The Beast Review

I knew of Marsupilami originally from the 1990s' Disney television show. I never saw a single episode, but I do recall some of the promo clips that would air around then. Since I didn't really pay attention then, it would only be years later that I learned the character was originally created for Spirou decades earlier. But I never tracked down any of those stories either. So my background here is little more than the general visual of the character, but I picked up Magnetic Press' book The Beast almost entirely on the strength of Frank Pé's name.

The premise of The Beast is simply a "realistic" origin story for the character. He was basically captured by accident by some shady animal traders and managed to escape once their ship docked in Belgium. He was found -- nearly starved to death -- by a young boy named François who has a penchant for bringing home stray animals. But upon bringing the creature to "show and tell" in class later in the week, the resident bully provokes "Longtail" into biting him, and it's not long before the authorities show up to collect François' menagerie. It's then up François to rescue his animal friends and keep a famous (and also somewhat sketchy) cryptozoologist away from Marsupilami after being tipped off by a local vet.

As I said, I'm unfamiliar with any previous Marsupilami stories in any form, so I don't know how much is borrowed and how much is totally new and I can't make any comparisons there. But the story stands on its own very well. It actually mostly focuses on François and his mother, who have a surprisingly deep background. With the emotional focus on the two of them, it stands to reason that Marsupilami takes something of a back seat in the story, not even making a full appearance until halfway through the first book. His presence drives the story, to be sure, but he's not the main character.

Zidrou imbues the story with a lot of heart. All of the characters seem well-rounded, even the ones who are only ancillary to the story. For as much as it's ostensibly an origin story for Marsupilami, and there's enough in it to make it unique to that character, it's more about just being a good person and treating all living creatures with respect. And it should almost go without saying that Pé has turned in some amazing visuals. All of his figures are brimming with life and energy, and their movements all seem exceptionally natural, even when he exaggerates them for comedic affect.

Once again, I can't say how this compares or doesn't against any other Marsupilami story, but it's an excellent work on its own merits, and is well worth the read. My only complaint is that it took six years to get it translated into English and published in the US!

The second and final book came out last week from Magnetic Press. Book one was released earlier this year, so both should be pretty readily available through your favorite book store. Each of them retail for $24.99 US.

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