Theodor Pussel

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Figure of the protagonist Theodor Pussel at a station of the Charleroi light rail .

Theodor Pussel (French: Théodore Poussin ) is a comic series by the comic artist Frank Le Gall . The stories about the eponymous young seafarer were first published in 1984 in the Belgian comic magazine Spirou . The series is drawn in the style of the Ligne claire .

publication

The stories first appeared in Spirou magazine from October 1984 . It was not until May 1987 that the Dupuis publishing house brought out the first album, with the second soon to follow. So far 13 more albums have followed, all of which have been released by Carlsen since 1989 , and since 2006 with the 12th album by Salleck Publications in German. In 2013, a complete edition of the first 12 albums was published in three large volumes in the Ehapa Comic Collection .

Albums
  • The secret of the captain Stien. 1990 with Carlsen (French: Capitaine Steene. 1987 with Dupuis)
  • Mission Aru-el-Kader. 1990 with Carlsen (French Le Mangeur d'archipels'. 1987 with Dupuis)
  • The fate of Maria Verita. With scenario by Yann , 1991 with Carlsen (French Marie Vérité. 1988 with Dupuis)
  • George Town's Secret '. 1992 with Carlsen (French Secrets. 1990 with Dupuis)
  • The treasure of the white rajah. 1992 with Carlsen (French Le trésor du rajah blanc. 1991 with Dupuis)
  • A passenger disappears. 1993 with Carlsen (French Un passager porté disparu. 1992 with Dupuis)
  • Family album. 1994 with Carlsen (French La Vallée des roses. 1993 with Dupuis)
  • The mist island. 1994 with Carlsen (French La maison dans l'île. 1994 with Dupuis)
  • In the palace of nabob. Part 1, 1995 at Carlsen (French La Terrasse des audiences - Tome 1. 1995 at Dupuis)
  • In the palace of nabob. Part 2, 1998 at Carlsen (French La Terrasse des audiences - Tome 2. 1997 at Dupuis)
  • All year November. 2001 with Carlsen (French Novembre toute l'année. 2000 with Dupuis)
  • Jealousy. 2006 at Salleck Publications (French Les Jalousies. 2005 at Dupuis)
  • The last voyage of the amok. 2019 at Salleck Publications (French, Le dernier voyage de l'amok 2017 at Dupuis)

action

In the 1920s, Theodor Pussel worked as the youngest member of a seafaring family in the office of a shipping company in Dunkirk . Dealing with the waybills for exotic destinations arouses a wanderlust in him that leads him on his first trip in the footsteps of his missing uncle, Captain Stien.

  • Volume 1: The Secret of Captain Stien

Theodor Pussel, who comes from a family of seafarers, works in the office of a shipping company in Dunkirk in the 1920s. Because he wakes up wanderlust, he is transferred by his shipping company to a position as a purser on a ship heading to Asia at his own request. Theodor wants to use the trip to visit the grave of his missing uncle Captain Stien, which is said to be in Asia. Shortly before his departure, he meets the mysterious Mr. November, who prophesies that the long-distance journey, which Theodor looks at so euphorically, will be full of strokes of fate and heavy and gloomy impressions. Theodore does not allow himself to be dissuaded from his plan by the dark prophecies and sets off on a long-distance journey to China. On board he meets Mr. November again, who now reveals himself to Theodor as his fate and thus seems to take on the role of a Mephisto-like figure. However, Mr November is traveling on the ship as a stowaway and is therefore arrested. After an illness at sea, Theodor is brought ashore in Asia to recover for a few days and at the same time to be able to find his uncle's grave by land, while the ship is supposed to continue and take him back on board at the next port. He learns that his uncle, Captain Stien, was the lover of Madame Kosina and that a rival set a trap in which he fell into the hands of insurgents responsible for unrest in the area. He also learns that the ship he has been traveling on got caught in a storm and sank. Theodor gets on board a small ship, but finds out on the high seas that he ran into pirates. However, he can hide in the hold and watch from there that the pirate ship meets another pirate ship for the purpose of handing over the goods. Its captain is apparently Theodor's uncle Stien, who was believed dead.

  • Volume 2: Mission Aru-el-Kader

Theodor arrives back on land and is now doing a job there in order to be able to afford the passage back to Europe on his own. He gets on board the ship of the unscrupulous pirate George Town, who offers Theodor a job as secretary and asks him to write down his memoirs. However, Theodor refuses this work and stays on land. He is later awarded a ship by said pirate George Town, who has to flee the local jurisdiction, with which he can transport goods and thus earn money more quickly for his return trip to Europe. In a bar he meets Mr. November again, who reveals to him that the ship with which he set out on the long-distance voyage and which he believed had sunk during his stay in shore, has not been shipwrecked, but is continuing its route as planned have. Mr. November had deliberately leaked this false information to Theodor and at the same time informed the ship's crew that Theodor had died on land, so that they did not wait for him or let him look for him. Theodor then becomes furious and knocks Mr. November down with a bottle. November seems dead, which is why the local police are looking for Theodor as the murderer after the brawl. Theodor escapes with the help of a Mr. Martin, who in turn leads him to Lord Brooke, the former rajah of Long Andju Island. Lord Brooke offers Theodore, who is suspected of murder, an assignment as a way out of his bad situation: He is to free Brooke's daughter from the hands of the new rajah Aru-el-Kader, who conquered Long Andju Island while Lord Brooke was absent and captured her took. In return for his services Brooke wants to give Theodor money for his return trip to Europe. Theodor agrees and goes on a journey to Long Andju. In reality, Mr November is not dead at all, kills his guard or the guard of his supposed corpse and follows Theodor accompanied by the pirates in whose hold Theodor Pussel was once hiding.

  • Volume 3: The Fate of Maria Verita

Theodor Pussel tries everything to find Lord Brooke's daughter, who is apparently still imprisoned in the castle of the new rajah, and travels with the ship "Maria Verita", named after the daughter of Lord Brookes and given to him by Lord Brook, and a crew of old warriors to Long Andju. On the island he is amazed and meets Mr. November again, whom he thought was dead. November's companions, the pirates, are meanwhile murdered by the rajah Aru-el-Kadar. Although Theodor Pussels did not give such an order, his crew, with the support of the pirate Crabb, conquered the palace of the rajah, spilling a lot of blood and apparently also killing the pirate Crabb himself. When intervening in the fighting in the palace and in the search for Maria Verita, Theodor Pussel is in danger, but Mr. November saves his life. Theodore finally finds out that Brooke's daughter Maria Verita has long been dead and that the current rajah Aru-el-Kader forced the daughter of a white islander to accept her role. Theodore makes his way back to Lord Brook to report this to him, with Mr. November accompanying him.

  • Volume 4: George Town's Secret

Theodor Pussel travels back to Lord Brooke to tell him about the death of his daughter. When he arrives, Mr. Martin informs him that Brooke has meanwhile been arrested by the Dutch colonial administration because he allegedly has a treasure that the Dutch want to usurp. Due to an embargo, Theodor is no longer allowed to leave the port of call with his ship. He does this one night anyway to free Brooke from the Dutch fortress, since he sees it as the only way to get the reward Brooke promised for trying to get his daughter back, i.e. money or the possibility for the return trip to Europe. When leaving the port at night, Theodor is caught by the Dutch, who attack and sink the ship. Together with Mr. November and two other passengers whom Mr. Martin brought onto the ship shortly before leaving the port illegally, he can escape into a dinghy. The castaways meet George Town and his pirates at sea and are taken in by them. While the unscrupulous pirate captain Town brings the two passengers, a leader of local rebels and his wife, ashore in order to later receive a ransom for them, he keeps Theodor Pussel on board. He comes back to the fact that Theodor should write down his memoirs for him, which Theodor is now forced to do. Mr. November secretly kills one of the pirate sailors and can thus also stay on the pirate ship, since he takes his place. Theodor Pussel and George Town are now trying together to free Lord Brooke from the hands of the Dutch, Theodor Pussel in order to get money from this for his return trip to Europe and George Town in order to gain access to the treasure that Lord Brooke should have , to get. Mr November meanwhile incites the crew against the pirate captain Town, among other things by killing another sailor and blaming the captain Town for his death. Mutiny occurs during a storm, the crew leaves the capsizing ship and leaves it with Theodor Pussel and George Town to the raging sea.

  • Volume 5: The Treasure of the White Rajah

Theodor Pussel and George Town get stranded on an island and come into contact with natives there. They had previously killed the captain's mutinous crew, who were also stranded on the island, and are now trying to kill pirate captain Town and Theodor Pussel. Town can prevent this by promising the natives a part of the treasure of Lord Brooke, who was held captive by the Dutch, and convincing them to help them free Brooke from the Dutch fortress. Meanwhile, a professor of astrology who has set up his research camp on the island finds Mr November on the shore and takes him in. November, however, kills the professor and takes on his identity and papers in order to get safely through the jungle and into the fortress of the Dutch, which he succeeds. On the way to the fortress, Theodor continues to write the memoirs of George Town, whereby he does not write down the reports as requested by Town, but instead depicts Town as a mad and cruel pirate in the reading. Town reveals to him that he is illiterate himself, but wants his memoirs written down so that others can understand his actions. Together with the natives, Theodor and Town penetrate the Dutch fortress at night. Town unexpectedly kills Lord Brooke, who is imprisoned there and who has apparently gone mad, in his dungeon cell before he can reveal where he is hiding his treasure, as he believes he has found a friend in Theodor and not probably through the liberation of Brooks Theodor wants to lose the return trip to Europe. The Dutch are finally able to repel the capture of the fortress, Town is fatally injured and Theodor arrested. Mr November, who is a guest in the fortress as a supposed professor, informs the Dutch that Theodor is wanted in Makassar for murder. Theodore is brought there before he can be convicted, but Mr. November enters the court and thereby renders the charge against Theodore of having murdered him unfounded; he had previously had him brought to court in the first place to prevent a lynching by the Dutch. After the rescue by Mr November, Theodor is provided with papers by the embassy for his return trip to Europe and goes on board a ship with a course to Dunkirk.

  • Volume 6: A passenger disappears

Theodor disappears on his return trip to Europe while going ashore for three days, but then appears again and finally arrives in his hometown of Dunkirk, where he is received by his family. He does some research on his family history there, but his mother is not enthusiastic about it. In the days when he disappeared on shore leave, Theodor found out from Mr November that Captain Stien was actually not his uncle, but his father and that he was apparently still alive. Shortly after Theodor's birth, due to the death of Theodor's biological mother and the rejection of her family, his father found himself unable to keep Theodor with him and raise him and therefore given him to his brother, Theodor's uncle. At the same time he had promised to stay away from his son from now on. From the behavior of his stepmother in Dunkirk, Theodor concludes that these statements by Mr. November are correct. Theodor meets Mr. November again in Dunkirk, who informs him that he has been commissioned by Theodor's father, the old Captain Stien, himself to tell him about Theodor's steps and, on the other hand, to see to it that he follows his father's promise to the family opposite, does not coincide with this. Only shortly before his death does Captain Stien, who has now also arrived in Dunkirk, agree to see Theodor and to speak to him. After Theodor's father, Captain Stien, dies after the discussion with Theodor, Mr. November assigned by him no longer has an official job. Nevertheless, he suggests to continue to accompany Theodor on his way and to stand by him as a figure of fate.

  • Volume 7: Family Album

Theodor Pussel's childhood is portrayed in this comic album. Theodor moves to the country with his family, where he makes new friends. In the course of the First World War, the family was forced to leave the house in the country. The story is kept in the melancholy mood of the entire series of albums, but stands out from the other volumes in terms of drawing due to the direct coloring used here.

  • Volume 8: The Fog Island

Theodor Pussel is back at sea and gets caught in a storm. His ship capsizes and loses consciousness. He wakes up on a mysterious and surreal island, where he becomes acquainted with some strange inhabitants such as A young woman, an author, or a hunter and his assistants. In the end it turns out that Theodor only dreamed. He wakes up in a hospital he was taken to after his shipwreck.

  • Volume 9: In the palace of Nabob. Part 1

Theodor Pussel takes part in the visit of the new colonial administrator to a local prince. He had previously sent a gift of money, which raises the suspicion that the former consul was corrupt. Theodor comes closer to the new colonial administrator Philippe Bataille's daughter Chouchou Bataille, who is also traveling with him, and they both fall in love. Augustin Fischl, another confidante who is also aiming for Chouchou's favor, is also traveling. The group goes in search of a French contact in the prince's palace and tries to find out exactly by whom and why bribes were paid.

  • Volume 10: In the palace of Nabob. Part 2

During a tiger hunt organized by the prince in honor of his guests, the prince is murdered. Theodor Pussel and his companions were able to expose the conspirators and prevent another attack on the prince, who lured him into the park with a forged letter that gave him the impression that Chouchou wanted to see him in the palace park and was murdered there should be. In this context, however, Augustin Fischl is killed, who ran into the park instead of the prince, because he had also read the fake message and suspected Chouchou and the prince to be in the park. The conspirators are found guilty of an employee of the consulate who had also taken the bribes, and several people from the prince's circle who wanted to bring about a revolution by killing the prince.

  • Volume 11: All year November

Theodor Pussel is again employed as a paymaster on a ship. The ship takes a theater company on board. Among the actors is also Mr. November. Several murders happen during the crossing, whereupon Theodor Pussel suspects Mr. November (who also murdered in the previous albums of the series, see "Mission Aru-el-Kader", "George Towns Secret", "The Treasure of the White Raja") ). During an excursion with a hunt for a shark, Mr. November Theodor Pussel saves his life when it falls into the water. Ultimately, it turns out that one of the ship's employees, Le Corfec, hid a criminal twin brother who is an escaped convict on board and that he was responsible for the murders. The murderer can be convicted and eliminated.

  • Volume 12: Jealousy

Theodor Pussel is now the owner of his own island and coconut plantation, which he runs with the support of Mr. November and Mr. Martin. Chouchou visits him on the island and the relationship between Theodor and her revives. During a trip to the mainland, however, Theodor's old friend Klapdor and the pirate Crabb, who was believed to be dead (see Volume 3 - The Fate of Maria Verita), arrive on the island. Klapdor reveals to him that Chouchou is actually his wife, but that he has sought distance from him and that he now intends to bring her back to him. Crabb, on the other hand, wants to take revenge on Theodor, since he could not steal any prey at the time and therefore now wants to take possession of the island. Theodor and his friends are besieged on the island and Crabb even manages to take Chouchou hostage. Theodor Pussel therefore agrees to leave the island to Crabb against the liberation of Chouchou and against free withdrawal from him and all his friends. Klapdor and Chouchou leave the island and Theodor also leaves them together with Mr. November and Mr. Martin in a dinghy.

  • Volume 13: The Last Voyage of the Amok

Theodor Pussel looks for a group of sailors and drives with them, Mr. November and Mr. Martin to the island occupied by Crabb, in order to recapture it. Ultimately, the endeavor succeeds. The pirate Crabb is killed and Theodor is again the owner of the island on which he wants to stay. Nevertheless, he had already sold the island beforehand in order to finance the crew and the ship needed for the reconquest. November is apparently killed in the end by a short man who belongs to the team recruited by Theodor Pussel.

main characters

  • Theodor Pussel ( Théodore Poussin )

Theodor Pussel is a young adventurer who was born in Dunkirk in 1902. Frank Le Gall's grandfather was the model for this character.

  • Mr November ( Barthélémy Novembre ) (Volumes 1 to 6 and 11, 12 and 13)
  • Captain Charles Stien ( Charles Steene ) (Volumes 1 to 6)
  • Camille Pussel ( Camille Poussin ) (Volumes 1, 9 and 10)
  • George Town ( Georges Town ) (Volumes 2, 4 and 5)
  • "Chouchou" ( Élenore "Chouchou" Bataille ) (Volumes 9, 10 and 12)

reception

The comic was awarded the Max and Moritz Prize for the best German comic publication in 1992 . Andreas C. Knigge rates Theodor Pussel as “outstanding” in the field of youth comics. The hero is reminiscent of Hergés Tim , but is more "a romantic dreamer" and "often not in control of the situation". The adventures are told by le Gall in a “charming, modern and humorous line”, with “an excellent sense of the exoticism of its locations”. Stefan Pannor describes the comic as "an exception in the Franco-Belgian adventure comic". The adventures start classically, but are not exciting, but told in a quiet and elegiac manner, with a “man without special qualities” as the hero. More important than the protagonist is the world in which the stories take place, "a place to be amazed". It resembles Theodor Pussel of the more popular series Corto Maltese of Hugo Pratt , except that the nemesis Mr. November is here mysterious place murderous. The author has the complex story of the main cycle surprisingly well under control: “No plot was left behind”.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Stefan Pannor: The great amazement. February 7, 2013, accessed August 12, 2019 .
  2. ↑ a b Andreas C. Knigge in 1001 Comics You Should Read Before Life Is Over . Zurich 2012, Edition Olms. P. 504.
  3. ^ Andreas C. Knigge: Comics . Rowohlt Taschenbuch Verlag, Reinbek 1996, ISBN 3-499-16519-8 , p. 215.