Tome Pass
The French superhero spoof that skewers national pride with berets, baguettes, and backward anthems.
Superdupont is a French comic series created in 1972 by Marcel Gotlib and Jacques Lob. It is a spoof of American superhero comics that sends up French national attitudes and jingoism. The character is the son of the Unknown Soldier buried under the Arc de Triomphe. He is caricaturally chauvinistic and gifted with superpowers that help him defend his country against a secret terrorist organization called "Anti-France." Anti-France agents are all foreigners and thus speak the fictional language "Anti-Français," a mishmash of English, Spanish, Italian, Russian, and German. The physical appearance of Superdupont is a superhero version of a stereotyped Frenchman: he wears a traditional beret, a white ribbed A-shirt with the initials S and D inside a French cockade, white long johns, Charentaise slippers, a tricolor belt held by a safety pin, and a long blue cape. He also supports economic patriotism, as he smokes Gauloises cigarettes, drinks red wine, eats French cheese, and refuses to be painted using China ink. Like Superman, Superdupont is able to fly. He also possesses some degree of superhuman strength, though his main fighting ability is to be a master at savate, also known as boxe française ("French boxing"). He can be incapacitated if he hears the Marseillaise played backward, which is for him the equivalent of kryptonite.
- Location
- Gunma Prefecture, Japan
- Terrain Type
- Steep mountain pass with tight switchbacks
- Primary Racer Association
- Keisuke Takahashi (Project D)
- Famous Opponent Group
- Akina Red Suns / Night Kids
- Vehicle Class Focus
- Front-wheel drive and Rear-wheel drive drift specialists
- Status
- Active racing ground in the series timeline
Verified Timeline
Lore & Background
Superdupont was initially published in the Franco-Belgian comics magazine Pilote from September 21, 1972, and moved to Gotlib's own magazine Fluide Glacial in 1975. The series, published irregularly through the decades, was originally written by Lob and Gotlib (who teamed up after finding out they had both had the same idea independently) and drawn by Gotlib. Gotlib passed on the art duties to Alexis, who was succeeded by Jean Solé after his 1977 death. Episodes have been drawn by Daniel Goossens, Al Coutelis, François Boucq, Gotlib again, and Neal Adams. After Lob died in 1990, the series was written again by Gotlib with co-writers Lefred-Thouron, Bouck, and then Belkrouf. No Superdupont comics have been made since Gotlib's death in 2016.
In Their Own Story
Superdupont is the son of the Unknown Soldier buried under the Arc de Triomphe. He defends France against the secret terrorist organization "Anti-France," whose agents are all foreigners speaking the fictional language "Anti-Français"—a mishmash of English, Spanish, Italian, Russian, and German. His powers include flight and some degree of superhuman strength, but his main fighting ability is mastery of savate, also known as boxe française ("French boxing"). His weakness: he can be incapacitated if he hears the Marseillaise played backward, which is for him the equivalent of kryptonite. He supports economic patriotism by smoking Gauloises cigarettes, drinking red wine, eating French cheese, and refusing to be painted using China ink.
Reader's Guide
The series is published in collected volumes. Tome 1: Superdupont (by Jacques Lob, Gotlib and Alexis). Tome 2: Amour et forfaiture (by Jacques Lob, Gotlib and Solé). Tome 3: Opération Camembert (by Jacques Lob, Gotlib and Solé). Tome 4: Oui nide Iou (by Jacques Lob, Gotlib, Alexis, Solé, Daniel Goossens, Neal Adams and Coutelis). Tome 5: Les âmes noires (by Jacques Lob, Gotlib, Alexis, Solé). Tome 6: Superdupont pourchasse l'ignoble (by Marcel Gotlib, Lefred-Thouron, Solé). A Spanish counterpart, Superlópez, is also noted in the sources.
Did You Know?
- Superdupont was created in 1972 by Marcel Gotlib and Jacques Lob, who teamed up after discovering they had independently conceived the same idea.
- The character's weakness is hearing the Marseillaise played backward, which incapacitates him like kryptonite does Superman.
- Anti-France agents speak a fictional language called 'Anti-Français,' a mishmash of English, Spanish, Italian, Russian, and German.
- Superdupont refuses to be painted using China ink as part of his economic patriotism.
- No Superdupont comics have been made since Gotlib's death in 2016.
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