''Franquin's Last Laugh'' (french: Idées noires: Dark thoughts) is a collection of

black comedy Black comedy, also known as dark comedy, morbid humor, or gallows humor, is a style of comedy that makes light of subject matter that is generally considered taboo, particularly subjects that are normally considered serious or painful to discus ...

comic strips drawn by

André Franquin André Franquin (; 3 January 1924 – 5 January 1997) was an influential Belgian comics artist, whose best-known creations are '' Gaston'' and ''Marsupilami''. He also produced the ''Spirou et Fantasio'' comic strip from 1946 to 1968, a period s ...

, written by Franquin and

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 ...

. The one-page stories first appeared frequently in 1977, in the brief run of the '' Spirou'' magazine supplement, ''Le Trombone illustré''. After this initiative was cancelled, ''Idées noires'' resumed publication in the magazine ''

Fluide Glacial ''Fluide Glacial'' () is a monthly Franco-Belgian comics magazine and a publishing house founded on 1 April 1975 by Gotlib, Alexis and . It's one of the most successful comics magazine in France, along with Métal Hurlant. Since its foundation, ...

'', upon

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

's suggestion, where it remained a fixture until 1983. The first album was published in 1981, and a sequel in half-page format was published in 1984. As the title ''Idées noires'' might suggest, these stories explore depressive and horrific fantasies, all drawn with dramatic use of black on white. Suicide, execution, industrial recklessness, ecological disaster and hunting accidents are some of the themes darkly illustrated in this body of work. It's also notable for its stances against

nuclear energy Nuclear energy may refer to: *Nuclear power, the use of sustained nuclear fission or nuclear fusion to generate heat and electricity * Nuclear binding energy, the energy needed to fuse or split a nucleus of an atom *Nuclear potential energy ...

, the

death penalty Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that t ...

, game

hunting Hunting is the human activity, human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, or killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to harvest food (i.e. meat) and useful animal products (fur/hide (skin), hide, ...

and

war War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...

. The series contrasts sharply with Franquin's other comic strips such as ''

Gaston Lagaffe ''Gaston'' is a Belgian gag-a-day comic strip created in 1957 by the Belgian cartoonist André Franquin in the Franco-Belgian comics magazine '' Spirou''. The series focuses on the everyday life of Gaston Lagaffe (whose surname means "the blund ...

'', ''

Spirou et Fantasio ''Spirou & Fantasio'' (french: Spirou et Fantasio, wa, Spirou eyet Fantasio) is one of the most popular classic Franco-Belgian comics. The series, which has been running since 1938, shares many characteristics with other European comics, European ...

'' and the ''

Marsupilami ''Marsupilami'' is a comic book character and fictional animal species created by André Franquin. Its first appearance was in the 31 January 1952 issue of the Franco-Belgian comics magazine '' Spirou''. Since then it appeared regularly in the ...

'', although a dark touch occasionally surfaced in other later work such as the ''Gaston Lagaffe'' strip for

Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says it has more than ten million members and sup ...

(published in ''Cauchemarrants'', 1979). A few pages were translated in

Kitchen Sink Kitchen sink may refer to: * ''Freaks of Nature'' (film), a 2015 comedy horror film, also known as ''Kitchen Sink'' * ''Kitchen Sink'', a 1989 horror short directed by Alison Maclean * ''Kitchen Sink'' (TV series), cookery series on Food Network ...

's short-lived comics magazine "French Ticklers" under the title "Dark Designs". The whole collection was set to be published by

Fantagraphics Books Fantagraphics (previously Fantagraphics Books) is an American publisher of alternative comics, classic comic strip anthologies, manga, magazines, graphic novels, and the erotic Eros Comix imprint. History Founding Fantagraphics was found ...

in an English translation by

Kim Thompson Kim Thompson (September 25, 1956 – June 19, 2013) was an American comic book editor, translator, and publisher, best known as vice president and co-publisher of Seattle-based Fantagraphics Books. Along with co-publisher Gary Groth, Thomps ...

in 2013, but publication has been delayed, possibly because of Thompson's death to cancer. It was finally published in 2018 under the title "Die Laughing".

Publications

*''Idées noires'' (1981) *''Idées noires 2'' (1984, half-page (21.8x15cm) publication) *''Idées noires, l'intégrale'' (2001, complete collection) *''Die Laughing'' (2018, complete collection in English)

In popular culture

In the

Belgian Comic Strip Center The Belgian Comic Strip Center (french: Centre belge de la Bande dessinée; nl, Belgisch Stripcentrum) is a museum in Brussels, Belgium, dedicated to Belgian comics. It is located at 20, /, in an Art Nouveau building designed by Victor Horta, ...

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 André Franquin. One of the rooms dedicated to his work is a black, dark tunnel where pages from "Idéés Noires" are exhibited.

Sources

''Idées noires'' publications in ''Spirou''
an

BDoubliées

Bedetheque Footnotes

External links

Idées noires
on Franquin.com
Idées noires site
{{Franquin 1981 graphic novels 1984 graphic novels Comics by André Franquin Black comedy comics Comics about death Belgian comic strips One-shot comic titles Humor comics Gag-a-day comics Satirical comics Surreal comedy Anti-war comics Anti-nuclear movement Animal rights movement Opposition to the death penalty Works about capital punishment 1977 comics debuts 1984 comics endings Books about depression Black-and-white media