Comic Art Museum - Brussels

The Aire Libre collection, which is celebrating its 30th anniversary, is a real Ali Baba’s cave. And Philippe Aymond’s new oeuvre is a pure reflection of it. Created in direct colour by a man better known to Spirou readers as the illustrator of the “Lady S” series, Aymond here returns to a humanist script by Pierre Christin, the oh so humble legend of Franco-Belgian comic strips for the past 50 years. A Pierre Christin script is a journey. Whether he is working on “Valérian” with his lifelong friend Jean-Claude Mézières, or with Annie Goetzinger, André Juillard or… Philippe Aymond, Christin depicts a world in movement. His characters, even the futuristic creatures, reflect the natural empathy of the university professor. He has an inquisitive mind and is more than just a remarkable teacher. He is also an extremely readable story-teller with the breath of a marathon-runner. In this work, Philippe Aymond pays tribute to the great man. The Comics Art Museum is delighted to provide him with a showcase for his work.

Jean Auquier, the Comic Strip Center.

From the Great American West to the remotest parts of the communist bloc, scriptwriter Pierre Christin recounts his travels on both sides of the iron curtain, a rare occurrence at the time of the cold war. He talks about meeting eminent authors such as Jean-Claude Mézières (co-author of Valerian), Enki Bilal and Jean Giraud – known as Mœbius. Through his artistic career, he spent time with Jacques Tardi, André Juillard, Annie Goetzinger, François Boucq and Philippe Aymond, and commissioned the latter to illustrate and colour his autobiographical comic strip, which is somewhere between a historical saga and cultural anthology.

From flower power to Chernobyl, the author of early French graphic novels such as L’Étoile oubliée de Laurie Bloom with Enki Bilal and L’Homme qui fait le tour du monde with Philippe Aymond, reveals himself through a personal recount of the second half of the 20^th century. The story is twofold in many respects aSnd mirrors his illustrious artistic career, as depicted by the illustrator of Canal Choc (with Christin) and Lady S.

The things he witnessed through his literary road movie are not recounted with nostalgia but a sense of belonging to an era which, although very definitely in the past, still marks and inspires the life of Pierre Christin. This is a journey which only Philippe Aymond could have illustrated in such a magnificent, powerful way.

So, the journey from West to East is only short. And there is now a book which proves that, at the end of the day, Christin and Aymond make the perfect duo.

Published by Dupuis 

With the Support of the Brussels-Capital Region