Batango & Monsky - 'L'Androïde Associé' (Métal Hurlant #79bis, 1982).
Jean-François Bournazel is a French comic artist, who published mainly science fiction stories in Métal Hurlant and his own fanzine Rare & Cher in the 1980s. He is the author of the sci-fi comic series 'Batango & Monsky' (1989) and the first album in the adventure comic series 'Les Cavaliers de la Mer'. Under the pseudonym Hergi, Bournazel also create the odd crossover comic 'Tintin contre Batman' (1995), in which Tintin fights Batman.
Life and career
Jean-François Bournazel worked for the magazine Métal Hurlant in the early 1980s. He created the short sci-fi stories 'Sauvetage du M–G–X–305' (#68, 1981), 'L'Arche' (#70, 1981) and 'Arrêt sur Syphilice' (#81, 1982), as well as the first appearance of his science fiction series 'Batango et Monsky' (#79bis, 1982).
Rare & Cher
Bournazel was the driving force behind the fanzine Rare & Cher, which hit the bookstands in 1984. He was joined in his initiative by Christian Imbert and James Brunier, among other people. Based in Saint-Ouen, Seine-Saint-Denis, Bournazel served as editor-in-chief with Imbert as his art director. Even though only thirteen issues were published between 1984 and 1989, the magazine has seen several incarnations, including a landscape format shape and a tabloid-sized paper. Bournazel contributed the superhero homage 'Dixie Midnight', new stories of 'Batango et Monsky' as well as 'Safari Folie'. Rare & Cher was also notable for printing some early comics by David B.
Albums
Together with scriptwriter Jean-Luc Salmon he created the first album in the series 'Les Cavaliers de la Mer' for Vents d'Ouest, namely 'Les Enfants du Réveil' (1986). Éric Langlois provided the coloring. The second and final story in the series was illustrated by Jean-Marc Simon and Éric Simon, with no involvement from Bournazel. A selection of Bournazel's sci-fi stories from Métal Hurlant and Rare & Cher were collected in the album 'Batango et Monsky' (Sorg, 1989). Jean-François Bournazel should not be confused with Samuel Bournazel, who wrote the script for the second and third album of the heroic fantasy series 'Dusty Dawn', illustrated by Christophe Alvès.
Tintin vs. Batman
In 1991 Bournazel was one of several comic artists to make a graphic contribution to the official 'Tintin' homage album 'Fétiche Arumbaya' (1991). A couple of years later, he drew the 28-page parody comic 'Tintin contre Batman' (L'Oeil du Pirate) under the pseudonym Hergi. The story pitches Hergé's quiffed reporter Tintin against Bob Kane and Bill Finger's creation Batman, fighting it off in Gotham City. At first the maverick crime fighters regard each other as rivals, but they eventually team up to find Tintin's kidnapped dog Snowy. Bournazel also made a few posters based on this comic strip. 'Tintin vs. Batman' was reprinted again in 2008 and 2015.
'Tintin vs. Batman'.