib, Alexis and .
Since its foundation, it has featured the work of French and international authors and graphic artists such as , ...
'', and ''Les Mirrois de Marguerite'' and ''Ala et Lolli'' were created for the ''
Spirou'' magazine supplement ''Le Trombone Illustré''.
In 1985 he began the strip ''Histoires Déplacées'' in ''
(À SUIVRE)'' satirizing the ongoing
Soviet
The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
occupation of
Afghanistan
Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...
. These were collected in the 1987 album named ''Le char de l'état dérape sur le sentier de la guerre'' (''The State's Tank Slips on the Path of War'').
A few instances of F'Murrr translated into the English language were printed in ''
Heavy Metal'' and ''
National Lampoon'' magazine in the late 70s.
Eight albums of ''Le Genie des Alpages'' were published in
Norway
Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...
in the 1980s by
A/S Hjemmet-Serieforlaget under the name of ''Ullkorn'', which is a
pun
A pun, also known as a paronomasia in the context of linguistics, is a form of word play that exploits multiple meanings of a term, or of similar-sounding words, for an intended humorous or rhetorical effect. These ambiguities can arise from t ...
on ''"gullkorn"'', a Norwegian word for
aphorism
An aphorism (from Greek ἀφορισμός: ''aphorismos'', denoting 'delimitation', 'distinction', and 'definition') is a concise, terse, laconic, or memorable expression of a general truth or principle. Aphorisms are often handed down by tra ...
- i.e. corn being found as gold (''gull''), or in this instance, wool (''ull'').
The first four albums of "Le Genie des Alpages" were published in
Denmark
Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...
in the 1980s by
Serieforlaget under the name of "Fårfængelighedens marked", which is a pun on "får", the name for sheep, and "Forfængelighedens marked" (
Vanity Fair).
Awards
*1978:
Angoulême International Comics Festival
The Angoulême International Comics Festival (AICF; ) is the second largest comics festival in Europe after the Lucca Comics & Games in Italy, and the third biggest in the world after Lucca Comics & Games and the Comiket of Japan. It has occur ...
,
Best Comic Book for ''Barre-toi de mon herbe''
*1991: Angoulême International Comics Festival,
Humour Award for ''Le pauvre chevalier''
Bibliography
*''Au loup!'' (1974, Minoustchine/Dargaud,
)
*''
Le Génie des alpages'', (1976, Dargaud,
)
*''Le Génie des alpages #2, Comme des bêtes'', (1976, Dargaud,
)
*''Le Génie des alpages #3, Barre-toi de mon herbe'', (1977, Dargaud,
)
*''Le Génie des alpages #4, Un grand silence frisé'', (1978, Dargaud,
)
*''Vingt dieux c'est le synode'' (1979, Artefact,
)
*''Le Génie des alpages #5, Les Intondables'', (1980, Dargaud,
)
*''Jehanne d'Arc #1, Jehanne au pied du mur'', (1980, Casterman,
)
*''Le Génie des alpages #6, Hi-Yo c'est l'écho'', (1981, Dargaud,
)
*''Porfirio et Gabriel'' (1980, Futuropolis,
)
*''Tartine de clous'' (1981, Dargaud,
)
*''Le Génie des alpages #7, Tonnerre... et mille sabots!'', (1983, Dargaud,
)
*''Jehanne d'Arc #2, Tim Galère'', (1985, Casterman,
)
*''Robin des boites'' (1985, Futuropolis,
)
*''Le Génie des alpages #8, Dans les nuages'', (1987, Dargaud,
)
*''Le char de l'état dérape sur le sentier de la guerre'' (1987, Casterman,
)
*''Spirella mangeuse d'écureuils'' (1988, Khani éditions,
)
*''Le Génie des alpages #9, Après nous... le déluge?'', (1989, Dargaud,
)
*''Le pauvre chevalier'' (1990, Casterman,
)
*''Le Génie des alpages #10, Monter, descendre, ça glisse pareil'', (1992, Dargaud,
)
*''Les aveugles'' (1992, Casterman,
)
*''Le Génie des alpages #11, Sabotage et paturage'', (1995, Dargaud,
)
*''Le Génie des alpages #12, Bouge tranquille!'', (1998, Dargaud,
)
*''Éloge de la pentitude'' (2002, Glénat,
)
*''Le Génie des alpages #13, Cheptel Maudit'', (2004, Dargaud,
)
*''Le Génie des alpages #14, ... Courent dans la montagne'', (2007, Dargaud,
ISBN)
Footnotes
References
F'murr publications in ''Pilote''
an
BDoubliées
Bedetheque
External links
on Lambiek Comiclopedia
F'Murrr biography
on Dargaud
Interview
{{DEFAULTSORT:F'Murr
1946 births
2018 deaths
Artists from Paris
French comics artists
French comics writers
French male writers
French surrealist artists
French humorists
French satirists
French satirical comics writers
French satirical comics artists
Pilote