Raymond Macherot (30 March 1924 – 26 September 2008) was a Belgian comics artist, most famous for his satirical

funny animal Talking animals are a common element in mythology and folk tales, children's literature, and modern comic books and animated cartoons. Fictional talking animals often are anthropomorphic, possessing human-like qualities (such as bipedal walk ...

series ''

Chlorophylle Chlorophylle is a Belgian comics series and Raymond Macherot's best known work, alongside '' Sibylline''. It is a fantasy comic about anthropomorphic forest animals, including the title character Chlorophylle, who is a dormouse. Description ...

'' and ''

Sibylline Sibylline is a Belgian comics series by Raymond Macherot and his second best-known work after ''Chlorophylle''. Just like the latter, it is a fantasy comic about anthropomorphic animals in a forest setting. However, here the protagonist is a fem ...

''. Although not nearly as famous as fellow Belgian cartoonists such as

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 ...

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 ...

, Macherot's work, both as artist and writer, remains highly regarded among critics and collectors.

Biography

The ''Tintin'' years

Raymond Macherot was born in

Verviers Verviers (; ) is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Liège, Belgium. The municipality consists of the following districts: Ensival, Heusy, Lambermont, Petit-Rechain, Stembert, and Verviers. It is also the cent ...

, Belgium in 1924. He wanted to become a journalist or a painter but, for financial reasons, he became an illustrator and comics artist.De Weyer, Geert (2005). "Raymond Macherot". In België gestript, pp. 137–138. Tielt: Lannoo. Following the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, Macherot began his career producing a few cartoons in the style of

Virgil Partch Virgil Franklin Partch (October 17, 1916 – August 10, 1984), who generally signed his work Vip,Virgil F ...

for the satirical weekly ''Pan'', under the pseudonym "Zara". In 1953, he joined the Franco-Belgian comics magazine ''

Tintin Tintin usually refers to: * ''The Adventures of Tintin'', the comics series by Belgian cartoonist Hergé ** Tintin (character), the protagonist and titular character of the series Tintin or Tin Tin may also refer to: Material related to ''The A ...

'', where he wrote a scenario for Fred Funcken's ''Le chevalier blanc'' and made numerous illustrations and magazine covers. In 1954, Macherot created the series ''

'', featuring

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 ...

animals. Macherot sets his first adventures in the countryside, where Chlorophylle, a

dormouse A dormouse is a rodent of the family Gliridae (this family is also variously called Myoxidae or Muscardinidae by different taxonomists). Dormice are nocturnal animals found in Africa, Asia, and Europe. They are named for their long, dormant hibe ...

, and his best friend Minimum, try to defeat animal villains often much bigger than themselves, typically led by the megalomaniac rat, Anthracite. With ''Les croquillards'' (1957), Macherot placed his characters on the island of Croquefredouille, a fictitious country populated entirely with "civilized" animals, complete with technology, police, government, and so on. The action surrounds the introduction (by Anthracite, of course) of carnivorous animals to the island (the 'croquillards' of the title). The story is darkly comic, with many characters ending up as gourmet meals for the predators. Strangely, Macherot's publisher,

Le Lombard Le Lombard (), known as Les Éditions du Lombard () until 1989, is a Belgian comic book publisher established in 1946 when '' Tintin'' magazine was launched. Le Lombard became part of Média-Participations since 1986, alongside publishers Darg ...

, refused to release the ''Croquefredouille'' stories in book form until 1980. Alternatively, in 1959, Macherot created '' Colonel Clifton'', a series about a retired

MI5 MI5 ( Military Intelligence, Section 5), officially the Security Service, is the United Kingdom's domestic counter-intelligence and security agency and is part of its intelligence machinery alongside the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6), Gov ...

detective. He did three books worth of material, all the while continuing ''Chlorophylle'', before calling it quits and moving to '' Spirou'' magazine, run by competitor-publisher

Dupuis Éditions Dupuis S.A. () is a Belgium, Belgian publisher of comic albums and magazines. Based in Marcinelle near Charleroi, Dupuis is mostly famous for its comic comics album, albums and magazines. Initially a French language publisher, it now ...

retained the rights to Macherot's abandoned series. ''Chlorophylle'' was taken up with mild success by successive teams of authors, notably

Dupa Luc Dupanloup, more famous under his pen name Dupa, was a Belgian 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 Pa ...

Greg Greg is a masculine given name, and often a shortened form of the given name Gregory. Greg (sometimes spelled " Gregg") is also a surname. People with the name *Greg Abbott (disambiguation), multiple people *Greg Abel (born 1961/1962), Canadian b ...

, as well as Walli and

Bob de Groot Robert de Groot (26 October 1941 – 17 November 2023) was a Belgian comic books artist and writer. Career While still a young art student de Groot got his first comics experience as an assistant to Maurice Tillieux on ''Félix''. He began cr ...

. As for ''Clifton'', Turk &

De Groot De Groot () is a surname of Dutch origin. Translating as "the great/big/large/tall" it originated as a nickname for a big or tall person. Closer to ''Chlorophylle'', ''

'', featured a female mouse and her fiancé Taboum. Many books have been published in this series, which enjoyed some success. From 1972 to 1976,

Paul Deliège Paul Deliège (21 January 1931 – 7 July 2005) was a Belgian artist and writer of comics. He is most famous for his series ''Bobo''. Biography Deliège was born in Olne. He started in the daily ''Le Soir'' with ''Père Bricole et Félici ...

wrote the scenarios for ''Sibylline''. Macherot ended the series upon his retirement in 1990. Other series created by Macherot for ''Spirou'' include ''Pantoufle'' (with

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 ...

), '' Mirliton'' (with

Raoul Cauvin Raoul Cauvin (; 26 September 1938 – 19 August 2021) was a Belgian comics author and one of the most popular in the humorist field. Biography Raoul Cauvin was born in Antoing, Belgium in 1938.De Weyer, Geert (2005). "Raoul Cauvin". In België ...

), and as scenarist on ''Mulligan'' with

Yvan Delporte Yvan Delporte (24 June 1928 – 5 March 2007) was a Belgian comics writer, and was editor-in-chief of '' Spirou'' magazine between 1955 and 1968 during a period considered by many the golden age of Franco-Belgian comics. He is credited with seve ...

and ''

Isabelle Isabel is a female name of Iberian origin. Isabelle is a name that is similar, but it is of French origin. It originates as the medieval Spanish form of '' Elisabeth'' (ultimately Hebrew ''Elisheba''). Arising in the 12th century, it became popul ...

'', with Delporte and

. In the 1990s, ''Chaminou'' was revived, first by the team of

Yann Lepennetier Yann is a French unisex given name, specifically, the Breton form of "Jean" (French for "John"). Notable persons with the name Yann include: __NOTOC__ In arts and entertainment *Yann Martel (born 1963), Canadian author *Yann Moix (born 1968), Fr ...

and

Denis Bodart Denis may refer to: People * Saint Denis of Paris, 3rd-century Christian martyr and first bishop of Paris * Denis the Areopagite, Biblical figure * Denis, Bishop of Győr (13th century), Hungarian prelate * Denis, son of Ampud (died 1236), baron ...

, and later by

Olivier Saive Olivier is the French form of the given name Oliver. It may refer to: * Olivier (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Olivier (surname), a list of people * Château Olivier, a Bordeaux winery *Olivier, Louisiana, a rural popula ...

, who completely redrew and augmented ''Chaminou et le Khrompire'' under Macherot's supervision, splitting it in two volumes. As for ''Sibylline'', the series was revived in 2006 by

André Taymans André — sometimes transliterated as Andre — is the French and Portuguese language, Portuguese form of the name Andrew and is now also used in the English-speaking world. It used in France, Quebec, Canada and other French language, French-spe ...

for new adventures, also under Macherot's supervision. Raymond Macherot died on the night of 25 and 26 September 2008 in his sleep.''Le Figaro''
announces the death of Macherot

Themes

Although superficially gentle and innocent looking, many of Macherot's strips are darker, and certainly more violent and

ambiguous Ambiguity is the type of meaning in which a phrase, statement, or resolution is not explicitly defined, making for several interpretations; others describe it as a concept or statement that has no real reference. A common aspect of ambiguit ...

than they may seem. The main theme in his work is the struggle for

survival Survival or survivorship, the act of surviving, is the propensity of something to continue existing, particularly when this is done despite conditions that might kill or destroy it. The concept can be applied to humans and other living things ...

. In Macherot's world, animals live in a society of their own, and species must learn to coexist together peacefully. Macherot's typical way to achieve this is to make

vegetarianism Vegetarianism is the practice of abstaining from the Eating, consumption of meat (red meat, poultry, seafood, insects as food, insects, and the flesh of any other animal). It may also include abstaining from eating all by-products of animal slau ...

mandatory for all. As a result, his villains are often natural

predator Predation is a biological interaction in which one organism, the predator, kills and eats another organism, its prey. It is one of a family of common List of feeding behaviours, feeding behaviours that includes parasitism and micropredation ...

s who choose to ignore the law of the land. Additionally, Macherot's intrigues often veer into the political, particularly during the so-called "Croquefredouille cycle" as well as in ''Chaminou et le Khrompire'', and the subject of

war War is an armed conflict between the armed forces of states, or between governmental forces and armed groups that are organized under a certain command structure and have the capacity to sustain military operations, or between such organi ...

is alluded to in many of his stories.

Bibliography

Not all of Macherot's stories have been published in book form. When they were, they were not necessarily published in chronological order. This is particularly true with ''Chlorophylle''. This list shows the original magazine publication order. The years indicate the initial publication date for each book. Also note that most of these books have recently been reissued in collected hardback editions, with extensive notes and biographical details.

''Chlorophylle''

# ''Chlorophylle contre les rats noirs'' (

, 1956) # ''Chlorophylle et les conspirateurs'' (Le Lombard, 1956) # ''Pas de salami pour Célimène!'' (Le Lombard, 1957) # ''Le Bosquet hanté'' (Le Lombard 1957) # ''Les Croquillards'' ( Glénat, 1977). This begins the so-called "Croquefredouille cycle". # ''Zizanion le terrible'' (Glénat, 1977) # ''Le retour de Chlorophylle'' (Le Lombard, 1961). This is a break in the cycle. # ''La revanche d'Anthracite'' (Le Lombard, 1964). This ends the "Croquefredouille cycle". # ''Le furet gastronome'' (Le Lombard, 1970) # ''Chloro à la rescousse'' (Le Lombard, 1971)

''Clifton''

# ''Les enquêtes du colonel Clifton'' (Le Lombard, 1959) # ''Clifton à New-York'' (Le Lombard, 1960) # ''Clifton et les espions'' (Le Lombard, 1963)

''Chaminou''

* ''Chaminou et le Khrompire'' (

, 1965) * ''La peur du loup'' ( Marsu, 1992), story by Macherot and Olivier Saive, art by Saive In addition, Macherot is credited with the following Chaminou books but has not contributed to the story or art: * ''L'affaire Carotassis'' (Marsu, 1991), story by

Yann Yann is a French unisex given name, specifically, the Breton form of "Jean" (French for " John"). Notable persons with the name Yann include: __NOTOC__ In arts and entertainment * Yann Martel (born 1963), Canadian author * Yann Moix (born 1968 ...

, art by Denis Bodart * ''La main verte'' (Marsu, 1993), by Olivier Saive * ''L'opuscule sans scrupule'' (Marsu, 1995), by Olivier Saive

''Sibylline''

# ''Sibylline et la betterave'' (Dupuis, 1967) # ''Sibylline en danger'' (Dupuis, 1969) # ''Sibylline et les abeilles'' (Dupuis, 1971) # ''Sibylline et le petit cirque'' (Dupuis, 1974) # ''Sibylline s'envole'' (Dupuis, 1975), story by

# ''Sibylline et les cravates noires'' (Dupuis, 1977), story by Paul Deliège # ''Elixir le magnifique'' (Dupuis, 1979) # ''Burokratz le vampire'' (Dupuis, 1982) # ''Le chapeau magique'' (Dupuis, 1983) # ''Le violon de Zagabor'' (Dupuis, 1984) # ''Sibylline et le Kulgude'' (Dupuis, 1985) Later Sibylline stories have not seen publication in book form, though they were published in ''Spirou'' magazine. New Sibylline stories are currently being produced by

. Macherot receives credit on the cover though his actual involvement is unclear. * ''Sibylline et la ligue des coupe-jarrets'' (Flouzemaker, 2006), by André Taymans

''Mirliton''

* ''Mirliton'' (Dupuis, 1980), story by

. This is #4 in the series ''Les meilleurs récits du Journal Spirou''.

''Isabelle''

* ''Le tableau enchanté'' (Dupuis, 1972), story by Macherot and

, art by

Will Will may refer to: Common meanings * Will and testament, instructions for the disposition of one's property after death * Will (philosophy), or willpower * Will (sociology) * Will, volition (psychology) * Will, a modal verb - see Shall and will ...

* ''Isabelle et le capitaine'' (Dupuis, 1983), story by Macherot and Yvan Delporte, art by Will * ''Les maléfices de l'oncle Hermès'' (Dupuis, 1978), story by Macherot, Franquin and Yvan Delporte, art by Will * ''L'astragale de Cassiopée'' (Dupuis, 1979), story by Macherot, Franquin and Yvan Delporte, art by Will

Compilations

* ''Spécial Clifton'' (Le Lombard, 1981). Collects the three Clifton stories by Macherot. * ''Chlorophylle à Croquefredouille'' (Le Lombard, 1998). Collects the Chlorophylle stories from the "Croquefredouille cycle". This is #7 in the series ''Les classiques du rire''. * ''Clifton'' (Niffle, 2004). A pocket-sized, black-and-white compilation of the three Clifton stories by Macherot.

Books about Macherot

* ''Macherot: une monographie'' (Mosquito, 1998). Features an interview, various critical texts, and many previously unreleased drawings. * ''À propos de Macherot'' (À propos, 2005)

References

External links

Raymond Macherot biography
on Lambiek Comiclopedia {{DEFAULTSORT:Macherot, Raymond 1924 births 2008 deaths People from Verviers Belgian comics artists Belgian comics writers Belgian humorists Belgian satirists Belgian satirical comics writers Belgian satirical comics artists Belgian animal artists Tintin (magazine) people Spirou (magazine) people