The latest album written and illustrated by the phenomenal Belgian artist Alec, or Al, Severin, one of my favorite artists. This features Severin's beautiful watercolor artwork and his take on the classic Spirou characters.

Severin created a historic background for his creation Harry imbuing the character with a decades long publishing history and multiple artists and writers—even though he himself created all the work. He is mining similar ground here with Spirou: over several albums with Dupuis, Severin has built a nostalgic mythology of Spirou and the Belgian resistance during World War II.

From the publisher:

In the cold month of December 1942, a puppet theater founded by André Moons and Jean Doisy, then editor-in-chief of Le Journal Spirou, crisscrossed occupied Belgium to compensate for the interruption of the publication of the periodical and to serve as cover for a resistance network. The puppet shows, playful and touching, staged Spirou and his faithful friend Spip in stories written by Jean Doisy and played by André Moons, in whose hands the puppets came to life in a magical way. Then the war ended and the skits went into an attic. Until...

Seven decades later, the authors of "The True Story of Spirou" discover these unique writings and, with the complicity of Al, decide to bring them back to light. A daring bet, managed with grace, which opens the doors of a unique and moving journey in the Spirou of those years. Spirou, Spip, Fantasio for his first visual appearance (one year before Jijé does not give him his famous figure), but also other forgotten characters: the Ads, Georges Cel, the Ruffler or the Tif and Tondu of Fernand Dineur.

The small theater of Spirou is undoubtedly the missing link between Rob-Vel and Jijé. A superb tribute, full of nostalgia and mischief, which touches the heart. An essential bridge between yesterday's Spirou and today's.