Isabelle (comics)

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Isabelle is a Belgian comic book series drawn by Will and written by Franquin, Delporte and Macherot.

The comic first appeared in Spirou in 1970. Created by a top team of already-famous contributors to the magazine, the series gained a small but fanatical following. The first stories were written by Franquin (of Gaston Lagaffe fame), Delporte (editor of Spirou and writer of many comics) and Macherot (creator of Sybilline). Later, Delporte alone wrote the stories in collaboration with Will. Twelve albums were published until the series ended with Will's death in 2000.

[edit] Plot

The little girl Isabelle (named after Franquin's daughter) gets into a lot of adventures when the evil witch Calendula troubles Isabelle's uncle Hermès and his fiancée, the good witch Calendula (who is the grand-grand-grand-etc. daughter of the evil Calendula). Other stories are about a magical painting, a flying village or a floating island.

The stories have a poetical tone, although mixed with tons of jokes and puns, rhyming ghosts, a talking diamond and Isabelle's down-to-earth aunt – whose greatest concern when Isabelle gets into an adventure is whether she's dressed warmly enough, even when she descends into Hades. The drawings are packed with details and the poetic nature of the stories comes thru in the imaginative animals and backgrounds.

[edit] Reprints

All the stories have recently been reprinted in three volumes by Le Lombard.