Mission accomplished

>> Quebec cartoonists make their biggest splash yet in Europe

by RUPERT BOTTENBERG

It's got a suitably Buck Rogers, comic-booky ring to it: Mission Quebec-Angouleme 2000. And according to the intrepid action patrol who undertook this daring endeavour--a posse of homegrown cartoonists and publishers--it was "mission accomplished."

Let me back up a bit: Angouleme is, 51 weeks a year, a sleepy, wine-soaked little hamlet nestled in the idyllic French countryside. Like a four-colour Brigadoon, though, it undergoes an annual late-January morph into the locale of the most important event of the European comics scene, both mainstream and underground, the 27-year-old Festival International de la Bande Dessinee.

This year, armed with a fistful of government dosh and some snappy new books, a group of Quebec comics types parachuted in and raised hell--in a polite, comics-type kinda way.

Upon their return last Sunday, the M2K gang had news, news, news. "The first day," recalls Cyclope editor Marc Tessier, "I saw that l'Expresse (a national French paper) had done a big insert on Angouleme, and included a feature on Quebec. They talked about these new emerging artists who cross American and European styles. I thought, 'Wow, we're off to a good start.'" Tessier's book Cyclope illustrates the point--literally--with work by the cream of Montreal talent, both anglo and French.

Similar, if a bit raunchier, is local freak Eric Braun's 106U #6. Crawling with brains, boners, brutality and bombs, 106U is hardly kid stuff, and quickly found a niche market. "People were quite impressed with the talent in Montreal," remarks Braun, "and with the colour insert section of 106U. Nobody does that in comics."

Aside from moving substantial quantities of product, the gang note other satisfying results from the trip. "Everyone got their little bit of media attention," says Braun, and he crows about distribution deals cooking for non-French-speaking European countries. Tessier says that an exhibit of comic art from Quebec at an Angouleme hotel led to offers for repeat productions in five cities across the continent.

The best part, though, is that connections were built, cartoonist to cartoonist. Tessier quotes Montreal artist Helene Brosseau: "We were the virus that corrupted the straighter artists." So there you go--there is a Y2K bug, it's benign, and it's fully Made In Quebec. :

Launch for Cyclope at Diable Vert on Tuesday, February 15, 7pm. Launch for 106U #6 at Cheval Blanc on Monday, February 21, 5pm