Seccotine
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Seccotine is a recurring character from the Spirou et Fantasio comics, and the first major female character in the series. She was created by André Franquin, and made her first appearance in album #6, La Corne de Rhinocéros.
She is an energetic journalist with a knack for outwitting Fantasio as they compete to uncover interesting and/or sensational stories, much to his frustration. Because of this, there is always some antagonism between them. However, she has also been very helpful, such as during the events in Palombia in Le Dictateur et le Champignon, when she helped Spirou and Fantasio send a secret message to Champignac, and later assisted Spirou with co-piloting a fighter plane to prevent General Zantas (a.k.a. Zantafio) from starting a war.
She became famous for her documentary about the life of a Marsupilami family in the Palombian jungle, as told in album #12, Le Nid des Marsupilamis.
Seccotine disappeared from the series when Fournier took over (her only appearance in Fournier's period was a brief appearance in the Franquin tribute Joyeuses Pâques, Papa!). Fournier didn't like Seccotine, and had her replaced with a new female character, Ororea, who was also a journalist, but more friendly with Fantasio, who was madly in love with her (whereas he loathed Seccotine).
However, when Tome & Janry took over the Spirou series, they dropped Ororea and brought Seccotine back in their second album, Aventure en Australie. She still makes occasional appearances in the series every now and then.
It has recently been revealed that her real name is "Sophie" .
[edit] Appearances
- La Corne de Rhinocéros (album 6) (Franquin)
- Le Dictateur et le Champignon (album 7) (Franquin)
- Vacances sans histoires (Le Gorille a Bonne Mine, album 11) (Franquin)
- Le Nid des Marsupilamis (album 12) (Franquin)
- Joyeuses Pâques, Papa! (special album 4) (Fournier)
- Aventure en Australie (album 34) (Tome & Janry)
- La Jeunesse de Spirou (album 38) (Tome & Janry)
- Machine qui rêve (album 46) (Tome & Janry)
- Paris-sous-Seine (album 47) (Morvan & Munuera)
[edit] Original Meaning
'Seccotine' is an old French brand of glue, sold in tubes or in small jars. The character name chosen by Franquin comes from this well-known glue which had a very peculiar smell. This is a kind of "Madeleine de Proust" for all past schoolboys/girls. The phenomenon was so important that the brand 'Seccotine' has now become a usual common name, or a friendly adjective designating somebody who behaves in a clinging/sticky way.
