the wacky adventurers of the “Spectaculars” follow in the footsteps of Jules Verne in Picardy

Professor Pipolet, the charmer Evariste, the reporter Rouilletabile or the pretty Pétronille, undisputed leader of the band, these intrepid acrobats were born 7 years ago under the pen of Régis Hautière and the pencil of Arnaud Poitevin. These funny and endearing characters are found in a new opus entitled The Spectaculars make their circus at Jules Vernereleased on March 1, 2023 by Rue de Sèvres editions.

It’s a band of cabaret artists who are going to be transformed into superheroes, finally into costumed heroes thanks to gadgets tinkered with by Professor Pipollet who is a kind of crazy inventor. The problem being that this professor’s gadgets work once out of 2 or even once out of 4, so it causes a lot of disaster.

Regis Hautiere

scriptwriter

These costumed heroes already have their notoriety in Amiens since they have also been displayed in large format in the station district since 2017. An initiative of the city and the association We walked on the Bubble to dress up the phantom facades of this district in full transformation.

It is therefore not surprising that the 6th volume of this family comic strip takes place in the Picardy city. A choice of screenwriter Régis Hautière who made Amiens his adopted city 25 years ago, just like Jules Verne in the last century. Integrating the writer into the 6th volume of Spectacular, was obvious to him.

steampunk universe

“It was important for us to make an explicit reference to this character and this writer in our series”, he says in the streets of Amiens, at the very place where the plot of the comic book takes place. “It has its place in the steampunk universe that we have created.”

Steampunk, kesako? In short, the plot can be said to combine 20th century aesthetics and technology with futuristic elements that at the time could be considered science fiction.

The emblematic places of Amiens

The cathedral, the Madeleine cemetery, the Hortillonnages (the floating gardens of Amiens), all the emblematic places of Amiens are present in the comic strip. Enough to introduce readers to the little Venice of the North.

The recipe works. In 24 hours the Amiens bookshop The Bubble in Stock sold over 100 copies. Undoubtedly a sign of readers’ attachment to the region, but also of the authors’ ability to renew themselves in each new album.

In each of them, “there is a different atmosphere”, explains Laurent Marioni, manager of the bookshop The Bubble in Stock. “There’s one that’s more on the thriller side, another that’s going to be on the crazy side of the wheel with a completely crazy car race, this one around Jules Verne takes us on a tour of the city through a borderline investigation of the paranormal”.

Small gift for aficionados: a collector’s edition of 500 copies highlights the cathedral of Amiens on the cover, a worthy way of celebrating the release of this 6th volume, only 7 years after the first issue.