Bart Beaty In Angouleme 2013 02: Bartarazzi



By Bart Beaty

On the first morning of FIBD the question arises: Can Comics Reporter's intrepid boy reporter (and his little white dog) capture an image of the most famous cartoonist alive today on planet earth? Yes, yes he can!

Uderzo arrived this morning at FIBD to tour his blockbuster exhibition (queue was about an hour long this morning), give a master class and to have a school named after him (seriously!). His show was thronged while he was in it, but I elbowed hundreds of schoolchildren out of the way to capture these photos of the legendary co-creator of Asterix.

The show itself is a bit of a mixed bag -- a lot of reproductions and limited number of originals, but some of the originals are really key (including the first-ever Asterix page).

Upstairs, the Jano exhibition was really pleasant, including a number of sculptures that he has recently produced, which I really enjoyed. Jano is criminally unknown in the US, which is a shame because he is very talented.

Over at the "new museum" the permanent exhibition has some notes from Jean-C Denis, but is not much changed from recent years. The Baudoin exhibition -- from his book about Salvador Dali -- in the side room is as stunning as you would expect a Baudoin show to be. In the other hall is a show bringing together cartoonists and contemporary French artists that might have been the worst thing I have ever seen at this Festival. Some of the work was just dire.

The best exhibition I've seen so far is the Flemish one, curated by Brecht Evens and featuring cartoonists of his generation. Beautiful, beautiful work on display in a way that really showcases the talent.

Weather has gone from rainy to sunny over the course of the day, and it is much warmer than typical for Angouleme, so that is a good thing. Outside of the Uderzo show the crowds haven't been too bad, but I've also not been to the big tents, so I'm in no position to judge. Midway through the first day, I'd say the show is running better than expectations, which is nice to be able to say.

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