Glorious Summers captures the family vacation spirit

 

 

                                                   

The graphic novel genre seems to be slowly gathering a mature audience. It needs the coming together of a good scriptwriter to tell the story, an illustrator to bring out the subtle nuances of the characters. Most of these novels are dark, brooding accounts or violence-filled superhero stuff.

Thus, it is a relief to come across the "Glorious Summers" series that brings plenty of sunshine and cheer to the reader.   

Pierre Faldérault is a comic book illustrator who is always dreaming of creating that one character to catch the imagination of the reader and make him famous. However, he is stuck ghostwriting or illustrating the comic magazine Zagor for his boss, who doesn't mind saddling Pierre with last-minute colouring work and taking off to exotic locations for his own vacation.

But the Faldérault family gets to go on their vacation every year, even if delayed by a few days. Where do they go each time from their home in Mons, Belgium? At the beginning of the trip in their small Renault, the father tosses a compass to the children in the backseat. It's a special compass that points only to the south! Then he sings "Where do you want to go? Moscow? Stockholm?.... The children chorus, "No, No, we want to go south, to sunshine. "So France it is,” the father replies and off they go.

Their first halt is at the border where the two customs officers flag them through after a brief checking. In the five-book series, these two also age along with the other characters. Of course, things do not go according to plan on any of these trips. It also helps in that they don't have a plan in the first place.

So we have papa Pierre driving the car, Mama Madeline, called Maddy n the front seat. The children are Julie (affectionately called Jolly Julie by the father), Nicole, with unruly, curly black hair, Louis, the son and finally Peaches, the youngest daughter.

Incidentally, the car, a gift from Maddy's mother, is Little Miss Esterel, thus named by the father when he was the only one awake during the long drive at night.

The five-book series published by Europe Comics has Belgian cartoonist Zidrou as the scriptwriter and Jordi Lafebre as the illustrator.

The Barcelona, Spain-born Jordi Lafebre had studied comic book art and fine arts before embarking on a career as an illustrator in 2001. Zidrou, who incidentally resembles our cartoon hero Pierre, had been involved in producing humorous comic strips for the magazine Spirou in the 1990s.

The series begin with Pierre and Maddy, as an elderly couple, revisiting their holiday haunts and reminiscing about those days. The first book, titled Southbound, is set against the backdrop of their decision to separate after one last holiday but then things happen and they decide to stay together for the rest of their lives.

The holiday season in the second volume titled ‘The Calanque’ is 1969. This was the year Pierre introduced a cowboy character named “Four” with that many arms to deal with the baddies. Of course, the holiday starts late as usual. We get introduced to Pierre’s father, Pepe Buelo, who was forced to escape from Spain during the Franco regime. He has forbidden his son and family not to set their foot in Spain as long as Franco was in power.

The family has been sworn not to reveal Maddy being pregnant, but Nicole cannot keep a secret and announces it not only to Pepe but to all on the way, from the customs officer to petrol pump attenders. The journey starts with Pierre handing over the special “lose north” compass to the children in the backseat and off they go to France as usual.

When they start chorusing “Goin’ south to France, Goin’ south to France in our Renault, ” the son, Louis has a doubt. He asks, “Hey, Daddy, why is our called a “run on” if it has wheels and not feet?” (Renault pronunciation is reno).

During this holiday they set up camp in the darkness in the garden of an amiable couple in France but get introduced to a lovely holiday spot, a calanque (inlet).

In the third book, titled Miss Esterel, we get introduced to Maddy’s parents. The mother, a formidable woman, has gifted the family their first car, a brand new 1962 model Renault. Because of this kind gesture, they are also taken for the summer holidays in the new car. The father, affectionately called fat papa by the children, is recovering from a heart attack and the mother is fiercely protective. She also has a few issues with Maddy.

The fourth volume, titled ‘The Runaway’, has Louis in his adolescent years, running away for a rock concert in the middle of the holiday, causing some anxious moments.

The fifth volume, titled “The Warrior’s Heaven” has Pierre organising what looks like a perfect holiday by investing in a holiday home. Things of course, do not turn out that way. But our family with their never say die attitude, still manages to enjoy their holiday.

The series, meant for those above the age of nine, works best for a mature audience. The characterisation is good with each of the cast growing in stature as the series progress. It may not be in exact chronological order. Perhaps, this is because of the meandering nature of the remembrances of Pierre. Maddy is constantly at hand to correct the years. 

Maddy is enough to deal with her husband's professional problems despite having a few of her own as a saleswoman in a shoe store. The kids grow up and the girls acquire boyfriends. There is one who has got only 'honourable intentions' towards Julie. But Nicole has a rich lad who is made to cut vegetables by Maddy.

The illustrations do justice to the characters. The series is available online at https://bit.ly/3h4yDCv   It can also be ordered from Amazon  (picture credit: Amazon).