'Le Concombre Masqué.
Nikita Mandryka was one of the innovators of French comics during the 1970s. Beginning his career with children's comics in Vaillant/Pif Gadget, he later stood at the vanguard of a new type of adult-oriented comics, first in Pilote, then in his own magazine, L'Écho des Savanes. Mandryka is best remembered for his comic strip 'Le Concombre Masqué' (1965-2021), about the surreal adventures of a masked cucumber. The comic is notable for its philosophical undertones and witty wordplay. The series enjoyed a long run in a variety of magazines, eventually evolving into one of the earliest French-language webcomics. Mandryka additionally worked on other humor comics, such as 'Les Minuscules' (1967-1968) and 'Les Clopinettes' (1970-1973), and as a scriptwriter for other artists. He alternated cartooning with leading editorial positions at the magazines L'Écho des Savanes, Charlie Mensuel and Pilote.
Early life
Nikita Mandryka was born in 1940 in Bizerte, Tunisia, when the country was still a French colony. His father was a doctor, coming from a Ukrainian line of military officers that fled Russia after the rise of the Bolsheviks. Nikita's paternal grandfather Alexandre von Manstein was a former Navy officer, who fought the communists under Pyotr Wrangel's command in the anti-Bolshevik White Army. Later in life, Mandryka's aunt Anastasia Manstein-Chrinsky (1912-2009) gained fame in France for keeping the memory of the White Army alive and maintaining Russian-French cultural relations. As a child, Nikita Mandryka spent a lot of time in his grandparents' strawberry field garden in the North African dunes. He later evoked this desert atmosphere in his signature comic series, 'Le Concombre Masqué'. From Tunisia, the Mandryka family moved to Morocco. By the time Nikita went to high school, they settled in Lons-le-Saunier, a city in the east of France - a true culture shock after their African years.
As a child, Mandryka was captivated by comics through reading magazines like Spirou, Brik, Yak and Vaillant. Among his favorite artists were Jijé, André Franquin, Morris, Sirius, Victor Hubinon, Raymond Macherot, Benito Jacovitti, Erik, Greg and Albert Uderzo. He also enjoyed J.K. Melvyn-Nash and Chott's 'Fantax' stories, Césare Solini and Antonio Canale's 'Amok', and American superhero comics. He was fond of Alex Raymond's 'Flash Gordon', Fred Harman's 'Red Ryder', Burne Hogarth's 'Tarzan', Mel Graff's 'Secret Agent X9' and the Lee Falk creations 'The Phantom' and 'Mandrake the Magician'. In terms of humor comics, he admired Walt Kelly's 'Pogo', George Herriman's 'Krazy Kat', Jean-Claude Forest's 'Le Copyright' and Mad Magazine. His mind was especially blown by the work of Wallace Wood, Jack Davis and Will Elder.
Early cartooning work
As an artist, Mandryka was self-taught. He learned to draw by copying other artists. One of his early comics was the western 'Red Rudy'. All the panels were copied from Italian 'Tex Willer' stories by Gian Luigi Bonelli and Aurelio Galleppini, with new dialogues written in the speech balloons. Together with a cousin, he made an eight-page fanzine called 'Super-Digest', and got his grocer to sell copies. By the time he lived in France, Nikita Mandryka participated in a comic contest held by Risque-tout magazine. On 6 September 1956, the 15-year old teenager saw his first amateur comic story, 'Prosper, Habitant De La Planète Farce', published in this magazine.
For a while, Nikita Mandryka couldn't choose between a career as comic artist or film director. Loving both B-movies and the absurd comedy of The Marx Brothers, he eventually studied film at the Institut des Hautes Études Cinematographies (IDHEC) in Paris, but failed during his final year internship. By that time, he was fed up with the film industry, disliking all the administration, raising funds and telling the crew what to do. In the end, comics appealed more to him, because "you can make your own film theater with paper, pencil and brush."
Le Concombre Masqué is introduced in the 'Boff' strip in Vaillant #1037 (28 March 1965).
Vaillant
In the Parisian student neighborhood of the Latin Quarter, Mandryka met Ramón Monzón, a Spanish painter who made absurd poetic comics for the magazine Vaillant. While still a film school student, Mandryka began writing gag pages for Mónzón to draw, signing them with "Nik". They appeared regularly as weekly half-pages in Vaillant between 1960 and 1962. In late 1964, in issue #1024 of 27 December 1964, Mandryka made his debut as an allround cartoonist with the gag strip about the reporter 'Boff' (1964-1965). This time, he signed with "Nick", because he didn't want to use his family name. 'Boff' lasted only four gag pages, but remains historically significant for introducing Mandryka's next star, Le Concombre Masqué.
Les Minuscules
In issue #1131 of 15 January 1967, Vaillant's readers were introduced to the gag comic 'Les Minuscules' (1967-1968). The "minuscule" protagonists are a group of children, consisting of the curious girl Zozo and three boys: the naïve Kiki, the gluttonous Riri and grumpy Loulou. The true stars, however, are a talking bulldog, Nénesse Le Pantoufflard, and a cigar-smoking cat called Bubu, who is clearly modeled after George Herriman's 'Krazy Kat'. In 1979, 'Les Minuscules' made a brief comeback in the magazine, in announcements for the book collection published by Mandryka's own Éditions du Fromage.
Between 1965 and 1969, Mandryka used the pseudonym Kalkus: a name derived from the owner of a Montparnasse atelier where one of his painter friends worked. The cartoonist also used variations of this pen name, such as Kalkus, Calgus, Karl Kruss, Caleq-usse, Kudsak and Kilkoz. By the time the Vaillant title was changed to Pif Gadget (24 February 1969), Mandryka began using his real name for his comic work. Around this time, Mandryka also launched his final new creation in the magazine: the absurd pantomime gag strip 'Ailleurs' (1969). In 1973, a couple of additional gags appeared in the comic news magazine Phénix.
Ailleurs (Pif Gadget #4, 1969)
Le Concombre Masqué: inspirations
Nikita Mandryka's most enduring and original creation for Vaillant/Pif however was his masked cucumber, originating from the 'Boff' strip but appearing in solo gags from issue #1038 (4 April 1965) on. The inspiration came from a strange comic strip in Vaillant, which Mandryka read as a child: 'Le Copyright' (1952-1953) by Jean-Claude Forest. The Copyright was a strange, big-nosed desert animal who was chased by people who never managed to catch him. Despite its short run, 'Le Copyright' made a huge impression on Mandryka. In his sketchbooks, he started drawing his own fanfiction.
In a gag in Vaillant issue #1037 (28 March 1965), inspector Boff meets a desert creature who looks and acts very similar to Le Copyright. Though, instead of an animal, he is a masked, anthropomorphic cucumber, named 'Le Concombre Masqué' ("The Masked Cucumber"). The choice for this vegetable was deliberate. Mandryka felt a vegetable was more original than a human or animal character. Cucumbers are also inherently funny objects, partially because of their phallic shape. In the French language, calling someone a "cucumber" ("concombre") is an insult, because it contains the word "con" ("idiot"). In a 2011 interview with Maël Rannou on du9.org, Mandryka also cited Mad Magazine mascot Alfred E. Neuman as an inspiration for his masked vegetable. Just like Neuman, the cucumber was initially completely carefree. A week after its debut, the Concombre Masqué got its own comic in Vaillant under the title 'Les Aventures Potagères du Concombre Masqué' ("The Vegetable Adventures of the Masked Cucumber"). The character gradually lost its tail, making the resemblance to Forest's 'Le Copyright' less clear.
'Le Concombre Masqué' (Pif Gadget #7, 7 April 1969).
Le Concombre Masqué: themes and tone
The adventures of Le Concombre Masqué are set in a strange desert at the world's end. This desert is inspired both by George Herriman's 'Krazy Kat' and also Mandryka's own North African childhood. The cucumber is described as "the last member of a species that once ruled the world", before "cucumbers were decimated by conquistadores and enslaved by grocers." His catchphrases are "Vazyléon" ("Vas-y, Léon!", meaning "C'mon, Léon!") and "Tout finit en purée!" ("Everything ends in mashed potatoes!"). The Concombre's personality is not clearly defined. He can be arrogant, bewildered, intelligent or just plain stupid. His sidekick is Chourave, a sprout. In some episodes Concombre's grandmother acts as the voice of reason. Next to the Concombre's house cactus live a group of elephants, who like to bowl or play cards. In true comic book fashion, the masked hero also has an arch villain: the mad scientist Le Grande Patatoseur, who is accompanied by his assistant Fourbi. As his name implies, the Patatoseur owns a special ray gun that can transform things into potatoes (and nothing else). All other characters in the series are anthropomorphic animals, plants or objects. Even the Sun is a recurring character; in several stories he is too sleepy to get up in the morning.
Le Concombre Masqué - 'Une Araigne Dans Le Plafond' (1971).
Overall, 'Le Concombre Masqué' is very surreal. In many cases, the situations have metaphorical meanings or visualize proverbs and sayings. In one episode, the Concombre's brain is seen taking a shower, literally "brainwashing itself." In another gag, the vegetable is awoken by the sound of a dripping faucet. He decides to chase the water tap, because he hates "the sound of a running water tap." Mandryka enjoyed playing with language, making his comics difficult to translate. In one episode, there is a spider on the ceiling: a nod to the French proverb "avoir une araignée dans le plafond", a synonym for craziness. Adding to the translation problem are Mandryka's deliberately misspelled or altered words and expressions. Instead of the correct "Qu'est-ce que c'est?" ("What is that?"), every character spells it phonetically as "Keskeucé?". Mandryka's onomatopoeia are eccentric too: as a sound effect, the cartoonist often used simply the letter "G".
Lazy sun in 'Parfois Le Dimanche, Après La Messe'.
For his stories, Mandryka drew inspiration from philosophical or otherwise thought-provoking books and novels. The 'Concombre Masqué' strips frequently refer to novelists like Marcel Proust, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry and Carlos Castaneda, or philosophers and psychoanalysts like Sigmund Freud, Jacques Laçan and Wilhelm Reich. The author read a lot about Zen Buddhism and psychotherapy. In one episode, the Concombre's entire world literally collapses. At first, he is depressed about losing everything, but then he cheers up when realizing he has a new world to gain. In another episode, Le Concombre has to face his own mirror reflection, who abandons him.
Le Concombre Masqué - 'L'Heure de la Sieste'. The Masked Cucumber literally tries to suppress the words on his tongue, or "hold his tongue".
Le Concombre Masqué: publication history
Since Vaillant was a children's magazine, the early stories of 'Le Concombre Masqué' are family friendly. Nevertheless, they already carry strange themes and nods to adult readers. In the spring of 1968, during the student protests in Paris, Mandryka gave president De Gaulle a cameo in his comic. Mandryka wanted to transform 'Le Concombre Masqué' into an adult comic, but Vaillant/Pif Gadget wasn't the right place to do so. In Pif Gadget issue #37 of 27 September 1969, he killed off his character by having the God Gaâg devour him. Two years later, the cucumber made a comeback in Pilote magazine (1971-1974). Since this magazine aimed at teenagers, Mandryka had the opportunity to draw more challenging narratives. However, some stories were too weird and risqué for Pilote too. Therefore, the "too hot for Pilote" comics enjoyed an exclusive run (1972-1973, 1977-1979) in Mandryka's own magazine, L'Écho des Savanes. After leaving L'Écho in 1979, Mandryka made two new episodes for Pilote, serialized in 1979 and 1981. Between 1989 and 1993 the vegetable enjoyed another steady run in Spirou, returning to its roots as a children's series. Halfway through the 1990s, 'Le Concombre Masqué' became a pure webcomic, allowing the author to write and draw whatever he pleased on his own website. Up until the final months before his death, Mandryka was posting new weekly episodes. The publications of 'Le Concombre Masqué' are just as versatile as its magazine serialization. In 1971, Futuropolis released a first collection, followed by a regular series at Pilote publisher Dargaud between 1973 and 1983. After three early 1990s collections at Dupuis, the series returned to Dargaud in 2006. Additional limited editions appeared at smaller imprints like Z'Éditions or Alain Beaulet Éditeur. In 2004, all 1965-1983 Pilote episodes of 'Le Concombre Masque' were collected in one large volume by Dargaud under the title 'L'Intégrale des Années Pilote'.
Because 'Le Concombre Masqué' relies heavily on untranslatable word play, very few attempts were made to release the strip internationally. In the Netherlands, it briefly ran as 'De Gemaskerde Komkommer' (1983) in Goochem - the juvenile supplement of newspaper Het Parool - but failed to catch on. A decade later, 'Le Concombre Masqué', was adapted into a 3D animated series, produced by the Belgian studio Neurones Cartoon. The first episode received the Public Award at the 1992 Montreal International Computer Film Festival (FIFOM). An English dub, 'The Lone Cuke', was selected at the Special Interest Group in GRAPHics festival in Chicago. The episodes were never widely broadcast on public television, making the episodes very rare.
'Les Clopinettes', by Mandryka and Gotlib. An adult bird, who just carelessly ran over a human child, now stops to tell a little bird: "Didn't your parents ever tell you that it's dangerous to play in the middle of the road?"
Pilote
With Vaillant transformed into Pif Gadget in 1969, Mandryka realized the magazine was no longer suitable for him. Pif Gadget's younger readership didn't understand the weird and absurd humor Mandryka used in his Concombre strips, nor his latest feature, 'Ailleurs' (1969). He found a new home in the comic magazine Pilote, where the editors René Goscinny and Jean-Michel Charlier gave their artists more creative freedom and higher page rates. In previous years, Mandryka had already worked for the magazine, writing the scripts for the occasional 'Jonhatan Jonh' (1965-1967) feature, drawn by Ramón Monzón. Working more regularly for the magazine from 1969 on, Mandryka scripted one-shot comic stories for artists like Reiser, Yves Got and Jacques Lob, as well as episodes of Pilote's "current affairs" strips section. From scripts by Gotlib, Mandryka drew 'Les Clopinettes' (1970-1973), a series of nonsensical stories with weird morals and puns. In 1971, 'Le Concombre Masqué' also found its way to the pages of Pilote.
However, Mandryka still felt creatively limited, especially when he offered René Goscinny the 'Concombre Masqué' story 'Le Jardin Zen' ("The Zen Garden"). Inspired by Mandryka's interest in Zen Buddhism, the story used very little dialogue and featured the Cucumber creating a garden, so he can "watch the rocks grow." Unfortunately for Mandryka, Goscinny didn't understand the story, nor the point, and refused it. At the time, Mandryka wasn't the only Pilote contributor who felt unsatisfied. Several of his younger colleagues wanted to publish more taboo-breaking, mature comics too. Some were even outraged that Goscinny didn't allow them to do what they wanted. The atmosphere soured, resulting in a rupture between Pilote and some of its more unconventional artists. In the end, Mandryka, Gotlib and Claire Bretécher left to establish their own magazine. Nonetheless, Mandryka continued to publish in Pilote's pages until 1974.
Cover illustrations for L'Écho des Savanes #3 (April 1973) and #15 (December 1975).
L'Écho des Savanes
In May 1972, the first issue of L'Écho des Savanes was published. During the first ten issues, published irregularly between 1972 and 1974, all the magazine's comics were written and drawn by Mandryka, Gotlib and Claire Bretécher. As the sole contributors, the three cartoonists took care of the entire production, from funding and creation to printing and distribution, using the imprint Les Éditions du Fromage. All took advantage of the fact that they could finally publish what they wanted. In the debut issue, Mandryka printed his rejected 'Concombre' story about the zen garden under the title 'Une Histoire Sans Titre' ("A Story Without a Title").
L'Écho des Savanes also ran other experimental works by Mandryka. For the June 1973 issue, he created the psychoanalytical story, 'La Horde', based on Mandryka's own therapy sessions. The story kicks off with a castaway, washing ashore on an island, where an elephant takes care of him. The castaway tells the elephant about his past and how he met "the Master of the World" in the guise of the "Phantom of Bengal". As the man and the elephant talk, Mandryka drops the comic format and 'La Horde' continues as a written text with only a few illustrations. Groundbreaking in its themes and structure, the story is filled with philosophical discussions about reality, childhood, society, the universe and the mind. In 1994, it was published in book format by Z'Éditions, with a foreword by Dr. Michel Royer. Under the pen name Géraldine Mandrax, Mandryka also created the sporadically appearing humor feature 'Anodin et Inodore contre Personne' ("Anodin and Inodore against No-one", 1974-1979), about two mustached friends in search of adventure.
'L'Histoire sans Titre', AKA 'Le Jardin Zen' (1972).
However, running a magazine was less easy than it sounded. After ten issues, the magazine still didn't make any money. Near the end of 1974, the original team broke up. Claire Brétécher became a staple in the leftist press, and Gotlib moved on to launch his own magazine, Fluide Glacial. Not wanting to lose his investment, Mandryka continued L'Écho des Savanes in the role of editor-in-chief. The trimestrial magazine became a bi-monthly publication, and new artists, writers and editors were brought in. Among the new contributors were Ted Benoit, Carali, Philippe Druillet, Jean Giraud, Yves Got, Jacques Lob, René Pétillon, Martin Veyron and Philippe Vuillemin. The magazine also ran translated stories from U.S. underground comix and material from Mad Magazine under Harvey Kurtzman's editorship. Thanks to this reboot, L'Écho des Savanes managed to keep on going. Mandryka left in 1979, selling his rights for a symbolic franc. He disliked the new direction "his" magazine was taking, with the inclusion of pornographic comics for commercial purposes. In 1995, Mandryka had a brief comeback in L'Écho with the one-shot science fiction story 'Les Aventures Galactiques de Roger Bacon', which was later published in book format as 'Y'A Plus de Limites' (Albin Michel, 1996).
For his one-shot strip 'Tom Hat' (Écho des Savanes #15), Mandryka returned to his childhood practice of copying 'Tex Willer' artwork and adding his own dialogues.
Additional work in the 1970s and 1980s
In his Vaillant, Pilote and L'Écho des Savanes years, Nikita Mandryka made occasional contributions to other magazines too. Sporadic Mandryka strips appeared in Le Nouveau Clarté (1965-1966), Actuel (1971-1975) and Métal Hurlant (1975-1976). For the latter magazine, Mandryka illustrated Jean-Pierre Dionnet's 'Flash Gordon' parody 'Jules L'Éclair' (1975-1976, 1980). In the late 1970s, Mandryka also wrote scripts for Yves Got's daily strip 'Le Baron Noir', replacing the original writer René Pétillon. Appearing in the newspaper Le Matin de Paris, the feature gave a cynical view on society and politics through a group of impassive sheep facing a vulture known as the "Black Baron". Mandryka wrote the plot of 'Alice' (Dargaud, 1985), an erotic comic book adaptation of Lewis Carroll's 'Alice in Wonderland', illustrated by Bernard Kamenoff, AKA Riverstone.
'Jules L'Éclair' (Métal Hurlant #2, 1975).
Editor
During most of the 1970s and 1980s, Mandryka alternated cartooning with editorial roles. In January 1974, Les Éditions du Fromage began publishing Yves Frémion's parody fanzine Le Petit Mickey qui n'a pas Peur des Gros from the sixth issue on. Nine more issues appeared until 1978, with Nikita Mandryka as editor and contributor. In April 1982, Éditions Dargaud relaunched Charlie Mensuel, an adult-oriented comic magazine published originally by Éditions du Square between 1969 and 1981. Mandryka was hired as editor-in-chief for the Dargaud run, but remained in charge for only 16 issues. He left after only one year, because of creative differences. In the 2011 du9.org interview, Mandryka explained he wanted imaginative adventure comics, but only got "trash presented as underground". So instead, he got an editorial position at Pilote, which also didn't last long. Mandryka observed that many magazines in the 1980s made the commercial mistake of only serializing stories that would be available in book format anyway. In his opinion, a magazine like Fluide Glacial had a better approach, since it presented complete and exclusive stories. Pilote was Mandryka's last attempt at doing editorial work for a major publishing house.
Les Aventures de Roger Bacon - 'Y'A Plus De Limites' (1995).
Additional work in the 1990s and 2000s
Between 1989 and 1995, Nikita Mandryka made regular appearances in Spirou magazine. He not only made new episodes of 'Le Concombre Masqué', but also illustrated an editorial column about animal species, written by Fritax (Jean-Claude De la Royère). The episodes were later compiled in the book 'Les Animaux Sont-Ils Des Bêtes' (P&T Production, 1995). In 1993, Mandryka was also presented in the children's weekly Perlin by Fleurus Presse, making the comic series 'Antoine, Camille et Bismuth' with scriptwriter Geneviève Panloup. Between 1997 and 2005, Mandryka additionally helped the Italian artist and writer Massimiliano Frezzato with the scripts and translation of his sci-fi series 'Les Gardiens du Maser' ('I Custodi del Maser'), published in French by Editions USA. In 2003, Mandryka returned to Spirou, working with fellow cartoonist Jean-Michel Thiriet on 'Cybertimes' (2003-2004), a series of gags about computers, video games and Internet.
'Le Mystère du Glabougnot', Concombre episode originally published online.
Webcomics
During the 1990s, Nikita Mandryka was one of the first French-language artists making comics directly for the web. In 1998 he launched his own website, www.chourave.ch (in 2002 renamed to www.leconcombre.com), where he published comic strips on a weekly basis. He also hosted his own blog. A lack of sales of his 1990s comics motivated Mandryka to go online. Webcomics not only offered him creative freedom, but also a wider audience. In particular 'Le Concombre Masqué' enjoyed a second life in this format. Several stories which Mandryka serialized on his website, such as 'Le Bain de Minuit', were later published in book format.
Graphic contributions
Nikita Mandryka was also active in advertising. During the 1980s, he designed an advertising campaign for Saupiguet tuna. For the same brand, he made a one-shot advertising comic aimed at the participants of the promotional game 'Le Chef Vous Salue Bien' (1982). With scriptwriter Claude Moliterni, he made two comic books to promote condom use in the battle against AIDS: 'Pas De Sida Pour Miss Poireau!' (Giphar, 1987, 1994). He made a graphic contribution to Alejandro Jodorowsky's collective comic project 'Silence, On Rêve' (Les Romans, 1991). In 1995, Mandryka made an animated version of 'The Three Little Pigs' for the 'Il Était Une Fois...' series by Rooster Studio, which featured animated fairy tales designed by famous French comic artists. When the Loterie Romande celebrated the millennial celebrations with the collective comic book 'La BD du 3e' (Loterie Romande, 1999), Mandryka was one of the several contributors. He also drew an installment for the political satire comic book 'Vive La Politique!' (Dargaud, 2006).
'Cybertimes' by Thiriet and Mandryka (Spirou #3443, 2004).
Recognition
In 1988, Mandryka's book 'Pas de Sida' received the award for "Best Promotional Comic" (1988) at the International Comic Festival of Angoulême. In later editions of the Angoulême festival, Mandryka was awarded the "Grand Prix de la Ville d'Angoulême" (1994) and the Heritage Prize (2005). In Italy, Mandryka received the Yellow Kid Award for "Best Foreign Author" (1992). On 2 February 2006 an asteroid was named after him. On 29 November 2019, Mandryka was honored in Switzerland with the Grand Prix Töpffer for his full body of work.
Final years, death and legacy
In 1992, the creator of 'Le Concombre Masqué' moved to Geneva, Switzerland. In 1995, Éditions Dupuis honored him with a collective tribute comic, 'Tronches de Concombre' (Dupuis, 1995), with contributions by Philippe Bercovici, François Boucq, Max Cabanes, Éric Cartier, Luc Cromheecke & Laurent Letzer, Didier Conrad, Cosey, Christian Darasse, Paul Deliège, Yvan Delporte, Gerrit de Jager, Édika, Jean-Claude Forest, Jean-Claude Fournier, Fred, Fritax, Gébé, Paul Gillon, Jean Giraud, Gotlib, Gary Goossensen, Greg, René Hausman, Hermann, Frédéric Jannin, Frank le Gall, Lefred-Thouron, Jean-Claude Mézières, René Pétillon, Jean Solé, Tome and Janry, Didier Tronchet, François Walthéry and Wolinski.
Nikita Mandryka died in 2021 in Geneva, at age 80. After Gotlib (2016) and Claire Bretécher (2020), he was the third and final co-founder of L'Écho des Savanes to pass away in only five years time. Mandryka's work was a strong influence on Carali, F'murr, Bruno Le Floch, Jean-Christophe Menu, Charlie Schlingo and Zep. Nikita Mandryka was married to the director Alicja Kuhn.
Books about Nikita Mandryka
For more background information about the artist and his work, the essay 'Les Mondes du Concombre Masqué' 1984) by Alain Corbellari is highly recommended.
Nikita Mandryka portrayed on the cover of L'Écho des Savanes #8 by Jean Solé (July 1974).