''Gai-Luron'' is a French comics series about a melancholic

basset hound The Basset Hound is a short-legged breed of dog in the hound family. The Basset is a scent hound that was originally bred for the purpose of hunting hare. Their sense of smell and ability to ''ground-scent'' is second only to the Bloodhound.Har ...

, Gai-Luron, created on July 12, 1964, by

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

.''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'' was a French comic 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 youth magazine published by French Co ...

'', 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 in 1976.

Synopsis

It follows the anthropomorphic

dog The dog (''Canis familiaris'' or ''Canis lupus familiaris'') is a domesticated descendant of the wolf. Also called the domestic dog, it is derived from the extinct Pleistocene wolf, and the modern wolf is the dog's nearest living relative. Do ...

Gai-Luron (whose name can be roughly translated as "Jolly Fellow", which contrasts with Gai-Luron's generally apathetic 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 (or ''brush''). Twelve sp ...

. 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 " fans". In return for a fan's support and admiration, public figures may send an autographed poster, photo, reply letter or note thanking their fans for th ...

, 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 dogs Anthropomorphic dogs 1964 comics debuts 1986 comics endings Comics characters introduced in 1964 Humor comics Metafictional comics Surreal comedy French comics characters Male characters in comics {{FrancoBelgian-comics-stub