IZNIGOUD et Les Femmes (French edition)

pp. 46 (name on fep, otherwise Fine) #030922
Au pays des fées et des magiciens tout est possible. Une bouche peinte sur un parquet s’adresse à Iznogoud : « Si tu veux toujours être calife à la place du calife, je connais un moyen. Mais il faut deviner qui je suis… Je te pose une charade : Mon premier ressuscite. Mon second est un enfant familier. Mon troisième : il dit non et mon tout est un scénariste de BD très célèbre ». À son insu Iznogoud trouve la réponse : Renait Gosse y nie. La bouche révèle alors au vizir son stratagème « Je connais un vendeur de sous vêtements féminins nommé El Adelah Gaine … qui vend une gaine aux pouvoirs magiques ! Toute femme portant cette gaine rend les hommes riches et puissants, fous d’elle ! » Elle les fait devenir chèvre ! Vraiment chèvre. Le bon calife Haroun El Poussah va-t-il s’intéresser à cette jolie créature que lui présente Iznogoud ? À moins que l’ignoble vizir succombe lui-même au charme de cette gaine…
Iznogoud (pronounced “he’s/is no good” with a French accent) is a French comics series featuring an eponymous character, created by the comics writer René Goscinny and comics artist Jean Tabary. The comic series chronicles the life and times of Iznogoud, the Grand Vizier of the Caliph of Baghdad at an undefined period in the past. His greatest desire is to replace the Caliph, leading him to repeatedly utter the phrase “I want to be Caliph instead of the Caliph” (dethrone him), a phrase that has been adopted in certain European languages to characterize overly ambitious people. Iznogoud is supported by his faithful servant, Wa’at Alahf (pronounced “what a laugh”).

After the death of Goscinny in 1977 Tabary continued with writing the character. The stories have been translated into several languages, including English, and the title has been adapted to animated and live-action film.

So far 30 graphic novels featuring Iznogoud have been published in French, with at least 26 of those published in English and a number of other languages. Iznogoud was also adapted into a cartoon series produced by Saban Entertainment, with 52 episodes to its name, again with most of them having been translated to other languages as well.
The series made its debut in the Franco-Belgian comics magazine Record on 15 January 1962 under the title, Les aventures du Calife Haroun el Poussah.[1] It was eventually recognised that the wicked supporting character ought to be the focus of the strip, and it was renamed Iznogoud.[2] In 1968, it resumed serial publication in Goscinny’s Pilote magazine.

Goscinny’s taste for sharp satirical writing keeps the repetitive format of the stories constantly fresh, making Iznogoud one of the most popular anti-heroes in the French comic strip world. Goscinny’s skills with puns, made famous in Astérix, is also evident in Iznogoud. Most of the puns in the original French make little sense if translated directly into English, requiring of translators (Anthea Bell and Derek Hockridge in the case of the English translations) to find creative solutions for equivalent puns while still keeping within the spirit of the original text.

When Goscinny died in 1977, Tabary eventually decided to carry on the work himself, just as Albert Uderzo did with Asterix. While the Goscinny period was characterized by “albums” comprising several short-length tales each, Tabary turned the series in a new direction, by dedicating every new album entirely to a single story, larger and much more detailed, usually revolving around a new unique concept.