In 1986 Bob De Moor created a drawing which the organisation of the Angoulême Comics Festival used on a numbered postcard distributed for the occasion (and probably also posters, but we didn’t find any trace back of these so far). Alain Demaret kindly enough sent us a full scan of that card. On that postcard you see a young couple in a rowing boat and visiting the city of Angoulême. But let’s check a bit in detail what can be seen on this drawing. Although the drawing is not dated, on the back of the postcard you can see the postcard dates from 1986.
The first thing you will notice is the Barelli/Tintin style of drawing on this postcard. You could easily switch both characters present in this drawing by Tintin and Captain Haddock or why not Thomson and Thompson. They would fit very well in the decor.
The first frame shows the couple rowing a boat on the Charente river near the Port-l’Houmeau. It offers a nice view on the city of Angoulême (France). The Charente is the most important river in the department equally called Charente in southwestern France.
The next frame shows them taking pictures near the Romanesque Angoulême Cathedral. It’s also the seat of the Bishop of Angoulême. The 3rd frame shows the Church of Obezine (the couple stands on one of the towers of the Château d’Angoulême). On the 4th frame you see a view of the city, which you can also see in real life right here. Bob De Moor delivered a postcard which clearly showcases the touristic hot spots.
Connaisseurs will immediately have recognised the similarity between the first frame and another Bob De Moor drawing from 1983, also for the Angoulême Comics Festival. In that drawing, Cori is rowing a boat (with the old 16th/17th century city in the background) and says: “I would travel every ocean to meet Claire Bretecher at the 10th International Angoulême Comics Festival”. Claire Bretécher (De Moor made a mistake in the drawing because her name is written with an ‘é’) is a French cartoonist known particularly for her portrayals of women and gender issues. Her creations include the Frustrés, and the unimpressed teenager Agrippine. In 1972 she joined Gotlib and Mandryka in founding the Franco-Belgian comics magazine ‘L’Écho des Savanes’. She can also be seen in the 1976 film “Moi, Tintin” next to Bob De Moor, Edgar P. Jacobs, Tibet, etc..
It would take until 1988 for Bob De Moor to actually also get an award at the Angoulême Comics Festival. That year he won the ‘Angoulême International Comics Festival Prix Jeunesse 9–12 ans’ aka the ‘Alfred du meilleur album jeunesse’ with the Cori album “L’expédition maudite”. Nowadays the price is called the ‘Alph’art Jeunesse 9-12 ans’.
1988 was a good De Moor year in many ways. That same year his son, Johan De Moor, would also take a ‘Bronzen Adhemar’ home for the brilliant “Gaspard de la Nuit” on a scenario by Stephen Desberg and Bob De Moor seemed to settle after leaving the Hergé Studio. But he would also get a rather poisonous present, namely the completion of the next Blake & Mortimer album. Less poisonous was the demand by the city of Montreuil for a 4-page Blacke & Mortimer story.