hops and malt
| Comic | |
|---|---|
| title | hops and malt |
| Original title | Les Maîtres de l'orge |
| author | Jean Van Hamme |
| Illustrator | Francis Vallès |
| publishing company | Glénat |
| First publication | 1992 - 2001 |
| expenditure | 8th |
Hops and Malt (French original title: Les Maîtres de l'orge , German Master of Barley) is a Franco-Belgian comic series by Jean Van Hamme and Francis Vallès . This was first published in seven editions from 1992 to 1999 by Glénat . A German-language publication of these albums appeared from 1994 to 2000 on comicplus + . The special volume Die Steenforts ( Les Steenfort ) followed in 2001 at the end of the saga. From 2016 to 2017 comicplus + published a bound, three-part German-language complete edition, in a one-time edition of 1,000 copies each.
Origin and background
In 1980, in Belgium, a country with a rich beer culture , the TV station TF1 was looking for an author who would take up the topic. The author Jean Van Hamme was awarded the contract for his design depicting the life of a Belgian brewing dynasty from 1854 to the present day. The broadcaster hesitated to implement it. It was not possible for Van Hamme to utilize the material because, to his regret, he ceded the rights to a book publication for an indefinite period of time.
“After I submitted my script, nothing happened at first, but that's not uncommon in film and television. Years passed. In 1987 TF1 was privatized and that seemed to be the end of it. The script had cost me a lot of research, and I was annoyed that I couldn't use the story in the area that I had meanwhile turned to, the comic. "
In 1990 Van Hamme disregarded these agreements and began to work out a comic script based on his material. He turned to the Glénat publishing house, known at the time for comics with historical subjects, who recommended the illustrator Francis Vallès to him. From this Glénat already published the recently completed series Dorian Dombre .
“Glénat brought us together. I had just finished Dorian Dombre and was free. (...) I initially received an exposé from “Les Maîtres de l'orge” and was very impressed, not only because I found the story interesting, but also because there is a 20 or 30 year time gap between the albums should. So the main characters changed or aged. That was the decisive factor for me. "
The collaboration between the two began in 1991 and also included visits to Belgian breweries for research purposes. Due to the planned creation of initially seven albums, Jean Van Hamme used the narrative form of the cycle . Each album played in a different time, with aging protagonists or their descendants, in a changing world under different social and political conditions. Marie-Paule Alluard joined them as colorist . The comic began to be published in 1992, before the album was published as a preprint in the French comic magazine Vécu . By Eckart Sackmann translation was into German, published from the 1994th For the French market, Glénat released a new edition of the albums in 2014 with redrawn cover images.
action
Each album primarily relates to the figure giving the title. At the beginning of the plot, political and social events and important facts of the time, as well as current developments in the brewing industry are described, for example the invention of the refrigeration machine, the development of lager beer or research into brewer's yeast.
Charles, 1854
Charles Steenfort lives as a brooding loner as a novice in a monastery in the Ardennes. In addition to daily work and prayer, he is taught the art of brewing by his great cousin Joseph in the monastery brewery. The abbot does not fail to notice that Charles shows an interest in brewing, but neglects his monastic duties, including learning the Latin language. Joseph always refers to the young age of Charles. Beyond the monastery walls, for example on a bathing excursion or woodwork in the forest, Charles meets the beautiful Adrienne several times. She makes fun of teasing the shy and clumsy novice, but makes no secret of her sympathy. Both get closer and more and more often Charles sneaks out of the monastery to secretly meet Adrienne. Charles explains that he was only in the monastery to escape poverty and hunger, but he is still reluctant to take Adrienne's suggestion to leave together. One day both of them are caught making love by the abbot.
After being kicked out of the monastery, Charles returns to his home village of Dorp. There he meets his Dutch childhood friend Franz Texel. After the death of his father, he inherited a substantial sum and his large estate, which the local brewery owner De Ruiter tried to persuade him to sell. As a magnate, De Ruiter is considered to be the lord of the village. Most of the residents work for him, but they are exploited by him and live in poor conditions. Charles persuades Franz to brew beer himself. In the monastery he had acquired the necessary knowledge and skills, Franz had the necessary start-up capital. You acquire the property of the unsuccessful, deceased microbrewer De Lembeek. Charles sees himself as an idealist, he knows the circumstances under which the employees of De Ruiters Brewery have to work and live. De Ruiter did not miss these plans. He instructs Louise, Charles' older brother, who was already irritated by his return, to talk him out of these plans.
Louise fails to talk Charles out of brewing. But he cannot defy his master either, since he has several children to look after. This culminates in a physical argument between the brothers. Charles and Franz's first attempts to brew a good beer fail. Also because, under pressure from De Ruiter, they were only sold rotten hops and bad malt. From now on, both buy their ingredients abroad, which eats up Franz's financial reserves. The beer improves, but does not become outstanding. To change this, Charles sneaks into his former monastery to steal yeast there, where Joseph believes he recognizes the thief. He brings his lover Adrienne to live with him, who still had to toil under her uncle as cheap labor. Franz increasingly loses patience due to financial hardship and Charles' perfectionism, until the latter suggests that he participate in the Brabant trade fair, where the best beer is awarded 800 francs in gold in a competition. De Ruiter, who doesn't want to get his own fingers dirty, continues to put pressure on Louise. He refuses to help him financially with his daughter, who has pneumonia, until this "internal family" issue has been resolved. However, a nightly attempt by henchmen to destroy the brewing equipment fails. Louise's daughter Denise dies, for which Charles blames.
In fact, there are two winners at the Brabant trade fair this time. The all-time winner “Speciale Dorp” from the Alfred De Ruiters brewery, as well as the beer from the Texel and Steenfort breweries. De Ruiter seems to recognize this. He goes to Charles to make this an offer. Even with no male offspring and given his age, he offers Charles to run his brewery and teach him everything about production and sales. He should just give Franz the 400 francs. Charles is aware that this could be a trap, so De Ruiter offers him his daughter's hand to seal the pact. At the following wedding, the dissolved Adrienne falls into the church. He mustn't sell her and her love for a brewery, she carries his child in her stomach. Unmoved, the desperate and cursing Adrienne is expelled from the church and Charles marries Elise De Ruiter.
Margrit, 1886
Under the leadership of Charles, the Steenfort brewery has grown to a considerable size, with an annual output of 30,000 hl. Still, the aged Charles seems to have forgotten his youthful ideals. He turned into a worse exploiter than his predecessor and father-in-law De Ruiter. It suppresses any labor movement and sexually abuses and coerces young female workers. Since his marriage to Elise De Ruiter remained childless, he adopted Noël, his brother's son, who is disliked by him. He is returning from Munich, where he should learn the latest brewing techniques. Noël reports to Charles about the new refrigeration machine , as well as new bottom-fermented beers such as Münchner Hell or Pilsner beer . All of this arouses Charles' interest, as this technology and beer types were previously unknown in Belgium and he sees there being potential for expansion. However, he is still only the manager of the brewery, while his wife Elise is the owner, who is, however, reluctant to use this “German beer”. The marriage has long since broken up, and it is also burdened when Noël presents them to his wife, the young German Margrit, whom he hastily married a week earlier in Munich. The burgeoning labor movement and strikes anger Charles, while Noël shows understanding for the needs of the workers. Charles has problems enforcing the planned expansion and conversion of the brewery against his wife's wishes. He also presses the attractive Margrit. When a workers' uprising is bloodily suppressed by the military and strikes ensue, its plans seem to have failed. Out of spite, he closes the brewery, destroys the brewing equipment and leaves the company. Without any noteworthy means, he goes to the old brewery of his youth on the abandoned, now dilapidated Texel property and reminisces about Adrienne and Franz. Margrit seeks him out and an affair ensues between the two of them. Due to his reputation and under the advice of Margrit, he manages to build a new brewery there. As he pays the workers better and cuts working hours, it flourishes quickly. The new types of beer are also well received in Belgium. One day Margrit is visited by a young man who identifies himself as Pieter Texel. He is the son of Franz and Adrienne, who married in Holland and died completely impoverished. Franz recognized him as a son, but he was actually the son of Charles, who left pregnant Adrienne. As Texel, however, he is now claiming the brewery, and he shows her the deed of ownership of the property. Margrit realizes the dilemma. At night she seduces Pieter and uses the opportunity to steal the deed of ownership from the sleeper and burn it. Pieter sees no other way out than to accept the handsome sum offered and the proposal to emigrate to America. While still in port, he vows to come back one day to destroy the brewery and the Steenfort house. When Charles returns, Margrit tells him nothing about Pieter and the story. She spends one last night with Noël before she finally leaves him for Charles, to whom she soon gives birth to their son Adrien.
Adrien, 1917
The First World War has been raging for three years and Belgium is under German occupation. The breweries suffer from a lack of raw materials, which is why the output had to be greatly reduced or brewing is only possible with alternative raw materials such as oats . Charles has long passed away, which is why Margrit is now running the brewery. As a native German, she used her charm and influence with the German occupiers to save the brewery's continued existence. For example, it prevents brewing kettles and lauter tuns from being transported away and melted down because of the copper . Meanwhile, Adrien is at the front as a medical officer for the Belgian army. As a half-German, he was always reluctant to join a combat unit, which is viewed critically by superiors. Because of his language skills, he is said to spy in a hostile uniform, which he rejects for moral reasons. His superiors demote him and send him on a suicide mission. Schmalhans is now also a private chef at Margrit. The responsible director , her sympathetic to Baron von Landau is, because of its population to friendly nature, withdrawn and replaced by the cruel bite of the field, which shows no compassion and can close the brewery. Adrien gets into a battle in which the Belgians suffer heavy losses. Adrien, for whom this battle should be the death sentence, is captured injured. During interrogation he meets the German officer Helmut Stroem, the owner of a small brewery in Hamburg. When he learns that Adrien is also a brewer, he is interested and friendly towards him. At a joint dinner, against Adrien's word of honor without guards, they exchange anecdotes. Stroem presents him with a photo album about his brewery that his grandfather and father already had. To his horror, Adrien sees a photo of a young prostitute from Munich known in brewing circles, his mother Margrit. On the verge of a nervous breakdown, Adrien takes Stroem's weapon. His word of honor is no longer worth anything, because he no longer has any honor. He knocks down Stroem and flees in a German uniform. In Dorp, a group of partisans formed under Servais, the foreman of the brewery, who used the storage tanks of the closed brewery as a weapon stash without Margrit's knowledge. The brewery is stormed by the occupiers and numerous partisans are shot or taken prisoner, including Servais. In order to save him from his execution, Margrit is abused by General von Bissfeld and has to allow herself to be humiliated and raped. Her open hatred also strikes against her from the residents, as they, as Germans, accuse her of treason and collaboration, ignorant of the sacrifices she is making.
In a hospital, Adrien falls in love with the French nurse Rose. While he was still at the front, the heavily pregnant Rose appeared at Margrit's and gave birth to Adrien's child. Between Margrit and von Bissfeld he comes to one last argument in the brewery. She tries to drown him in a fermentation vat and finally strangles him with a chain. Angry residents then take vigilante justice on innocent German soldiers and also seize Margrit. While they shear her head, the servais appear and liberated partisans and stop the bustle. The war ends and Adrien returns too.
Noël, 1932
The ongoing global economic crisis does not stop at the Belgian breweries either. From 1930, almost half of the country's breweries closed within ten years. Adrien Steenfort, now the father of a son and three daughters, also buys foreign breweries in foreclosures for ridiculous sums, not to maintain, but to eliminate competition for good. He is indifferent to the suffering of the unemployed workers. His new commercial director, the charming and dodgy Leopold Garcin, serves him for this purpose. Adrien wants to enter the foreign market. Germany and the Netherlands appear unattractive and risky due to the domestic breweries, France severely restricted imports due to the crisis. Adrien has his eye on the border brewery Leroi. Since one of their two breweries is in France, it is not subject to export restrictions. Leroi, however, firmly refuses to sell. Garcin thereupon seduces his secretary, who informally reports to him about tax evasion until Leroi feels compelled to sell. Garcin has other plans, however. As a Rexist , he is supposed to influence Adrien and push him into politics. The Rexists see the charismatic but also unscrupulous industrialist Adrien as a useful tool. Adrien initially has little interest, but lets himself be persuaded to run for mayor, the entry into a future ministerial office. The American-style election campaign appears to be successful. He also gives anti-Semitic, anti-communist speeches, to the pleasure of the Rexists. However, many workers are hostile to the "fascist" Adrien, which is mainly due to Servais' influence. Garcin should take care of any problems. Servais narrowly escapes an attempted murder at the brewery when he nearly drowned in a storage tank. Gradually, the choice of Adria seems secure. Margrit watches Adrien's change with concern. It has also not escaped her that since Adrien's return from the war there has been a tense relationship. She confronts Adrien, he should think for himself and not let himself be taken over by the Rexists. Adrien slips out during an argument, he doesn't need to be told anything by a whore. Margrit recognizes the reason for the persistent emotional distance. Without knowing where Adrien got this information from, she replies, without her “whore ass” he wouldn't have a brewery and only her “whore ass” is the reason for the success. Although Adrien tries to apologize, she leaves the property, deeply offended, and moves in with Noël. Their marriage never ended in divorce. She wants to enlighten him about her past in Munich, but he weighs it down. He was not as naive then as many assumed. He knew about her life as a courtesan, but still truly loved her. This moves Margrit to tears, who from now on stays with Noël.
Adrien is concerned about the conflict with his mother. He questions various incidents, Servais' "accident", the alleged theft of a critical worker, and comes to the conclusion that he will no longer run for mayoral elections. This sudden withdrawal from politics angered the Rexists, who refused to let him get away with this disregard. During the victory celebration of the previous mayor Florent, Adrien is told that his brewery is ablaze. Horrified, he rushes to the fire because, like every Sunday, Servais and his son Charles were there. Servais was to teach the youthful Charles the brewing trade. Although there were no other workers in the brewery apart from the two, only the seriously injured Servais could be recovered. The next day Adrien stands in front of the burned-out ruins of the brewery. He swears bitter revenge for Garcin, whom he immediately believes he recognizes as the perpetrator, for the death of his son.
Julienne, 1950
Belgium is also recovering from the Second World War as part of the Marshall Plan . Adrien is still looking for the ruins of the old brewery every day to look after the captured Garcin there and to delight in his suffering. Adrien's youngest daughter Julienne is celebrating her eighteenth birthday with her family. The Steenfort brewery has grown to become the third largest brewery in Europe, behind Heineken and Carlsberg , and has breweries not only in Belgium but also abroad. In the USA, Texel is now the largest brewery in the country.
Adrien plans to continue growing the company through brewery acquisitions in Spain, Canada and Alsace. Nevertheless, he has the lucrative US market in mind. To this end, he plans a merger with the Scottish brewery Fenton. He therefore welcomes the brewery owner's son, Michael Fenton, warmly and considers marrying him to his daughter Julienne. Although Fenton is an attractive, polite young man and shows real affection for Julienne, she reacts to these plans with indignation. She always showed little interest in the brewery; her passion was her archeology studies. Adrien continues to make detectives look for Garcin at home and abroad without any results. Adrien realizes that Garcin is his prisoner, but that he himself is also captured by Garcin. Although Garcin did not speak to him, did not answer him, he served him as therapy, for reflection and reflection. So he is dependent on him. His family explains that he never had the ruins of the old brewery torn down by saying that he saw them as a memorial or grave for his son, whose body was never found.
Adrien is informed that a certain stream is calling for him in a police cell. Stroem, neglected, marked by life, he lost an arm in the Volkssturm , Adrien reminds him of his broken word of honor. Adrien agrees and helps him back on his feet, from now on lets him work in his brewery. According to Belgian law from 1950, a shareholder could hold a maximum of 20% in a company. In order to consolidate his influence, Adrien awarded his three daughters 20% each, while he himself holds 5%, trusting strong family ties. Although he disregards them and considers them scapegoats, he also gave the husbands of his two older daughters managerial positions in the company. Adrien is not only denied funds by shareholders to expand, he also learns that the American Texel brewery is buying up these shares, ostensibly in order to gain a foothold in Europe. Then he learns that his older daughters have also sold their shares, which threatens to lose control of his brewery. He wonders why a large American brewery is spending so much money to take over a Belgian company. To get answers, he goes to old Noël, who tells him the story of Charles Steenfort and Franz Texel. Despite his right of first refusal, Adrien does not have the means to hold the shares. During a conversation with Bachelard, one of the last shareholders, he mocks him. His autocratic autocracy would finally come to an end. In the ensuing scuffle, Adrien collapses. After four days he wakes up in the hospital. The period of the right of first refusal has expired. Adrien is appalled that he couldn't take care of Garcin. When he is back on his feet and seeks Garcin to take care of him, he is already dead. Desperate, he sets the body and the room on fire and then shoots himself.
In order to escape the fate of the complete takeover, Julienne is forced to marry Michael Fenton in order to merge into the brewing company Fenton-Steenfort in order to obtain a narrow majority over Texel.
Jay, 1973
Fenton-Steenfort is no longer one of the largest breweries in Europe, but slipped to twelfth place. Texel is still trying to increase its influence on Steenfort, which Julienne has so far successfully fended off. As a divorced woman, she lives with her adult son Francois. He is artistically gifted and received a job from her in the advertising department of the brewery. Julienne meets the attractive American reporter Jay. A love affair develops between the two of them and gives Julienne a new zest for life in the face of the impending takeover. Jay questions the motivations of Texel, wouldn't they be relatives? Julienne refers to her grandmother Margrit's diary, which was written in German. Charles was sterile, not Elise De Ruiter. So Pieter Texel was the son of Adrienne and Franz. Their father Adrien was actually Noël's son, which he never found out. With Margrit's money, Pieter started a small brewery in Minneapolis, which over time became the largest in the world. Pieter passed on his hatred of the Steenforts to his descendants. The Scottish Fenton Brewery was run down by Michael and is now under government supervision and for sale. Texel is once again spending a disproportionate amount of money to take over Steenfort. For Julienne, it hardly seems possible to spend the required 500 million francs on the vacant shares, especially since Texel offered one billion. Knowing that Christopher J. Texel, the President of Texel Europe, is currently in Brussels, she tries to face him. She is not received, but storms into the congregation. There she recognizes her Jay as Christopher J. Texel. He was apparently fooling her, taking advantage of her. Her naivety and broken trust make her despair.
She is now writing off the management of the company. With the help of a benevolent bank loan, she still wants to appear at the auction and bid, at least to show her goodwill and to preserve her dignity as a business woman, even if Texel could easily outbid her. After she submitted her bid, the notary opens the envelope with Texel's proposal. To the surprise of those present there is a letter from Christopher "Jay" Texel. He waives a command and confesses his love to Julienne. Moved, she leaves the building and meets Jay. The mutual love leads to the intention to found the joint venture Fenton-Steenfort-Texel Europe.
Frank, 1997
Frank, as Francois Fenton, Julienne's son, now calls himself, is released from Minneapolis prison after seven years. He was considered a popular, sociable prisoner who was even allowed to run a small brewery in the prison. After his release from prison, he has an affair with his beautiful lawyer. He has had no contact with his mother since his conviction, she was never able to forgive him for his alleged deed, and now works as an archaeologist. The following is a review of 1988. Frank visited his mother and Jay in America. He was reprimanded by Jay for his millions of companies, which were senselessly sunk into the film business, which would not correspond to the essence of a brewery. He also withdrew from him the management of Fenton-Steenfort-Texel Europe, as he wanted to take him under the wing in America and prepare him for sensible management. Jay did not have any children of her own, Julienne was already too old to have children together. The two went on a hunting trip together. Jay was shot in the head and chest from behind by a stranger. Frank failed to prosecute the perpetrator, but since his fingerprints were on the gun and he had a motive, he was charged and eventually convicted of the attempted murder of Jay. No one believed him and Jay passed away after years in a coma. The management of Texel went to Danielle and Robert De Bruyne, children of his aunt Fernande, who at the time sold her shares in Texel and thus betrayed her father Adrien. When Frank visits them after his imprisonment, they react indignantly, have him beat up by the security service and expelled from the company building. Frank is visited by Sergeant Richmond. This reminds him not to go overboard, after all, he is on probation. The policeman and farmer "Chief" supports him in bringing the family property on the lake up to scratch and offers him the opportunity to build a small brewery with him. They are supported by his young daughter, who falls in love with Frank, as well as two other prisoners who were also released on parole and who were already assisting Frank in prison. Why is he helping him? The "Chief" has a feeling for criminals, Frank is not one. According to recipes from Margrit's diary, the “Black Bear” was a success in 1998.
By chance, Frank discovers the jacket of the alleged perpetrator at the time while cleaning. This one is also missing a button that he has been wearing around his neck as a “souvenir” since then. He intercepts the owner, the De Bryunes' servant at the time. He had an alibi for the time of the crime, but after questioning one of the employees at the time, it turned out to be false. Frank's lawyer manages to reopen the case. It turns out that Danielle and Robert De Bruyne commissioned Jay's murder in order to gain access to Texel's corporate governance. For this, both, as well as the perpetrator, are finally convicted and the sentence against Frank overturned. Frank makes up with his mother, who apologizes for not believing him.
The chief and his daughter Pauline fear that Frank, as the new head of Texel, would no longer know them and would be back in his world. Frank appears in the small Black Bear brewery. He asks for Pauline's hand and wants to take her to Europe, where they are both married. The saga ends with Frank overseeing the filming of the Texels and Steenforts family history. The brewery name Steenfort has since disappeared completely in Texel. Only in Dorp does the Steenfort Museum remind you of this.
The Steenforts
This special volume, published after the conclusion of the main series, describes in short stories events and people that do not appear or are only mentioned during the main plot, in order to deepen the plot or to better understand it. The German-language complete edition of comicplus + puts them in the chronologically correct order. So the action begins there with Dorp, 1849 , which is then followed by the regular volume Charles, 1854 .
Dorp, 1849 : The mother of fourteen-year-old Charles dies while mashing in the De Ruiter brewery. Hard work that was done mostly by women at the time. The indifference with which De Ruiter met the death of the “exchangeable” worker shook Charles. His older brother Louise, who is hoping for a job as a trucker at De Ruiter, also reacts cynically to the death of his mother and urges Charles to work as a blacksmith's assistant in addition to his twelve-hour work in the brewery. Charles remembers a letter from his mother's cousin, a monk in a monastery in the Ardennes. At night he steals away to this one. At the gates of the monastery he is mistaken for yet another starving orphan until Joseph sees the letter to his cousin Catherine Steenfort. Charles is therefore temporarily accepted as a novice .
Munich, 1886 : The nephew and adopted son of the brewery owner Charles Steenfort, Noël, travels to Munich to learn the latest techniques and knowledge of the art of brewing under Gabriel Sedlmayr . In a vaudeville theater, the inconspicuous and clumsy Noël is introduced by a matchmaker to the beautiful luxury courtesan Margrit as an impoverished country nobility from a house, to whom he immediately falls for. Margrit Feldhof thinks Noël is “fat, naive, shy and nice”, but sees in him a means of social advancement, as well as the possibility of leaving Munich and prostitution. Totally addicted to her, Noël marries Margrit before his return to Belgium.
Dorp, 1902 : The marriage between Charles and Elise was always a marriage of convenience. Charles' nephew Noël was adopted due to the childlessness. She tried to interfere in the management and Charles then left her for Margrit and set up his own brewery. This shame left her insane and ended up in a madhouse. When she escapes, she seeks out Adrien, the young son of Charles and Margrit. She wants to kidnap him by force of arms, because he is the son she has always been denied. When she is pursued by Margrit, she falls into a river and finally dies under the wheel of a water mill .
At the front, 1918 : The meeting with Captain Stroem changed Adrien after he accidentally learned about her past from his mother as a prostitute in Munich. Adrien bitterly overcame his reluctance to kill Germans as a half-German and volunteered for a daring attack on a German position. In a German uniform and with the help of his language skills, he penetrates into it and kills the crew. His mother's past seems to have broken with his German half.
Dorp, 1932 : This short story shows how the fire in Adrien's brewery and the death of his son Charles came about. Like every Sunday, Servais teaches Charles the art of brewing. Since they suspect the brewery to be empty and all the villagers at the election ceremony, Garcin and two henchmen enter it and spill gasoline. When Servais arrives and realizes the situation, he tries to resist, but is then knocked down and left unconscious. When Charles wakes him up, the brewery is already ablaze. As they escape outside, the two are separated and Charles is killed.
Brussels, 1938 : After the death of his son, Adrien swore revenge on Garcin, who initially fled abroad. After his return to Brussels, Adrien intercepts him in his car after a meeting of the Rexists and forces him to drive to the burned down brewery at gunpoint. He leads him into a basement room, where he chains Garcin to the wall. Then he walled up the small room, except for a small hole. He tells Garcin that he will stay alive. But he will suffer for the death of his son. He will always be given food and medicine, but will never be released.
Brussels, 1943 : Adrien broke with his past with the Rexists long ago. During the German occupation during the Second World War, however, he supposedly collaborated with the occupiers. This short story shows how he enabled his Jewish office manager and his family to flee to Spain and provided them with money and forged passports.
Scotland, 1965 : This chapter shows the death of Michael Fenton's father on a hunting trip, making Michael the sole owner of the Scottish Fenton Brewery. Julienne continues to run the business in Belgium and therefore declines to move to Scotland. While visiting Scotland with their son, she accidentally catches Michael cheating with his new assistant, whereupon she files for divorce.
New York, 1987 : This chapter shows Francois succumbing to flatterers and impostors. In New York, as President of Fenton-Steenfort-Texel Europe, directors, artists and actresses are introduced to him. Drugs and light sex obscure his perception and let him take the risk of a film production that crashes and represents a million dollar loss for the brewery.
Reviews
Ralph Trommer describes hops and malt in his review of the first two volumes of the complete edition in the Tagesspiegel as “Belgian Buddenbrooks ” and “Social history based on the example of a brewer dynasty”. The comic series is "well researched and well drawn" but suffers from "narrative weaknesses". He praised the fact that the comic reflected 150 years of Belgian history. The “epic” comic cycle around the brewing dynasty of the Steenforts suggests literary role models such as Thomas Mann's “Buddenbrooks”, but the characters are “incomparably more carved”, the events are “dramatically and emotionally accentuated, as we do from trivial novels or Know TV series ".
“Just as the scenario gives a good insight into the craft of beer brewing, but also into the socio-economic background of the respective time, Vallès convinces with careful research into the decorations, props and costumes, the page layout is rather conservative. As exciting and versatile as the overall structure of the comic cycle is, the discerning reader may find some of the exaggerations to be very colossal , some scenes too melodramatic and some characters too clichéd in their behavior. As the occupying power in World War I, the Germans appear as veritable pre-Nazis in the embodiment of the blond "General von Bissfeld", who is depicted as a sinister sadist. Francis Vallès cannot refute these clichés, which are reminiscent of simple propaganda from the time, in his figure drawings he fully supports the intentions of the scenographer and relies more on tried and tested illustrative means of expression than on originality. (...) The bottom line is the courage of the authors to write a storyline with staying power that portrays a changing, slowly modernizing society based on the history of a brewery. And for lovers of Belgian beer, "Hops and Malt" is an entertaining further training measure anyway. "
At comic.de, Thorsten Hanisch notes in his review of the second volume of the complete edition that it is "remarkable how stylishly" hops and malt "fluctuates on the fine line between entertainment of the somewhat more upscale kind and pure pulp " without "ever crashing" . On the one hand, contemporary history would be presented with "believable characters", on the other hand Hamme would not do without the "hypersadistic Nazi commander pig, known from so many comics, novels and films," and at the end of the volume even rushed "briefly towards Gothic horror" from. That this still works well “solely because all these elements are kept in a balanced equilibrium, the gifted author has a wonderful feeling for the right rhythm and the suspicion is awakened that precisely the punctual escalations might be closer to reality than all history lessons in the world ”.
Film adaptations
Also due to the success of the comic, a film version of “Les Maîtres de l'orge” was finally made in 1996, for the medium for which Van Hamme originally wrote his script. Under the direction of Jean-Daniel Verhaeghe , three parts were initially created as "Les Steenfort, maîtres de l'orge" , which are roughly based on the first three comic albums. The main roles were played by Yann Trégouët as Charles , Julie du Page as Adrienne and Florence Pernel as Margrit . In implementing the plot, however, they took some liberties. The location of the action was relocated to northern France, numerous place and person names were changed, probably as a concession to the French market, and some storylines were greatly changed or additional ones were added.
After the success of this film adaptation, three more parts followed in 1999, under the name "Le Destin des Steenfort" , with Bernard Le Coq ( Adrien ) or Nicole Courcel ( Margrit ) in the lead roles. Compared to the original comic, the changes are even more pronounced than in the first film adaptation. None of these French television productions have yet been published in German.
additional
For the release of the first television mini-series, the production company commissioned the Pipaix brewery to brew a real Steenfort beer, which was to be served at the film presentation at the Maison de Brasseurs in Brussels. The beer should use the logo of the beer brand in the comic, as well as the ingredients mentioned there. Blackberries, or dehydrated leaves of the blackberry bush, and coriander, however, caused problems and did not lead to tasty beer. When asked, Jean Van Hamme said that he had just made up these ingredients without worrying about whether they were suitable for brewing.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Hops and Malt, Complete Edition Volume 1, Page 5, comicplus + 2016
- ↑ Hops and Malt, Complete Edition Volume 1, Pages 5 to 6, comicplus + 2016
- ↑ Hops and Malt, Complete Edition Volume 1, Page 6, comicplus + 2016
- ↑ Hops and Malt, Complete Edition Volume 3, page 166, comicplus + 2017
- ↑ https://www.tagesspiegel.de/kultur/comics/comicreihe-hopfen-und-malz-belgische-buddenbrooks/19393144.html
- ↑ https://www.tagesspiegel.de/kultur/comics/comicreihe-hopfen-und-malz-belgische-buddenbrooks/19393144.html
- ↑ http://www.comic.de/2017/01/hopfen-und-malz-bierbrauer-als-zeitgeschichte/
- ↑ Hops and Malt, Complete Edition Volume 2, page 127, comicplus + 2016
- ↑ Hops and Malt, Complete Edition Volume 2, page 127, comicplus + 2016