Sibylline is a Belgian comics series by

Raymond Macherot Raymond Macherot (30 March 1924 – 26 September 2008) was a Belgian cartoonist. Although not nearly as famous as fellow Belgian cartoonists such as Hergé or André Franquin, Macherot's work, both as artist and writer, remains highly regarded am ...

and his second best-known work after ''

Chlorophylle Chlorophylle was 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 C ...

''. Just like the latter, it is a

fantasy comic Fantasy comics have been around as long as comics. The classification "fantasy comics" broadly encompasses illustrated books set in an other-worldly universe or involving elements or actors outside our reality. Fantasy has been a mainstay of fict ...

about anthropomorphic animals in a forest setting. However, here the protagonist is a female mouse named Sibylline.

Concept

Sibylline is a female mouse who lives in the forest ''Bosquet Jojeux'', which is an anthropomorphic version of real city life. Much like ''Chlorophylle'' the stories appear to be a cartoon animal fantasy strip, but in fact have a darker, satirical edge. As the series progressed more fantastical elements started to occur, such as ghosts, wizards and vampires.

Characters

* Sibylline: The star of the series. She is a gentle, clever and brave female mouse, but can be jealous and hot-headed. Originally she lived in a house, but later she moved to the forest. She wears a yellow bonnet and a blue dress. * Taboum: Her dim-witted husband, who is very clumsy and a male version of the

damsel in distress The damsel in distress is a recurring narrative device in which one or more men must rescue a woman who has either been kidnapped or placed in general peril. Kinship, love, or lust (or a combination of those) gives the male protagonist the motiv ...

. Just like her, he is a mouse. * Flouzemaker: A

crow A crow is a bird of the genus ''Corvus'', or more broadly a synonym for all of ''Corvus''. Crows are generally black in colour. The word "crow" is used as part of the common name of many species. The related term " raven" is not pinned scientifica ...

who is a cigar-smoking business man. * Brigadier Verboten: A strict and authoritarian

hedgehog A hedgehog is a spiny mammal of the subfamily Erinaceinae, in the eulipotyphlan family Erinaceidae. There are seventeen species of hedgehog in five genera found throughout parts of Europe, Asia, and Africa, and in New Zealand by introduct ...

who guards the forest. He wears a paper hat and a sheriff's badge. His last name is a pun on the German word for "Forbidden". * Anathème Percemiche: The major antagonist of the series. He is a rat who is related to Anthracite, the antagonist from Macherot's other series, ''Chlorophylle''. Anathème debuted in"Sibylline et l'imposteur". * The small circus: A circus company who frequently travels to Sibylline's home place. It is composed of Gloglo, a

parakeet A parakeet is any one of many small to medium-sized species of parrot, in multiple genera, that generally has long tail feathers. Etymology and naming The name ''parakeet'' is derived from the French wor''perroquet'' which is reflected in ...

who is a

ventriloquist Ventriloquism, or ventriloquy, is a performance act of stagecraft in which a person (a ventriloquist) creates the illusion that their voice is coming from elsewhere, usually a puppeteered prop known as a "dummy". The act of ventriloquism is v ...

; Alphonse a dog who pulls their mobile home forth, Gustave a rabbit who is an equilibrist and Gougoui the mouse, who tames butterflies. * Patakes: A duck who works as a reporter for "La Trompette Fureteuse". * Pantoufle: A cat who tries to eat Sibylline and her friends, but always fails. He was later given his own comics spin-off, under the script of

René Goscinny René Goscinny (, ; 14 August 1926 – 5 November 1977) was a French comic editor and writer, who created the '' Astérix'' comic book series with illustrator Albert Uderzo. Raised largely in Buenos Aires, Argentina, where he attended French sch ...

. * Burokratz: A

vampire A vampire is a mythical creature that subsists by feeding on the Vitalism, vital essence (generally in the form of blood) of the living. In European folklore, vampires are undead, undead creatures that often visited loved ones and caused mi ...

who enjoys stealing cakes. * Zabagor: A white bird who can play the violin. He does this so well that it scares Burokratz the vampire. * Pistolard: A fox who is a magician. * Croque-Monsieur: A

ferret The ferret (''Mustela furo'') is a small, domesticated species belonging to the family Mustelidae. The ferret is most likely a domesticated form of the wild European polecat (''Mustela putorius''), evidenced by their interfertility. Other mu ...

, who is another major antagonist. He is the evilest of all villains and actually murders animals to eat them. His name is a pun on the snack '' Croque-monsieur''.

History

In 1964

left '' Tintin'', where he had drawn ''

'' for many years. Contractually he was unable to take his characters with him, except for the antagonist Anthracite, whom he kept. In 1965 he created the series ''Sybilline'' for the rival magazine '' Spirou''. The tone and atmosphere were very similar to ''Chlorophylle''. Scripts were written by Macherot and

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 Félic ...

. After Macherot quit drawing Taymans took over. The series ran in ''Spirou'' until 1990. In 2006 the series was relaunched by André Taymans and François Corteggiani.

In popular culture

In the Belgian Comic Strip Center in

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

the permanent exhibition brings homage to the pioneers of

Belgian comics Belgian comics are a distinct subgroup in the comics history, and played a major role in the development of European comics, alongside France with whom they share a long common history. While the comics in the two major language groups and regio ...

, among them Raymond Macherot. In the room dedicated to his work, everything is designed to look like a Chlorophylle and Sybilline's underground home in the forest. Sibylline is among the many Belgian comics characters to jokingly have a Brussels street named after them. Since 2007 the Place Saint-Jean/ Sint-Jansplein has a

commemorative plaque A commemorative plaque, or simply plaque, or in other places referred to as a historical marker, historic marker, or historic plaque, is a plate of metal, ceramic, stone, wood, or other material, typically attached to a wall, stone, or other ...

with the name ''Place Sibylline'' placed under the actual street sign.

References

{{Reflist

External links

Sibylline - BD, informations, cotes

Belgian comic strips 1965 comics debuts Comics characters introduced in 1965 1990 comics endings 2006 comics debuts Comics about women Comics about animals Comics about mice and rats Comics set in forests Fantasy comics Adventure comics Humor comics Satirical comics Fictional mice and rats Anthropomorphic animal characters Belgian comics characters Dupuis titles Female characters in comics