Fred Othon Aristides

Fred, 1973

Frédéric Othon Théodore Aristidès (born March 5, 1931 in Paris ; † April 2, 2013 ibid), known as Fred , was a French comic artist who was best known for his series Philémon .

Career

As the son of Greek immigrants, he began his career with a cartoon that he was able to publish in the magazine Zéro in 1954 . In the following years his drawings were printed in various French and international magazines, including France Dimanche , Punch and The New Yorker . In 1960 he founded the satirical monthly newspaper Hara-Kiri together with Georges Bernier and François Cavanna . As artistic director, he designed the first 60 front pages of the magazine and drew various strips, including Le Petit cirque , which he later took up again. In addition, he also worked as a comics scenario for other cartoonists such as Jean-Claude Mézières , Georges Pichard and Alexis .

In 1965 he left the magazine and devoted himself to his own series Philémon . He continued the fairytale storytelling in 1973 with Le Petit Cirque , stories from a traveling circus.

In 2004, Benoît Peeters dedicated an episode of his documentary series to Fred's world of images for the TV channel ARTE and describes it as a separate universe into which he takes his readers.

Philémon

Fred's Philémon series started in 1965 with a 15-page story he wrote for Spirou . The fantastically realistic series did not meet the magazine's taste and was rejected. René Goscinny wanted to publish it in Pilote . Fred accepted the offer on the condition that he could continue to make the drawings himself. The first episode, Le mystère de la clairière des trois hiboux , appeared in Pilote No. 300. The last of a total of 15 albums following the magazine publications was published in 1987.

Philémon is a young person who can reach a parallel world through a portal in which he is entangled in different adventures. In this world there are islands shaped like individual letters (this is how the story begins on the "A" of the Atlantic Ocean), and fantastic creatures like paper tigers and a wild piano. But the Mona Lisa and Don Quixote , who is riding a fish and attacks a ship that he thinks is a windmill, are also integrated into the stories.

Awards

In 1980 he received the Grand Prix de la Ville d'Angoulême at the International Comics Festival in Angoulême . L'Histoire du Corbac aux baskets was awarded the Prix ​​du meilleur album at the 1994 festival .

Works

• 1972–1987 Philémon
• 1973 Le Petit cirque
• 1973 Le Fond de l'air est frais
• 1974–1975 Timoléon (drawings by Alexis)
• 1977 Ça va, ça vient
• 1978 Y a plus de seasons
• 1979 Le Manu Manu
• 1980 Magic Palace Hotel
• 1980 Cythère l'apprentie sorcière
• 1982 parade
• 1982 Hum
• 1983 Manège
• 1983 La Magique Lanterne Magique
• 1988 Journal de Jules Renard lu par Fred
• 1993 Histoire du corbac aux baskets
• 1995 L'histoire du conteur électrique
• 1997 Le noir, la color et lavis
• 1999 L'Histoire de la dernière image
• 2000 Fredissimo - L'album du millénaire

Individual evidence

1. ^ Puiseux-le-Hauberger: décès du dessinateur Fred
2. ↑ Fred - drawing what nobody sees (arte.tv). ( Memento of the original from September 29, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
3. ↑ Interview with Benoît Peeters on arte.tv. ( Memento of the original from September 29, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
4. ↑ Thierry Groensteen (Ed.): Asterix, Barbarella & Co. History of the comic in the French-speaking area . Somogy Editions D'Art 2000, p. 182.

Web links

• Biography on lambiek.net