"LES PIONNIERS DE L'ESPERANCE" BY R. LECUREUX AND R. POÏVET
Begun in 1945 in the French newspaper "Vaillant", then later in "Pif Gadget" in 1969, the Pionniers de l'Espérance comic strip recounts the adventures of space agents from a cosmic U.N.O. - the E.M.C. (Etat Major Cosmique) - sent on a mission of pacification and protection against possible threats to Earth.
The adventure lasted 28 years. The original crew of six was reduced to two - Thanga and Maud - between 1969 and 1973, the year of Raymond POÏVET's disgrace as cartoonist. His scriptwriter, Roger Lecureux, then turned to prehistory, creating Rahan, a more promising comic strip...
Curiously, their adventures are reminiscent of Valérian and the American series Star Trek, which appeared in the 1960s well after Les Pionniers...
Raymond POÏVET's art - equal to that of the great American masters of the time, in black and white and often sketched, excels in situations and animals. The last classically trained cartoonist, he could draw anything. Some of today's realist cartoonists could learn a thing or two from him. Sure, there are some beautiful colors, often worked in Photoshop, but it's all "twisted faces" and asymmetrical bodies...
In 1971, POÏVET wrote a silent story for Cosmic magazine, foreshadowing Moebius's Arsach... which, incidentally, Moebius was to feature on the cover...
The G.N.U. 777
At the start of the adventures, our heroes' ship was called "l'Espérance". Then, when they found themselves a couple in Pif Gadget, they used several G.N.U.s, including the one shown in the model most often. A machine capable of flying at ionic speed!...
