Marcel Gotlib

Marcel Gotlib

Born July 14, 1934 – Died December 4, 2016 - Paris

Topics :
  • Humor
  • Classical
  • Fluide Glacial
  • Erotic
  • Animal
  • Super heroes
37 available pages
  • Classics
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A giant of humorous comic art

Marcel Gottlieb, known as Gotlib (1934–2016), was a leading figure in Franco-Belgian comics. He is known for his humorous stories such as Gai-Luron (Jolly Fellow), Les Dingodossiers (The Nut Files), La Rubrique-à-brac and Superdupont. A talented artist and scriptwriter in his own right, he worked with prestigious authors such as Franquin, Goscinny, Alexis, Uderzo, Lob and Mandryka. After an uneventful school career, he studied applied arts in the evenings whilst working as an accountant. After contributing to various magazines, he set his sights on Pilote, where he dreamt of working. It was following the publication of his first story in the magazine that Goscinny offered him the chance to work with him on Les Dingodossiers. In 1968, he worked on La Rubrique-à-brac, a spin-off of Les Dingodossiers, after Goscinny – overwhelmed by the success of Asterix – asked him to continue without him. In 1970, he wrote the scripts for Les Clopinettes and Cinémastock, illustrated by Mandryka. It was with Mandryka and Claire Bretécher that he founded the magazine L’Écho des savanes in 1972. Gotlib also launched his own magazine in 1975, Fluide glacial, with Alexis and Jacques Diament. That same year, he was made a Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters and subsequently a Knight of the Legion of Honour. Gotlib also made forays into theatre (Superdupont by Jérôme Savary) and cinema (Les Vécés étaient fermés de l’intérieur by Patrice Leconte, starring Coluche and Jean Rochefort). In 1991, he was awarded the Grand Prix at the Angoulême International Comics Festival for his entire body of work. 

René Goscinny was in the habit of observing the customs of his contemporaries with “a slight detachment.” Les "Dingodossiers" follows the same approach: it is a handbook of “joyful knowledge” compiled, as Goscinny writes, “without reference material, and with the help of collaborators who knew nothing about the subject.” Here, the idea is thoroughly Swiftian: attributing childlike behaviors to adults. Both Gotlib and Goscinny understood this well: they appeal to the childlike part that remains hidden within each of us. 

Didier Pasamonik

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Gotlib © 2026 (banner) © Thierry Sauvage (portrait)

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