''Gai-Luron'' is a French

comics a Media (communication), medium used to express ideas with images, often combined with text or other visual information. It typically the form of a sequence of Panel (comics), panels of images. Textual devices such as speech balloons, Glo ...

series about a melancholic

basset hound The Basset Hound is a short-legged breed of scent hound. The Basset Hound was developed in Great Britain from several now-extinct strains of France, French basset breeds. It was bred primarily for hunting rabbit and hare on foot, moving slowly en ...

, Gai-Luron, created on 12 July 1964 by

Gotlib Marcel Gottlieb (14 July 1934 – 4 December 2016), known professionally as Gotlib, was a French comics creator and publisher. Through his own work and the magazines he co-founded, '' L'Écho des savanes'' and '' Fluide Glacial'', he was a key ...

.''Gai-Luron ou la joie de vivre'', n°1, p1. Footnote of date of creation by Gotlib Originally published in the Franco-Belgian comics magazines ''Vaillant'' and ''

Pif Gadget ''Pif Gadget'' (also simply known as ''Pif'') was a French comics magazine for children that ran from 1969 to 1993 and 2004 to 2009. Its readership peaked in the early 1970s. Predecessors ''Pif'' has its origins in ''Le Jeune Patriote'', a yout ...

'', the character joined ''Nanar, Jujube et Piette'', which Gotlib had drawn since 1962, but eventually headlined a hit series of its own. The album collection series started in 1975, and the second album, ''Gai-Luron en écrase méchamment'' was awarded the prize for French comical work at the

Angoulême Angoulême (; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''Engoulaeme''; ) is a small city in the southwestern French Departments of France, department of Charente, of which it is the Prefectures of France, prefecture. Located on a plateau overlooking a meander of ...

in 1976.

Synopsis

It follows the

anthropomorphic Anthropomorphism is the attribution of human traits, emotions, or intentions to non-human entities. It is considered to be an innate tendency of human psychology. Personification is the related attribution of human form and characteristics to ...

dog The dog (''Canis familiaris'' or ''Canis lupus familiaris'') is a domesticated descendant of the gray wolf. Also called the domestic dog, it was selectively bred from a population of wolves during the Late Pleistocene by hunter-gatherers. ...

Gai-Luron (whose name can be roughly translated as "Jolly Fellow", which contrasts with Gai-Luron's generally

apathetic Apathy, also referred to as indifference, is a lack of feeling, emotion, interest, or concern about something. It is a state of indifference, or the suppression of emotions such as concern, excitement, motivation, or passion. An apathetic i ...

behaviour), his girlfriend Belle-Lurette and his friend Jujube the

fox Foxes are small-to-medium-sized omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull; upright, triangular ears; a pointed, slightly upturned snout; and a long, bushy tail ("brush"). Twelve species ...

. The plot sometimes involves Gai-Luron and Jujube reading their

fan mail Fan mail is mail sent to a public figure, especially a celebrity, by their admirers or "fan (person), fans". In return for a fan's support and admiration, public figures may send an autographed poster, photo, reply letter, or note thanking the ...

, which is almost always written by the same reader, a little boy named Jean-Pierre Liégeois, or else a friend or relative of his.

Bibliography

Gai-Luron's adventures were published in 10 volumes between 1975 and 1982, and a last one, ''La bataille navale...ou Gai-Luron en slip'', was published as Gotlib's goodbye to the comic strip scene in 1986. * ''Gai-Luron'', collection ''Les Rois du rire'' n°10 (1969, Éditions Vaillant) * 1: ''Gai-Luron ou la joie de vivre'' (1975, Audie) * 2: ''Gai-Luron en écrase méchamment'' (1975, Audie) * 3: ''Gai-Luron rit de se voir beau en ce miroir'' (1976, Audie) * 4: ''Gai-Luron et Jean-Pierre Liegeois '' (1976, Audie) * 5: ''Gai-Luron fait rien qu'à copier'' (1977, Audie) * 6: ''Gai-Luron ce héros au sourire si doux'' (1978, Audie) * 7: ''Gai-Luron s'en tire par une pirouette'' (1979, Audie) * 8: ''Gai-Luron drague comme une bête'' (1980, Audie) * 9: ''Gai-Luron n'engendre pas la mélancolie !'' (1981, Audie) * 10: ''Gai-Luron tire une tronche pas possible'' (1982, Audie) * ''La bataille navale ou Gai-Luron en slip'' (1986, Audie)

References

''Gai-Luron'' publications in ''Vaillant'' and ''Pif''
an

BDoubliées

Bedetheque

Footnotes

External links

Gotlib official site
French comic strips Comics about anthropomorphic dogs Comics about anthropomorphic foxes Anthropomorphic dogs 1964 comics debuts 1986 comics endings Comics characters introduced in 1964 Humor comics Metafictional comics Surreal comedy comics French comics characters Male characters in comics Comics about talking animals {{FrancoBelgian-comics-stub