Chronicle of general ruin

When Leon of Gudra appeared in 1993, the power of the story and the energy of the drawings captivated readers. In it, screenwriter Sylvain Chaumet and cartoonist Nicolas de Crecy recorded a compressed version of the downfall - physical, moral, ethical and financial - of a corporate family, but also of the world.

The careers of Sylvan Chaumet and Nicolas de Crecy were inextricably linked from the start. Until creation Leona of Gudra were relatively unestablished authors. They had one joint project behind them - an adaptation of Igo's second novel Bug Zargal. Both belonged to the same generation at the "École supérieure de l'image" in Angoulême and graduated in 1987. Shome first stepped into the world of comics with the title Le Secret des libellules for Futuropolis, but stayed there for a shorter time than De Crecy. In addition to this and two titles with De Crecy, he signed another screenplay with Iber Chevillar and then went into the world of animation and cinematography in Canada and then Scotland. His successes in animation overshadowed his comic career, and even Leona of Gudra, which is considered his supreme achievement in this medium.

During his career, Nicolas de Crécy signed more comic works than Chaumet, although he tried on several occasions to step out of the ninth art in a similar way. However, as if something always pulled him back, he still signs the pages of comics, drawn in his distinctive and energetic style inspired by German expressionism. In Serbia, he gained popularity with the title Ice Age published by Novi Sad's Komik, originally created as part of the comics edition in cooperation with the Louvre Museum. Leon of Gudra is his second comic translated into Serbian and a turning point for both of them. From unestablished authors, they became stars of the ninth art overnight.

The moment in which this comic was created, as well as the topic it deals with, is of great importance for its perception as a key achievement of Francophone production. Disappointment with the capitalist model of the world was at its peak, it became clear to everyone that corporations are just a farce, and after the colorful and easygoing eighties of the last century, the beginning of the nineties was the age of harsh sobering up. And at that moment Chaumet and De Crecy were thrown out in front of the readers Leona of Gudra, which tells exactly what everyone already knew at the time - that every corporation is a hungry beast that eats its own children.

They summed it up through the example of one family - their last name is U-Vardijug and they are engaged in cosmetics. The corporation was founded by the now hundred-year-old Leon, it is run by his son, and will be succeeded by his grandson Geraldo-Georges. Through three generations, all aspects of the return of the entire epoch can be read. Leon is as tough as you can imagine and it is noticeable that he represents the generation of founders, hardened industrialists who do not shy away from anyone. His son, who now runs the corporation, is hungry for money and without any compassion or consideration, representing a generation born into wealth who do not shy away from anything. And in the end, Geraldo-Georges is the final product, a labile and overly emotional personality who only wants to please others, and represents a generation that cannot create anything on its own. Three generations – three personality types. And the world created by the first is exploited by the others, while the third cannot find their way in it, nor can they cope with the legacy of previous generations.

Before his hundredth birthday, Leon leaves the nursing home and returns to his family. Should he weigh her and assess whether she is worthy to take over the world or just drown her boredom in alcohol and the "strange cigars" she smokes, while at the same time scolding all her loved ones, especially her son, with well-measured cynicism forged in life experience. Because he is the only one who really built something there with his own hands. While most people perceive him as a drunken figure, the mascot of the corporation, only Geraldo-Georges for some reason gains the old man's favor and receives special treatment. Leon, namely, wants to find in his grandson what he did not succeed in in his son - a man.

The slap in the face of capitalist society by Chaumet and De Crecy is disguised as a situational comedy dedicated to Leon U-Vardiug and his grieving family. But that masking is deliberately not so skillful or indirect. The authors consciously stripped the metaphor of their comic so that readers could easily interpret it. It is easy to see how rapidly decadence has torn three generations apart like a cancer. In the span of only a few decades, from the first industrialist hardened like iron (Leon) we get to the pathetic portrayal of a wretch (Geraldo-Georges) unable to understand the world but forced to come to grips with it. He is not capable of that and it is clear that any attempt he makes to control the world around him will be doomed to failure. Leon is the one who pours cynical insults on his family, used to punching his way through the world and shaping it according to his needs, he justifiably perceives himself as the most capable offshoot of a glorious past. Cynical at every pore, already at the first meeting he charms with a sharp sense of the moment, when he puts the spoiled descendant who looks up to American culture and wears velcro sneakers because it's fashionable (and we suspect he can't tie shoelaces) in his place when he tells him how at his age, when he didn't have money, he used to sell shoelaces.

Leon's son already gives the impression of a rattlesnake, has a repulsive appearance and haughty behavior, repressed emotions towards everything except money. He has a shred of respect for his father, but he skillfully disguises it and fears that Leon's behavior could damage the family's reputation so much as to ruin his business with the Japanese.

But grandson Geraldo-Georges is capable of one thing: deceiving himself and those around him, that he still knows how to do something. However, it is only a deception and he is, in fact, his own greatest victim. The chronicle of his stumble is the most powerful creation of this comic. Chaumet and De Crecy spared nothing to show all the distressing details of his moral and psychological collapse, wanting to hint at the scale of decadence that society is capable of reaching if it continues in the direction set out in 1993. The details of Geraldo-Georges' stumble are certainly not pleasant to read and are sometimes painful, but that is the essence of what the authors wanted to show. Considering how far the world has come in the thirty years since Leon of Gudra premiered, only one thing can be noted: that Chaumet and De Crécy were not even imaginative enough because the world is much more decadent than they predicted.