Francis Lacassin - 1931-2008

If there's one name to remember when talking about popular literature in France, it's his. Francis Lacassin dedicated his life to discover and make people appreciate authors who are now recognized as of first interest: Gustave Lerouge, Marcel Allain , Léo Malet, Kipling, Stevenson, Paul Féval, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Jean Ray... In 1961, he founded "Le Club des bandes dessinées" ("The Comic Books Club"). Alain Resnais was vice-président of the club. Among members of the Club: Edgar Morin and Delphine Seyrig. A "fanzine" was created: Giff-Wiff, where Umberto Eco wrote (about "Superman and time disapearence"). In 1963, he worked with Georges Franju on Judex. At the same time, he met Jean-Jacques Pauvert, editor of Bizarre magazine (created by Losfeld). From this encounter was born a special "Tarzan" issue of Bizarre. That's the cover I chose to illustrate this post. The cover was designed by Jean-Claude Forrest using Hogarth stuff. From 1963, started years of colaboration with Eric Losfeld, Christian Bourgois (collection "10/18", from 1971 to 1990) and Guy Schoeller (collection "Bouquins", from 1982 to 2000).