We could have relied on multi-colored balloons flying in a shower of crackling confetti. It would have been festive, but unspeakably banal. We preferred to showcase this issue of the century with a drawing by François Schuiten whose contrast between the deep black and the luminosity of the scene struck us (there is no other word) right in the heart. Schuiten which was not planned for this place (the initial cover project was quite different) but stood out in view of this original creation which was unanimously accepted within the editorial staff. Like the other illustrators who were kind enough to participate in this issue – Kroll, Geluck, duBus, Kanar, Jannin, Zep, Vincent Patar and Stéphane Aubier – François Schuiten immediately agreed to provide us with a drawing, a tribute to Moustique which celebrates its 100th anniversary without a muscle ache.
With great joy and without any other explanation than that of a birthday to be celebrated around a round number – so round that it constitutes an event in itself -, the author of Obscure cities responded positively to our invitation. “I can’t refuse”replied this artist who, in the landscape, remains one of the most brilliant minds whose educated eye continues to impress us. “Moustique is part of my DNA since Franquin alludes to it all the time,” he continued on the phone. The adventures of Spirou and Fantasio are full of references to the Mosquito.” Franquin and Hergé, tutelary figures stationed above Schuiten’s shoulder when he draws, he who nevertheless took comics beyond comics. He proves it again with this powerful image that we chose to publish on the front page and which instantly enters the history of our magazine. An image which denotes a remarkable sense of composition, at the same time as a poetic imagination unlike any other.
This drawing by François Schuiten is the cover of the special issue to mark the 100th anniversary of Moustique.
“We agree, this is the cover”
“No, I can’t refuse”insists Schuiten, who lifts a corner of the veil on the little boy to whom his architect father very early on gave a box of watercolors. “The title of the magazine – Moustique – is something that has always struck me and is part of my memory as a child.” It is this child that he has depicted, looking up towards the illuminated signs of Moustique, Spirou and Tintin of which we only see half of a name so famous that there is no need read it in full to understand it. “I chose this nocturnal atmosphere and this idea of glowing signs because, when I was younger, these newspapers were like beacons in the night for me”comments the designer, touched by his subject. This is because in the last century, at the height of the 60s and 70s, these three press titles made up the golden triangle where leisure Belgium found itself.
Nothing has been retouched from the original drawing, except the addition of red to the character’s clothing and to the logo, ideal for better capturing attention. “I have your email address, I’ll send you this”he concluded before hanging up. A week after the first call, the document arrived in our mailbox… In front of the drawing displayed on the screen, the discussion was simple, brief and definitive. It boils down to this sentence:“We agree, it’s the cover”.
