'Les Fous du Ciel', an adventure of Risquetout (Jumbo, 2 May 1944).
RoDaly was a French comic book artist and scriptwriter, who contributed both humor features and adventure serials to several French humor and comic magazines during the 1930s and 1940s. Between 1940 and 1944, he was a prominent artist for the magazines and book collections of Éditions S.A.G.E., for which he created adventure serials starring the reporter Risquetout, the Scouts Bouboule and L'Aigle, or the musketeer Sparadan.
Identity
No information is known regarding the identity of the cartoonist RoDaly. Since his pen name is generally written with a capital D, and sometimes as Ro.Daly or Ro-Daly, it can be assumed that his last name was Daly and his first name either Roger, Robert, Ronald or Roland.
Cover illustrations for L'Épatant magazine (9 February and 18 May 1939). Translation of the first cover: "Do you think that our car can manage to pass through?". Translation of the second cover: "Hey, sergeant, are going up to get her, or do I send her to you?".
Early comics
During the 1930s, cartoons and comic strips by RoDaly began appearing in magazines like Dimanche Illustré (1930-1939), Automobilia, Ric et Rac, Marius (1938), L'Épatant (1938-1939), L'Os à Moelle (1939-1940), Almanach Vermot (1939-1941) and Pierrot (1940-1941). Starting in October 1940, he was present in Coeurs Vaillants wtih the gag strip 'Chic et Baba dans la Préhistoire' (1940).
'Bec de Piaf' (Jumbo, 28 March 1940).
Collaboration with Pellos
In 1939 and 1940, RoDaly worked for Junior, the comic magazine of the Société Parisienne d'Édition (S.P.E.). As writer and artist, he created 'Bec de Piaf - As de Geurre', a humorous aviation serial that shared a page with other comic and editorial features. For artist René Pellos, he scripted the second serial starring the adventurous athlete 'Jean Jacques Ardent' (1939-1940). After a first sports-themed serial written by Pierre Fallot (as Pierre-Pierre), the RoDaly episode 'J.J. Ardent à la Guerre' has the titular hero joining the French war effort. For Le Journal de Toto, writer RoDaly and artist Pellos subsequently collaborated on 'Boule-de-Neige, Tirailleur Sénégalais' (1940), an adventure serial about a black soldier who fought in the French Army against the German Wehrmacht. In 1999, the story was collected by Éditions Regards in its collection 'Les Amis de Pellos'.
'L'Oeil de Siva'.
Éditions S.A.G.E.
In 1940, RoDaly also began his enduring collaboration with Éditions S.A.G.E., the Lyon-based publishing house of Ettore Carozzo. For the comic magazine Aventures, he created the adventure comic serial 'Roland Lefort dans la Brousse' (1940), as well as the cowboy text serial 'L'Homme au Double Visage' (1941). His first major work for the publisher were the adventures of the reporter 'Risquetout', which appeared in the landscape-format comic book collection Collection Jeunesse Nouvelle. Over the course of 1942, six 'Risquetout' issues were released, successively 'Risquetout contre l'Invisible' (#30), 'La Course à l'Abîme' (#32), 'L'Honorable Mr Chang' (#34), 'L'Île aux Crabes' (#38), 'L'Oeil de Siva' (#45) and 'Le Rocher Maudit' (#46).
'Escadrille 33' (Jumbo, 10 September 1941).
By 1941, Aventures magazine was absorbed by another S.A.G.E. title, the children's comic magazine Jumbo. While that magazine was largely filled with American and Italian serials, local French artists like Chott, Aude Roche and RoDaly provided original creations. During the war years, when Jumbo appeared with occasional intervals, RoDaly became one of the magazine's most prominent contributors. Between December 1940 and September 1941, the magazine ran RoDaly's 'Escadrille 33', an adventure serial with fantasy elements starring J. Tourbillon, chief of the 33rd squadron of the Air Police. In 1942, he launched 'Le Mission Roc' (February-June 1942), an adventure of two Scouts, and 'Pierre Canada' (June-December 1942), a cowboy serial about two members of the Mounted police, set in the Canadian Great North. At the bottom of the page, he additionally created the pantomime gag strip 'Colodion' (1942).
'Sparadan' (Jumbo, 21 November 1943).
Jumbo
Gradually, RoDaly's role in Jumbo's pages increased. In 1943 and 1944, he was making two features at the same time, one for the front page, another one for the back page. Instead of one-shot stories, his new creations also had recurring characters. Even though there was no official series name, his back cover feature starred the Boy Scouts Bouboule and L'Aigle. Between January 1943 and November 1944, RoDaly created seven episodes, all with text captions underneath the images. These were 'L'X des Ruines' (January-March 1943), 'Un Drame Étrange' (April-June 1943), 'La "Simoun" 41' (June-August 1943), 'Le Coffret de Cristal' (August-October 1943), 'Le Secret du Dolmen' (October 1943-January 1944), 'Les Fous du Ciel' (January-July 1944) and 'Dossier Z11' (August-November 1944), the latter remaining unfinished. The episode 'Les Fous du Ciel' was basically a new adventure of RoDaly's reporter hero Risquetout, as told by Bouboule to his friend.
For Jumbo's front page, RoDaly wrote and drew six episodes of the historical musketeer series 'Sparadan, Mousquetaire du Roi' (May 1943-November 1944).
Death
By the time his final comics ran in Jumbo's pages, the artist RoDaly had already died. In the 11 July 1944 issue, the editors announced the death of their loyal contributor. The obituary read: "We regret to inform our faithful readers of the death, which occurred in particularly painful circumstances, of our much appreciated and devoted cartoonist RODALY. To his family members, so cruelly tried, we send our sincere condolences and our deepest sympathy."
'Le Coffret de Cristal', an aventure of Bouboule and L'Aigle (Jumbo, 26 September 1943).