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The daily misadventures of mischievous Belgian youngster Albert, as recounted in comic strip form by legendary ligne claire cartoonist Yves Chaland. The art of Yves Chaland ( Chaland Anthology - Freddy Lombard Vol. 1 & 2 ) tackles many different universes and genres. In the case of Young Albert, the author sarcastically explores intimate, everyday events in a largely autobiographical way. Mastering both art and writing skills in his short time on earth, Yves Chaland, is remembered as a genius who tragically left us to soon, but who thankfully gifted us a body of work that lives on as a major contributions to the world of comics.
At 21 years old, he [Chaland] landed a position at Métal Hurlant, producing one masterpiece after another. His Bob Fish serial is a superb example of his sadistic satirical approach to comics, wrapped in a classical & nostalgic fifties feel. While his Freddy Lombard series is more straightforward adventure serial, his Young Albert gags launched in 1982 is Chaland firing on all cylinders! A spinoff of Bob Fish, Young Albert features Chaland’s worldly views on humanity quite explicitly. As Jean-Luc Fromental notes in his afterword, Le Jeune Albert is nasty, cruel, argumentative, smart and possesses a truly ‘Brussels’ attitude. Chaland’s territory is the battleground of the human soul. Through Albert and his proletarian soundboard Fifi, he explores not only his own inner soul - Young Albert contains a lot of autobiographical details - but also the inner workings of his fellow human beings. Themes like treachery, cowardice, honesty, a class society, egoism, authority, self delusions etc. all pass the revue in the one page gags.
Young Albert is not an easy comic, it takes some getting used to and is best digested in large chunks because it is not your traditional laugh-out-loud comic strip. It is a rather confrontational masterpiece that reflects the darker side of human nature utilizing the half page comic setup and a young protagonist to make it all digestible, like a darkly comical mirror. - Bart Croonenborghs