Génial Olivier (''Brilliant Olivier'') is a humorous Belgian comic series about a

child prodigy A child prodigy is, technically, a child under the age of 10 who produces meaningful work in some domain at the level of an adult expert. The term is also applied more broadly to describe young people who are extraordinarily talented in some f ...

. Written and drawn by Jacques Devos, it first appeared in '' Spirou'' magazine in 1963 and lasted a quarter of a century, ending with Devos'

retirement Retirement is the withdrawal from one's position or occupation or from one's active working life. A person may also semi-retire by reducing work hours or workload. Many people choose to retire when they are elderly or incapable of doing their j ...

in 1988. The series consisted mainly of one-page gags and short stories which covered several pages. There were few full-length adventures. The strip was also notable for the puns and jokes in the text.

Premise

Olivier Delabranche (i.e. ''

Olive Branch The olive branch, a ramus of '' Olea europaea'', is a symbol of peace. It is generally associated with the customs of ancient Greece and ancient Rome, and is connected with supplication to divine beings and persons in power. Likewise, it is f ...

'') is a scientific genius well ahead of his time and his own age. Super-

computers A computer is a machine that can be programmed to automatically carry out sequences of arithmetic or logical operations ('' computation''). Modern digital electronic computers can perform generic sets of operations known as ''programs'', ...

, various types of transport,

robot A robot is a machine—especially one Computer program, programmable by a computer—capable of carrying out a complex series of actions Automation, automatically. A robot can be guided by an external control device, or the robot control, co ...

s, lifelike

hologram Holography is a technique that allows a wavefront to be recorded and later reconstructed. It is best known as a method of generating three-dimensional images, and has a wide range of other uses, including data storage, microscopy, and interf ...

s, even the elixir of youth, he has invented the lot and more. Be it

chemistry Chemistry is the scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a physical science within the natural sciences that studies the chemical elements that make up matter and chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules a ...

technology Technology is the application of Conceptual model, conceptual knowledge to achieve practical goals, especially in a reproducible way. The word ''technology'' can also mean the products resulting from such efforts, including both tangible too ...

, science holds few secrets from him. He qualifies for a dozen

Nobel Prize The Nobel Prizes ( ; ; ) are awards administered by the Nobel Foundation and granted in accordance with the principle of "for the greatest benefit to humankind". The prizes were first awarded in 1901, marking the fifth anniversary of Alfred N ...

s in those subjects and he is not yet a

teenager Adolescence () is a transitional stage of human physical and psychological development that generally occurs during the period from puberty to adulthood (typically corresponding to the age of majority). Adolescence is usually associated wi ...

! Olivier is in fact a little boy of about 10. Unfortunately, the efforts of this

go largely unappreciated by the adult world, including parents and teachers. Whereas he should perhaps be in an advanced school where his talents would be developed (as if they needed to be) or even a top

university A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...

, Olivier is in fact still stuck in a normal, everyday

primary school A primary school (in Ireland, India, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, South Africa, and Singapore), elementary school, or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ...

. The reason for this is that, science apart, in all other respects he is a

dunce ''Dunce'' is a mild insult in English meaning "a person who is slow at learning or stupid". The etymology given by Richard Stanyhurst is that the word is derived from the name of the Scottish scholastic theologian and philosopher John Duns Scot ...

. In

history History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the Human history, human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some t ...

geography Geography (from Ancient Greek ; combining 'Earth' and 'write', literally 'Earth writing') is the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, and phenomena of Earth. Geography is an all-encompassing discipline that seeks an understanding o ...

spelling Spelling is a set of conventions for written language regarding how graphemes should correspond to the sounds of spoken language. Spelling is one of the elements of orthography, and highly standardized spelling is a prescriptive element. Spelli ...

and

grammar In linguistics, grammar is the set of rules for how a natural language is structured, as demonstrated by its speakers or writers. Grammar rules may concern the use of clauses, phrases, and words. The term may also refer to the study of such rul ...

, Olivier is at the bottom of the class and the despair of his teacher, Mister Rectitude.

The Pupil and the Teacher

Most of the stories revolve around the relationship between the little genius and his more down-to-earth teacher, with whom he is engaged in a never-ending war of nerves (nerves being the operative word when it comes to the teacher). While Mister Rectitude tries desperately to maintain discipline, Olivier comes up with all kinds of inventions which cause chaos all over the school. (As if to emphasize the conflict between teacher and pupil, the series was renamed ''M. Rectitude et Génial Olivier'' when published in book form.) Olivier's greatest pleasure is to take an invention to school which he will use either to play pranks on Mister Rectitude and/or other pupils or members of staff, or come up with ways to cheat in the exams. This, plus his inattention in class or his tendency to chat with his friend Flafla, results in lines and after-school detentions. During these punishments, Olivier tries out some other invention which causes further agro for the teacher and his colleagues. This results in more detentions, more inventions and so on and so on... In the latter years of the series, Olivier became more and more malevolent and his inventions tended to be destined solely to drive the education establishment (and Mister Rectitude in particular) besides themselves with exasperation. Although not entirely a

mad scientist The mad scientist (also mad doctor or mad professor) is a stock character of a scientist who is perceived as "mad, bad and dangerous to know" or "insanity, insane" owing to a combination of unusual or unsettling personality traits and the unabas ...

himself, Olivier certainly knows how to drive other people crazy. But, as if perhaps trying to give the teaching profession its due, Devos did allow the ever-frustrated Mr Rectitude to get the last word on many occasions.

Characters

Titles

Olivier's adventures have not been published in English. Below is a list of the French book titles and their year of publication. Most of them are collections of one-page gags and short stories. Almost all the stories were written and drawn by Jacques Devos, with one being credited to Frédéric Jannin. When the stories appeared in ''Spirou'' they were titled ''Génial Olivier'', but the name was changed to ''M. Rectitude et Génial Olivier'' when published in book form. 1. ''L'école en folie'' 1974
2. ''Le génie et sa génération'' 1975
3. ''Génie, Vidi, Vici'' 1976
4. ''Un généreux génie gêné'' 1977
5. ''Le génie se surpasse'' 1984
6. ''Un ingénieux ingénieur génial'' 1978
7. ''Le passé recomposé'' 1979
8. ''Electrons, molécules et pensums'' 1980
9. ''L'électron et le blason'' 1981
10. ''Un génie ingénu'' 1982
11. ''Génie, péripéties et facéties'' 1983
12. ''Un génie est chez nous'' 1984
13. ''Un génie gai nickelé'' 1985
14. ''Un génie un peu nigaud'' 1986
15. ''Hi.Fi.Génie'' 1987
16. ''Le génie sans bouillir'' 1988
17. ''Le génie se multiplie'' 1989
18. ''Génial Olivier'' 1963
19. ''Le retour du génial Olivier'' 1964
20. ''Olivier baby-sitter'' 1966

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Olivier, Genial Belgian comic strips Genial Oliver Fictional child prodigies Fictional scientists in comics Fictional inventors in comics Belgian comics characters Genial Oliver Genial Oliver 1963 comics debuts Fictional Belgian people Humor comics Child characters in comics Comics about children Comics set in schools Male characters in comics Comics set in Belgium

Premise

The Pupil and the Teacher

Characters

Titles

See also

References