Cosey goes back to Tibet

Jonathan is, in a way, the story of a lifetime: over forty years of adventures in 17 albums of a series that is already one of the great classics of French-language comics. Author Cosey has just given his final pen to the series with “La Piste de Yéshé”, published by Le Lombard at the end of the year. Between the penultimate volume, “Celle qui fut”, and this latest opus in the saga, however, we had to wait 8 years. It’s true that Jonathan’s adventures could well have ended with the previous album,” explains Cosey. As a reader, I’m not a big fan of these long-running series. But an idea came to me that I liked, that allowed me to imagine a tailor-made ending and come full circle.” Any regrets about giving up on Jonathan? Obviously, it’s a bereavement to leave a fellow traveler behind after 46 years. Jonathan is a bit like my idealized alter ego. A character with whom I get on well and whom I’ve followed like a shadow. That’s why Jonathan may be quite happy for me to give him a break!

Esprit vagabond
In this final adventure, in which the demiurge finally meets his creature, we find Jonathan in Tibet. We’re off for the bumpy roads of the caravan trails, for the cities on the mountainsides and the lamaseries reached by yak in winter, all under the scrutinizing eye of the Chinese “liberators”. So let’s set off on the journey that has always nourished the imagination of Cosey, winner of the Angoulême Grand Prix in 2017 and Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres the following year. That’s the way I work,” continues Cosey. Unlike most fiction writers, who start with a script and then do their scouting, I prefer to let my mind wander during my peregrinations. They give me the opportunity to sketch, take photos, put a few notes on paper and then let them rest. It’s only after a maturing phase that the story takes shape. When I started drawing Jonathan in 1975, there wasn’t much documentation on Tibet. The solution was to find out for myself and go there. My most recent trip to central Tibet in 2019 took place in the same spirit. To combine business with pleasure”.

An invitation to travel
A change of scenery is guaranteed in the heart of these mountains, which Cosey sketches with almost delightful relish. These are the mountains that make up his daily life in the Vaud Alps, and which we keep (re)discovering in the footsteps of Jonathan and his paper brothers and sisters. “It’s true that I love drawing mountains. In terms of drawing, it’s a form of abstraction where the accuracy of the line is much less important than when you’re trying to represent people, for example. This creates a certain distance from reality that enriches the narrative. A kind of invitation to an inner journey, in a way, that nourishes Jonathan and his author. “I’m one of those people for whom spirituality is important. It feeds my work,” continues Cosey. I’ve spent time in monasteries in Tibet, and I must admit that I’ve always been interested in the monks’ lives, which are very centered and focused on the wisdom of the Buddha. In terms of comics, at least, it’s more fun than a saloon brawl…”

A “big book” to come
In the course of this latest opus, Jonathan will have completed his last motorcycle tour, on a Royal Enfield Himalayan of course. Any chance of another “hero” taking his place? Certainly not,” says Cosey. Series are too restrictive. Perhaps a story in a diptych or triptych, as I’ve already done with “The Search for Peter Pan” or “The Trip to Italy”, for example, but certainly a single story. For the time being, Cosey is concentrating on an exhibition scheduled for the end of November at Galerie Daniel Maghen, Rue du Louvre in Paris. The exhibition coincides with a forthcoming collection of Cosey’s sketches, watercolors and travel notes, to be published by Maghen… For the moment, we won’t know much more about it. The project is on track: “A big book!