Author Philippe Graton officially launched the second adventure of fabled comic book hero Michel Vaillant in Macau yesterday, November 15, at the Grand Lapa hotel in the NAPE district.
Titled simply “Macau”, the book is written by Philippe Graton, the son of series founder Jean Graton, and Denis Lapière, while the illustrations are the work of Benjamin Benéteau.
It follows a 35-year gap since Vaillant’s previous visit to the territory in the 1980s, in “Rendez-vous in Macau”.
"Michel Vaillant is a series [of comics] created by my father in 1957. Today, we launched the 77th adventure, which has something very special: it's fiction, but the environment is real, with circuits, cars, teams and real drivers," said the author at the event that coincided with the first day of the Macau Grand Prix.
The 66-page comic book is filled with recognizable locations across the Macau peninsula, including the Ruins of St. Paul’s, the Grand Lisboa, and the Guia Circuit as settings. The city’s architecture and gastronomy, as well as its small hidden streets, also feature.
"Coming back to Macau 35 years later is very special, because it is the first book [of the series] to be translated into traditional and simplified Chinese", Graton emphasized.
Also present at the launch were drivers André Couto and Sacha Fenestraz, the latter of whom is featured in the story as a character. Couto, who won the Grand Prix in 2000, was a fan of Michel Vaillant's adventures from a very early age, inspiring him even before he became a professional driver.
"When I was younger, the book ["Rendez-vous à Macau"] was one of my inspirations before I became a professional driver … What you see in real life is what you see in the book, and I hope it can inspire the new generations," he said, having also contributed a foreword to the special edition.
The idea of bringing Michel Vaillant back to Macau came to light when Philippe Graton attended The Script Road – Macau Literary Festival last year to present an exhibition of some of his father’s work.
The 77 editions of Michel Vaillant's adventures continue to be printed, said Philippe Graton, who thanked the director of the Macau Literary Festival, Ricardo Pinto, for the “idea of the project”.
The Chinese and English versions are published by Praiagrande Edições, publisher of Portuguese newspaper Ponto Final, a sister publication of Macau Closer magazine.
