Cat of the Geek #114: Hercule

Name: Hercule (in English, Hercules)
Stomping Grounds: French comic strip Pif & Hercule (in English, Spiff & Hercules) first in communist newspapers, then in Pif Gadget magazine as well as his own mag, Super Hercule. There was a short-lived animated series as well.
Side: The Proletariat
Breed: Tuxedo cat
Cat Powers: Selling communism to your kids through the power of plastic gadgets. Hooliganism.
Skills: Eat 4, Sleep 4, Mischief 9, Wit 5, Gadget demonstration 5
Cat Weaknesses: Making trouble. That annoying friendship with a yellow dog. An open facial wound that will just not heal.

Comments

Chris79 said…
Dude, I grew up with that and it was awesome! There always was a cool gadget with it and several comics in it. Of course, it's funny because in the 80's only a few people remembered it was a communist magazine for kids (which makes for good reading more so than Mickey...), so even though they were fierce anti-communist, they would buy it to their kids or grandchildren nonetheless, like my father's family did. And I've always loved that because I was raised by a socialist mother and appreciated the irony of people from the right wing buying some post cold war communist propaganda!=)
By the way, I've got to say, I love the "so much crap, so little time" line! I've decided that has to be my epitaph! :-)
June 5, 2011 at 3:25 PM
Siskoid said…
I'm pretty sure it wasn't communistic by the Pif Gadget era. Pif SOLD OUT!

The line becomes rather ironic on a tombstone!
June 5, 2011 at 3:34 PM
Chris79 said…
Well, you could find several other comics in Pif Gadget. I found old ones, in my uncle's house, once and you had Pratt's Corto Maltese, or Gotlib's work (who also worked for "Fluide Glacial"), and that's far more subversive than "Mickey Magazine" or "Mickey Parade" or whatever Disney comic book. In fact, the only subversive Disney character is Donald Duck. At least, that was my idea as a kid (still is). Pif wasn't really proselytist, albeit Hercule had a post 1968 flavor.

As for the irony of that line as an epitaph, that's exactly why I think it's brilliant. As a matter of fact, I find it even more cynical than ironical. And as I'm pegged as a rather cynical being... But, you know how Ambrose Bierce defined a cynic : "a blackguard whose faulty vision causes him to see things as they are, not as they ought to be" or something along the lines... You gotta love "The Devil's Dictionary"! I think I'll go back to reading it, now. It's been a while!
June 5, 2011 at 5:28 PM
Siskoid said…
Ever seen the Classics Illustrated version? It's really cool.

As for Pif, I usually read it for Rahan, but I may be confusing it with other b.d. mags of the time.
June 5, 2011 at 6:37 PM
Chris79 said…
An illustrated version of "The Devil's Dictionary"? Damn! I want one... My version is an old edition I found on a "bouquiniste" stall, years ago.
The Clarionet is one of my favorite definition. :-)

Rahan... Wow! Yeah, it was in Pif. But the whole caveman thing wasn't very appealling to me back then.
Just out of curiosity, do you know the South American comic "Mafalda" by Quino? It's about a little girl (and her friends) who tries to understand the grown-ups' world and whose parents are done answering her questions about politics, society, war and why eating soup is so important. I loved it when I was a kid, still do. It's so funny! Oh, and I loved "Garfield" as well! Then, of course, I discovered my uncle's old "Strange" magazines and the world of Marvel... And as I grew up surrounded by Japanese cartoons, mangas. But I always come back into reading my old Mafalda comics.
June 5, 2011 at 10:50 PM
Siskoid said…
I know it, but I don't remember reading much or any. It's pretty popular here in French Canada, just didn't latch onto it.

Then again, there are a lot of bande dessinée series I have poor recollections of because, well, I read so many! My own collection is relatively small (a shelf and a half), but I emptied my public library's stores at the rate of 20+ albums a week!
June 5, 2011 at 11:00 PM
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