Fantomas
September 14, 2002 12:13 PM   Subscribe

Fantomas Lives!
Fantômas is the Lord of Terror, the Genius of Evil, the arch-criminal anti-hero of a series of 32 pre-WWI French thrillers written by Pierre Souvestre and Marcel Allain. He carries out the most appalling crimes: substituting sulfuric acid in the perfume dispensers at a Parisian department store, releasing plague-infested rats on an ocean liner, or forcing a victim to witness his own execution by placing him face-up in a guillotine.
In 1912, Apollinaire founded the Societe des Amis de Fantomas which included prominent artists and writers. Magritte considered Fantomas to be a major influence in many of his paintings. Fantomas was not only a comic book but also spawned films, tv and radio shows and plays. (There is, of course, a modern band as well)(I read the Mexican comic book as a child)
posted by vacapinta (6 comments total)
 
Drat, Sinister Cinema used to carry the Fantomas films, but I can't find them there anymore. Fortunately, they still carry Fritz Lang's Dr. Mabuse films. The character of Mabuse clearly owes a huge debt to Fantomas.
posted by MrBaliHai at 12:48 PM on September 14, 2002


FANTOMAS!
posted by kingmissile at 1:05 PM on September 14, 2002


Fantomas is a great band. I have seen the comic a couple of times, but since I can't read French, I have no idea what it as about. But it was cool to see nonetheless.

There is also another Fantomas, who is not a comic book hero or a band.
posted by rift2001 at 2:10 PM on September 14, 2002


Being a font geek, I initially thought you were talking about Dirk Uhlenbrock's Fontomas.
posted by Monk at 2:29 PM on September 14, 2002


There is also another Fantomas, who is not a comic book hero or a band.

Ditto.
posted by debralee at 4:25 PM on September 14, 2002


If you like Fantomas in any form, I strongly recommend Alan Moore's League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, which seems likely to run into Fantomas one of these days...
posted by JDC8 at 9:40 PM on September 14, 2002


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