'Jack Palmer'.
René Pétillon was part of the new wave of comic artists who emerged in the adult-oriented French comic scene of the 1970s. His satirical cartoons have appeared in both serious and more provocative magazines, most notably L'Écho des Savanes, VSD and Le Canard Enchaîné, while in comics circles he is best-known for creating the bumbling private investigator 'Jack Palmer' (1974-2013).
Comic strip collected in the album 'On Aura Tout Vu' (1999).
Early life and career
Pétillon was born in 1945 in Lesneven in the Breton department of Finistère. His parents were both bakers. With no formal art training, the young man published his first drawings in Jacques Bergier and Louis Pauwels' fantastic realism magazine Planète in 1968. He continued his activities as an illustrator/ cartoonist for magazines like Plexus, L'Enragé, Week-End, Vingt Ans and Penthouse, before switching to comics in 1972.
Pilote
In 1972 Pétillon published his first short story, 'Voir Naples et Mourir', in Pilote. Together with Enki Bilal, Annie Goetzinger, Jean Solé and Max Cabanes, Pétillon was part of a new group of authors who had to revive Pilote after the departure of staples like Nikita Mandryka, Gotlib, Claire Brétécher, Jean-Marc Reiser and Cabu. He became a regular in the magazine's pages from 1974 on.
Jack Palmer #1 - 'Une Sacrée Salade'.
Jack Palmer
In issue #742 (24 January 1974) of Pilote, Pétillon introduced his signature series 'Jack Palmer'. Jack Palmer, also referred to as simply Palmer, is a tiny private investigator, dressed in an oversized trenchcoat and hat, and armed with merely a plastic bag of budget textile company Tati. Whereas most detectives actually solve mysteries, Palmer only seems to complicate his own investigations before finally bringing them to a good end. Pétillon constructed an absurd parody of the detective genre, popularized in the 1970s by various TV detectives, such as Columbo, played by Peter Falk. Largely inspired by the humor of MAD Magazine and the Marx Brothers, the cartoonist offered satirical commentary on politics, the media, the mob and jet set life, while also mocking his protagonist's fictional colleagues Sherlock Holmes and Arsène Lupin. Palmer's publication history seems to be as confusing as his investigations. By 1976 the strip disappeared from Pilote, finding a new spot in the satirical comic magazine L'Écho des Savanes, only to return in Pilote in 1982 and then move back to L'Écho des Savanes in 1989. From 1987 onwards, one-page gags also appeared in Charlie Hebdo magazine and subsequently the weekly news magazine VSD, while a new story was prepublished in Le Canard Enchaîné in 2009. In the meantime, the series also made appearances in B.D. and Télérama. Book collections were published by Éditions du Fromage, Albin Michel, Dargaud and then Albin Michel again.
'Jack Palmer'.
The 12th album, 'L'Enquête Corse' (2000), won the Alph-Art prize for Best French comics album during the 2001 Angoulême comic festival. It deals with the "independentist" groups on the isle of Corsica, and received much critical acclaim. A Corsican edition was published with a translation by Francescu-Maria Perfettini, while Alain Berbérian (brother of comic artist Charles Berberian) made a movie adaptation starring Christian Clavier and the unlucky detective. The film premiered in 2004. Pétillon gave his satirical view on Muslim fundamentalism in 'L'Affaire du Voile' (2006), of which an Arabic edition was also published. The fact that Pétillon's humor was never vulgar probably explains why only one single imam in Switzerland deemed the book offensive. For the final 'Palmer' album published during his author's lifetime, the clueless sleuth was sent to Brittany (Bretagne), the region where Pétillon was born. Naturally, editions of 'Palmer en Bretagne' (2013) also appeared in a Breton and Gallo dialect version.
'Docteur Miracle', from Pilote #744 (7 February 1974). Translation: "Ah, well, no, me [go to] Dr. Miracle, I lack the confidence. I stay loyal to Dr. Komb..." - "Cough..." - "If you don't come to Dr. Miracle, Dr. Miracle comes to you...".
Docteur Miracle and other short comics
In addition to his main series, Pétillon published several gag strips in Pilote about the amazingly efficient doctor Miracle ('Docteur Miracle') in 1974. He drew 'Le Chien des Basketville' (1975-1976) in L'Écho des Savanes, and ventured into science fantasy with several short stories published in Métal Hurlant and Pilote from 1976 onwards. These were later collected in the albums 'Les Carottes Sont Cuites' (Les Humanoïdes Associés, 1980) and 'Les Aventures de Douglas Ferbanc et Vaseline' (Dargaud, 1982). Pétillon also appeared sporadically in the pages of Fluide Glacial (from 1975 on), À Suivre (from 1978 on) and Chic (1984).
'Courrier Pour Jupiter!' (Métal Hurlant #36, December 1978).
Scriptwriting
Pétillon has additionally been a productive scriptwriter for other artists. With Yves Got he made the absurd funny animal series 'Gomard et Kolabuc' for Pilote (1974) and L'Écho des Savanes (1975-1976). Their best known joint creation is however 'Le Baron Noir' (1976-1981), a cynical view on society and politics through the exploits of the unscrupulous predator The Black Baron, a vulture, and a group of mostly impassive sheep. The sheep population however also knows some historic leaders, trade unionists and rebels, while the events are meticulously evaluated and discussed by an elephant and a turtle. The series debuted in L'Écho des Savanes, and then ran as a daily strip in Le Matin de Paris from 1977 until 1981. By 1978 Got took over the scripwriting as well, sometimes aided by Nikita Mandryka, Christian Godard or Martin Veyron. René Pétillon has also written the albums 'Panique à Londres' (2003), 'Scandale à New York' (2004) and 'Triomphe à Hollywood' (2006), starring the characters Dico and Charles. The artwork was provided by Jean-Marc Rochette. With Florence Cestac, he made the humorous comics album 'Super Catho' (2004), which he largely based on his childhood memories.
Cartoon from Le Canard Enchaîné (18 November 2015). Translation: "Death to the joy of living!" - "Long live the joy of dying!".
Graphic contributions
Pétillon made a graphic contribution to Marion Vidal's 'Monsieur Schulz et ses Peanuts’ (Albin Michel, 1976), an essay about Charles M. Schulz’ 'Peanuts’, illustrated with subversive parodies of the comic, that Schulz unsuccessfully tried to sue. In 1983, Pétillon was one of many comic artists paying homage to the recently deceased Hergé in a special issue of (À Suivre), titled 'Adieu Hergé'. He paid tribute to Nikita Mandryka in the collective comic book 'Tronches de Concombre' (Dupuis, 1995). He additionally made a graphic contribution to the anti-racism collective comic book 'Rire Contre Le Racisme' (Jungle!, 2006).
Recognition
Besides the aforementioned Alph-Art prize, René Pétillon was awarded the Grand Prize of the City of Angoulême in 1989 and the "Grand Prix de l'humour Vache 2002" during the Salon International du Dessin de Presse et d'Humour in Saint-Just-le-Martel. On 27 November 2017 he received the Grand Boum Ville de Blois for his entire oeuvre.
Final years and death
During the 1980s Pétillon also worked as a topical cartoonist, initially for L'Écho des Savanes and VSD. Since 1993 he became a house cartoonist for the satirical magazine Le Canard Enchaîné. He also appeared in a couple of issues of Charlie Hebdo, following the relaunch after the January 2015 terrorist attacks, which caused the deaths of several of the magazine's cartoonists. Much of his cartooning work has been collected in book format by Denoël and Albin Michel.The artist announced his retirement from Le Canard in August 2017 to focus on creating comics again. Unfortunately he passed away from a long illness at age 72, little over a year later.
Legacy and influence
René Pétillon was a strong influence on Dutch cartoonist Willem.
'Jack Palmer'.