Belgium's Jerry Spring was created by Joseph Gillain who signed his work as Jije for the weekly comic Spirou in 1954. A dour but fearless noble figure, Spring travelled as a kind of knight errant across the Western plains with his cheerful Mexican side-kick, Poncho. This contrast of characters, superior story lines and Jije's magnificent artwork brought what could have been an ordinary cowboy story out of typical stereotypes into the realm of myth. Armed only with his twin Colts and a driving sense of justice, our hero was always his own man righting wrongs and making quite an impression with his exploits on the European market. The success of the feature helped revive the Western strip all across Europe until it original run ended in 1967. Picked up in reprints by Editions Dupuis, it was revived in 1974 to continue these classic adventures.
1 comment:
Glad to discover that comics lovers are interested in Jerry Spring away from Belgium and France, where it was a hit. I fully agree with what you wrote about Jijé, who really was a master. He also had a huge influence on a very young Giraud (aka Gir, aka Moebius), who worked with him. Blueberry, a major hero in comics from the following period, is somehow Jerry Spring's nephew.
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