Sylvain et Sylvette

Sylvain et Sylvette is a French comics series created in 1941 by Maurice Cuvillier. The most popular and successful series relating the adventures of Sylvain and Sylvette were drawn by Jean-Louis Pesch and are currently published by Dargaud. This is the only series still unfinished and published.
Publication history.
The first series dedicated to the comics characters Sylvain and Sylvette was created by Maurice Cuvillier in 1941 for the magazine Cœurs Vaillants, and later published in the magazine "Fripounet et Marisette". From 1956, Jean-Louis Pesch and Claude Dubois took over the series and drew and wrote albums on their own and separately, but still in the same series, published by Fleurus from 1953. Cuvillier stopped drawing in 1958, and a new series was launched in 1967, with the same authors and publisher. In 1973, an alternative series called "Seribis" was created, grouping Jean-Louis Pesch's albums and published in the casual size for comics, so that the former series stopped and from 1978, Dubois and Pesch published albums in distinct series. In 1986, Fleurus stopped publishing these adventures. While Dubois gave up, Pesch's series went on being published thanks to Le Lombard from 1990, then by Dargaud from 2001. All the albums of the former series "Seribis" were republished by Le Lombard and Dargaud.
Evolution of the series.
At the beginning of the series, as drawn and written by Maurice Cuvillier, the story is a call to go back to nature and a traditional way of life influenced by the catholicism and the attachment to land. In the first series, Sylvain and Sylvette has fewer animals than in the current series. At that time, their pets comprised only "Gris – Gris", "Cui – Cui", "Moustachu", "Panpan", "Barbichette", "Mignonnet", "Raton", "Poulette", and all of them play active roles. As for the "compères", they are all very dangerous and mean and are the archetypes of the villains, so that the series was designed as largely dualistic and moralistic. The themes of justice and punishment are very present in the spirit of the Cuvillier's albums, and Sylvain and Sylvette don't hesitate to severely retaliate against their pets when they joke or do a mistake.
Gradually, these characters evolved under the influence of Claude Dubois and above all Jean-Louis Pesch who turned the comperes into comic protagonists and added some characters. But the theme of nature is still very present in the recent albums who praise the beauty and the harmony of the country. Jean-Louis Pesch focused much more than Cuvillier on the life in the forest and the necessary protection of nature. The graphic style of the series also evolved a lot, and while Jean-Louis Pesch had a style similar to that of Cuvillier and Dubois, his drawings became more original and individual.
Synopsis.
"This is the synopsis of the series currently published by Dargaud and designed by Jean-Louis Pesch"
Sylvain et Sylvette, are the main characters of the comics series. Orphans, they live alone and autonomously in a house that they call their "cottage", in the middle of the forest. They live with several animals referred in the series as their "friends" and have a very simple way of life, wearing clogs and eating with picking and fishing. Sometimes they pass to Laville (literally "Thetown" in French), a small village near their house, when they need a doctor or a veterinary for example. However, four starving animals, the "comperes", who live in a cavern not far from the cottage, seek to catch their animals or to steal their food. The atmosphere of the series is largely humoristic and the so-called villains' attempt to catch animals always fails. In some albums, Sylvain and Sylvette live more adventurous situations than the usual fight against the Comperes, particularly when Tartalo, a scientist, intervenes in the story.
Characters.
"Here are the characters present in the series drawn by Jean-Louis Pesch and published in the casual format for comics. The characters are described as they appear in this series only."
The "compères".
In the French series, these four animals are called "les compères" ("the mates" or "the partners" in French), and each of them are called either by their zoological name with capital letters, which suggests it is their real name (for example, the fox is called "Renard" or "Compere Renard").
Albums.
These album were first published by Fleurus 1973–1986 in the series called "Seribis".
Then the series was entirely republished by "Le Lombard" from 1990 to 2001 and by Dargaud after 2001. Only the first publication is mentioned. All these albums were drawn by Jean-Louis Pesch, unless indicated.
By Jean-Louis Pesch
Other authors
Other publications.
They were several series relating the adventures of Sylvain and Sylvette, all finished. They consist of albums published in the Italian size (29х23 cm) comprising 20 pages, unless indicated. The illustrations are separately by Maurice Cuvillier, Claude Dubois, Pierre Chéry and Jean-Louis Pesch. The artist is also the writer, unless indicated. The albums drawn by Cuvillier have been republished by Editions du Triomphe since 1998.