MANDEREN. The secrets of Goscinny’s magic potion revealed

Discover in detail the man behind the scenarios of Asterix, Lucky Luke, Iznogoud or Petit Nicolas, it is now possible from this Saturday, April 9, in Manderen. Until November 13, the Château de Malbrouck is transformed into a temple to the work of the famous René Goscinny, with more than 200 unpublished and rare pieces from the archives of the René-Goscinny Institute and the National Library of France. . In 22 years in the business, he will have done exceptional work. From his American adventures to his collaborations with the greatest artists of his time, René Goscinny has managed the feat of imagining more than 450 comic book scenarios. This retrospective, set to music by the Moselle departmental council, reveals the secrets of “Goscinian” manufacturing, the polygraph character of his works and behind the scenes of his collaborations with the biggest names in the ninth art: Albert Uderzo, of course, but also Morris, Jean-Jacques Sempé or even Gotlib.

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His daughter present at the opening

The exhibition also invites the viewer to discover the capacity of this immense author to invent the profession of comic strip scriptwriter. Because it is indeed literature that is in question here. Not just any: the one that does not engender sadness or melancholy and which reconciles French language purists with lovers of puns. “One of his best puns is found in an adventure of the redskin Oumpa-Pah », Estimates Anne Goscinny, her daughter, present this Friday at the opening of the exhibition dedicated to her father. “Oumpa-Pah’s best friend, Hubert from Puff Pastry, says he’s tired. And to add: I am broken…” Some of his dialogues have even passed into the public domain, such as “being caliph instead of the caliph”. But Goscinny was not just a public entertainer, as his screenplay for the Arverne Shield an adventure of Asterix, in which he slips a few allusions to the Vichy regime.

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A smuggler

At the end of the opening, Franck Bondoux, General Delegate of the Angoulême International Comics Festival, paid tribute to “the greatest screenwriter of French-speaking comics of all time”. Jul, the designer and author who continues to bring the adventures of Lucky Luke to life, said he was “a child of Goscinny. We are all indebted to him. Also, at a time when the sky can fall on our heads at any moment, may we take inspiration from this ferryman. President of the Department, Patrick Weiten took advantage of this moment to announce that the Château de Malbrouck would henceforth welcome screenwriters and designers in residence. “Always with the aim of putting, in these places, the 9^e art in the spotlight. “A book that no one wants to close.

Exhibition from April 9 to November 13. Normal price, €7; reduced price, 5 €. Free for children under 16. Closed on Mondays. Information: tel. 03 87 35 03 87.

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