There was something more than just a book-signing session around Slim’s table on Saturday, October 3. By coming to sign his two latest albums, Le coup d’éventail and Bad News, the cartoonist was above all returning to a familiar place, a familiar audience and familiar faces.
At FIBDA, where comic book enthusiasts meet, chat and browse through albums in search of a drawing or an autograph, Slim’s presence naturally had a special significance. A major figure in Algerian comics and caricature, Menouar Merabtène, better known as Slim, was back at a festival he knows well, but had not attended for several years. “Ah, it’s such an immense pleasure to meet friends, readers and people who love comics,” he told us, visibly happy to reconnect with the atmosphere and with those who have followed his work over the decades.
And there have indeed been quite a few years. “Yes, yes, it’s been a long time, oh my! It’s been several years since I last came,” he acknowledged with the spontaneity that is so characteristic of him. The cartoonist seemed almost to be rediscovering the festival alongside his audience. “I find it extraordinary. I wasn’t expecting this. There are so many people!” he exclaimed, amused by the crowds at the festival and the enthusiasm of its visitors. The surprise also says something about the place Slim continues to hold in the imagination of several generations of Algerian readers.
Because Slim is not simply an author who came to present two albums. Born in 1945 in Sidi Ali Benyoub, Menouar Merabtène belongs to a generation of creators who helped give Algerian comics their first major characters and their own distinctive codes. A pioneer of caricature and comics in Algeria, he was among the founders of M’Quidèch, a publication that went on to become emblematic of the history of Algerian comics.
Through Bouzid, Zina and the famous El-Gatt M’Digouti, Slim created characters that went far beyond the pages of his albums. They became familiar figures, instantly recognisable, and in their own way witnesses to an era, its flaws, contradictions and everyday life. His work, published both in Algeria and France, also helped bring Algerian graphic art to audiences beyond the country’s borders.
His career was officially recognised by FIBDA in 2009, when the festival paid tribute to him for his contribution to Algeria’s cultural heritage. Seventeen years later, seeing him once again behind a signing table carries a certain symbolism: the pioneer is back among an audience, some of whom grew up with his characters, while others may be discovering them for the first time today.
The signing of Le coup d’éventail and Bad News was therefore as much an opportunity for reunion as it was a moment of passing the torch to a new generation. Ultimately, Saturday was not simply about having two albums signed. It was about reconnecting with FIBDA, reconnecting with readers and, above all, seeing that Slim’s art has not aged a day.