Philémon (comics)

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Philémon is a French comic book series created by Franco-Belgian comics artist Fred, published by Dargaud. The series began serial publication in the comics magazine Pilote on July 22, 1965,^[1] before it eventually became an album series. The general tone of the series is of fantastic realism, depicting the adventures of the young farmboy Philémon in surreal adventures featuring odd creatures in odd places, and it is considered one of the most poetic and original bande dessinée series of all time.^[2]

1 Synopsis
2 Bibliography
3 Sources
4 External links

[edit] Synopsis

Philémon is a rural French teenager. His best friend is "mature" donkey named Anatole. Philémon's parents are absent, his father appears but as an upset authority figure. Philémon's uncle is practitioner of pagan techniques (rebouteux: bone setter/sorcier: sorcerer).

By accident Philémon and Anatole fall through a well. Because of the uncle's practices this well turns into a "portal". Philémon and Anatole end up in an odd world, reminiscent of Alice in Wonderland in its alterations of commonly accepted reality. One of the effects of this transfer through a well is that Anatole becomes endowed with speech. Many adventures follow. For example, there are several encounters with "Manu-Manus" (these "centaurian" hands live in herds). This odd location is the letter "A" from "Atlantic Ocean", unfortunately Fred specified which of the three possibilities was the actual location. Through the course of the series Philémon and Anatole do travel back and forth, but most the action takes place on the "A".