Tom Spurgeon's Web site of comics news, reviews, interviews and commentary










Home > Letters to CR

Darko Macan on Sorting Out the Tinlot to Fluide Glacial Story
posted September 2, 2005
 

Darko Macan

Again, I'm not sure about the relevance of all this beyond the gossip stage, but some data/bits on the French editorial transition you mentioned:

- Fluide is basically a French MAD magazine; Spirou is a venerable bastion of comics for kids (especially with the new takeover which plans a "back to roots" approach)

- the article you link to mentions Algoud's introducing of editorial cartoons in Fluide Glacial, instead of theretofore predominant comics, as the reason for the leaving of two Fluide comics stars (Maester, Coyote) and the consequent firing of Algoud.

- Tinlot was the editor of Spirou during the last seven or eight years, got sacked during the aforementioned takeover (another guy who left Dupuis publishing at the time was Sebastian Gnaedig whose editorship at new Futuropolis bart covered on your very page)

- In my opinion Tinlot did a fair job of editing, bringing new faces and fresh themes into the kiddie mag, pulling the average reader's age, one suspects, up.

- Tinlot was also a model for a popular feature Le Boss, by Zidrou and Bercovici, featuring a nameless and tasteless editor of Spirou, a human catalog of vice. During his editorship, his photos was usually in Le Boss apparel: red baseball cap, pink shirt, yellow tie and a cigar.

- During Tinlot's tenure at Spirou there was a significant overlap between creators working for Spirou and Fluide. This move, therefore, does not come as much of a surprise.

- Predictions: none, really. Tinlot would probably be okay at Fluide, amidst his pals. Spirou plans to go by the way of reprints and strictly kiddie fare which I don't particulary like but let's wait and see.