The blog Vintage Wargaming notes the passing of Belgian militaria historian and artist Fred Funcken. In addition to many historical books about uniforms and equipment, Fred and his wife Liliane were also noteworthy comic book writers and artists, including the adventures of the swashbuckling Capitan.
Capitan is a familiar character, a Gascon soldier who arrives in Paris during the regency of Marie de' Medici to seek his fortune, quickly finding himself in situations where he must defend the king from intrigues foreign and domestic, beginning with those of the nefarious Concini. The illustrations are outstanding in their period detail, and if the comics lack a certain visual dynamism more modern readers may expect, they more than make up for it with crackling adventures. Though difficult to find and available only in French to the best of my knowledge, they are well worth the effort to track down.
Capitan looks interesting. Thanks for posting.
ReplyDeleteThere's a ton of great inspiration in those books, and the best thing about the comic medium is that it's so easy to get past the language barrier.
DeleteI remember the Funckens from my military modelling days in the late seventies. Used to use their books regularly for information on painting up 15mm Napoleonic armies (yes I was a wargamer before I was a RPGer so I guess that makes me a real grognard)
ReplyDeleteThey had a number of the Funcken's art books in the first gaming store I ever visited, and all the Napoleonics guys swore by them.
DeleteCapitan seems to be based on the main character in Le Capitan, a cape & sword book by Michel Zévaco.
ReplyDelete