View source for Il y a un sorcier à Champignac

{{Short description|Second album of the Spirou & Fantasio series by Franquin}}
{{Infobox graphic novel| <!--Wikipedia:WikiProject Comics-->
title= Spirou et Fantasio #2 <br/> Il y a un sorcier à Champignac
|englishtitle=
|foreigntitle=
|image= Spirou2sorcier.jpg
|caption=Cover of the Belgian edition
|publisher=[[Dupuis]]
|date=1951
|series=''[[Spirou et Fantasio]]''
|origlanguage=French
|origpublication=''[[Spirou (magazine)|Spirou]]'' magazine
|origissues= #653 - #685
|origdate=1950 - 1951
|origisbn= 2-8001-0004-4
|transtitle=
|transpublisher=
|transdate=
|transseriestitle=
|transisbn=
|translator=
|writers=[[André Franquin|Franquin]] <br/>with [[Jijé]]<br/> Scenario by [[Henri Gillain|Jean Darc]]
|artists=[[André Franquin|Franquin]]
|colorists=
|previssue= ''[[Quatre aventures de Spirou et Fantasio]]'', 1950
|nextissue=''[[Les chapeaux noirs]]'', 1952
}}
'''''Il y a un sorcier à Champignac''''',  by [[André Franquin|Franquin]], is the second album of the ''[[Spirou et Fantasio]]'' series, and the first to tell a long intricate story in what would become the ''Spirou'' tradition, in contrast to the previous short format stories.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Biographie de Franquin (2) : l'épopée Spirou |url=https://www.actuabd.com/Biographie-de-Franquin-2-l-epopee-Spirou |access-date=2023-05-28 |website=ActuaBD |language=fr}}</ref> After serial publication in ''[[Spirou (magazine)|Spirou]]'' magazine, it was released as a complete hardcover album in 1951.

This work introduces several key characters in the series, and the village of [[Champignac-en-Cambrousse]] (a name derived from the French word for mushrooms, and 'cambrousse' meaning rural backwater).<ref>{{Cite book |last=Bouckaert |first=Claire |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ta5eDwAAQBAJ&dq=il+y+a+un+sorcier+%C3%A0%3AChampignac+important&pg=PT69 |title=Liber Amicorum Georges-Albert Dal: L'avocat |date=2014-01-31 |publisher=Éditions Larcier |isbn=978-2-8044-6384-7 |language=fr}}</ref>

It was published in English in 2017 by Euro Books as '''''The Wizard of Culdesac''.'''<ref>{{Cite book |last=Franquin |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cc9MPgAACAAJ |title=The Wizard Of Culdesac |publisher=Euro Books |isbn=978-81-286-1481-1 |language=en}}</ref>

== Story ==
In ''There is a Sorcerer in Champignac'', [[Spirou (character)|Spirou]] and [[Fantasio]] go on a bicycle camping trip to the country and end up near the village of Champignac-en-Cambrousse. They meet its pompous [[List of characters in Spirou et Fantasio#The Mayor of Champignac|mayor]] and rustic inhabitants, and an aloof local landowner, the [[List of characters in Spirou et Fantasio#The Count of Champignac|Count of Champignac]]. Strange phenomena are affecting farm and wild animals, and the frightened villagers blame a [[Romani people|gypsy]] who is passing through. Spirou and Fantasio, however, discover that the real culprit is the Count, deeply involved in creating strange concoctions from mushrooms, and they rescue the vagabond from a lynch mob. Later, the Count creates a drug that within a limited time will endow superhuman strength, which a gangster steals to create mayhem.

== Background ==
This album confirms the evolution in Franquin's style from his previous Spirou works, now distinct from [[Jijé]]'s Spirou.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Franquin |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qXqUEAAAQBAJ&dq=style+graphique+il+y+a+un+sorcier+%C3%A0+champignac&pg=PA9 |title=Spirou et Fantasio - L'intégrale - Tome 1 - Les débuts d'un dessinateur |date=2022-10-07 |publisher=Dupuis |isbn=978-2-8085-0083-8 |language=fr}}</ref> It is Franquin's first long format story.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Biographie de Franquin (2) : l'épopée Spirou |url=https://www.actuabd.com/Biographie-de-Franquin-2-l-epopee-Spirou |access-date=2023-05-28 |website=ActuaBD |language=fr}}</ref>

Jijé is credited as co-author of the script, following a scenario by ''Jean Darc'', alias [[Henri Gillain]], Jijé's brother, who is attributed with the conception of the Count of Champignac and his eccentric mushroom creations.<ref name="Gillain (Henri)">{{cite web| authorlink = Henri Gillain | title =Gillain (Henri) | publisher =Dupuis | url = http://www.dupuis.com/servlet/jpecat?pgm=VIEW_AUTHOR&lang=FR&AUTEUR_ID=171 }} {{in lang|fr}}</ref>

== References ==
<references/>
{{Spirou & Fantasio}}
{{Franquin}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Il y a un sorcier a Champignac}}
[[Category:1951 graphic novels]]
[[Category:1951 in comics]]
[[Category:Comics by André Franquin]]
[[Category:Literature first published in serial form]]
[[Category:Spirou et Fantasio albums]]
[[Category:Witch hunting in fiction]]
[[Category:Works originally published in Spirou (magazine)]]


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