Matthew Sabin publishes Edgar: From Lisbon to Paris, in the footsteps of my revolutionary father-in-lawpublished by Dargaud.
In Mathieu Sabine’s albums, we meet Gérard Depardieu, Little Akese, François Hollande, and now, in his latest work, Edgar, his father-in-law, who fled the Portuguese dictatorship.
We meet him there too, because he depicts himself in his drawings: greedy, a little lazy, joyful, skeptical, also observant, with the appearance of a detective in search of the truth.
But does he really see himself that way?
Misrepresenting the truth
Mathieu Sabin took his father-in-law at his word when he encouraged him to write a comic book about him, and he became passionate about his life, Portugal, its history, and also its relationship to the truth. “He is a person who talks a lot, exaggerates, embellishes reality, and has a very subjective relationship with the truth.Matthew Sabin, the son of an archaeologist, was drawn to the possibility of muddying the waters, of taking a step away from the facts.
Being so close to his father-in-law led him to question the nature of our obligations: “Today, it’s easy to be a revolutionary, but my father-in-law, a convinced Marxist, took a real risk, left the family home, and really participated in the revolution.“Mathieu Sabin, who has followed politicians and stars, insists on paying attention to the lives of people who do not live in the spotlight of celebrities.
“I have a side of Gaston. I’m all wrong.”
“My relationship with what I do is very light-hearted, and I sometimes enjoy dealing with important topics. But anyway, I don’t take myself too seriously“Whoever portrays himself in his comics says that he is a viewer and an actor in his life.”Which is rather interesting by the way“, and he represents himself with a lot of self-deprecation and humor.
Audio clips
- Song: Jose Afonso, Grandola Villa Morena
- Excerpt from the documentary Joachim’s story By Maurice Velevich, 1968
- André Franquin archive from February 5, 1969
- Ending song: Mona Belle, Don Quixote
