Zorglub

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Zorglub using his "zorglonde", art by André Franquin
Zorglub using his "zorglonde", art by André Franquin

Zorglub is a fictional character in the Belgian comic strip Spirou et Fantasio, created by Greg and André Franquin, and first appeared in the serialised story Z comme Zorglub in Spirou in 1959, and later published in the diptych albums "Z comme Zorglub" (1961) and "L'ombre du Z" (1962).[1] Initially Zorglub's character was that of a sinister megalomaniac, mad scientist, but later becomes a reformed villain.

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An impressive arch-villain, his initial appearance is that of a visionary evil genius, but the comical aspects of the character soon come through. Although possessing a great deal of advanced machinery, his only true invention (as he admits) is the "zorglonde" (a mind-control radio wave) with which he steals other inventions in order to rule the world. Using the zorglonde, he also turns police officers from all over the world into his soldiers, known as Zorglhommes (Zorgl-men), who operate his worldwide secret bases. Zorglub designed a special language to talk with his zorglhommes, in order to maintain the secrecy of his plans. It's just normal speech, spelled backwards. "gnol evil Bulgroz!" translates as "long live Zorglub!"

He is an old acquaintance of the Count of Champignac from university. In his first appearances he is a dangerous villain with ambitions to take over the world. Eccentric, schizophrenic and with a big ego, he is bound to makes foolish mistakes which are his downfall.

In Le réveil du Z (1986), Spirou and Fantasio travel through time and meet Zorglub's son, who has followed into his father's footsteps and conquered the world of the future. Zorglub junior looks exactly like his father, but he suffers from dwarfism.

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Footnotes
  1. ^ franquin.com. Un vie - 1959 (French).
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