Le Génie des alpages is a French humoristic comic book series by F'Murr. The series first appeared in Pilote magazine on January 11, 1973.[1] In 1976 Les Éditions Dargaud started publication of hardcover albums.
The short stories are usually told in one-page segments, and unpredictably follow the lives of the series' cast. This includes the old nameless shepherd, his successor, the young Athanase Percevalve, the Dog Without a Name (an intellectual talking shepherd's dog), and a flock of eccentric, verbal sheep, led by Romuald the black ram. Other unorthodox characters appear, such as the Berthold the stupid St. Bernhard, Kattarsis the petite self-conscious sphinx, a lion, a fox, eagles, snakes, and "Death" in the shape of an attractive woman. Some of these recur frequently.
There is usually no apparent plot in any of these stories from the Swiss Alps. [2] Instead, they often consist of different dialogues and simultaneous happenings, making the overall impression of a totally absurd and secluded world. Nevertheless, F'murr always manages to maintain a kind of direction and realism in his otherwise pointless universe, and somewhere in between is the humour that his fans find hilarious but inexplicable.[3]
