Papyrus (comics)

Papyrus
250x450px The seventeenth book in the series, Tutankhamun from left to right : Papyrus, Théti-Chéri and Pouin
Publication information
Publisher	Dupuis (French) Cinebook (English)
Format	Ongoing series
Genre	Graphic Novel
Number of issues	35 (in French) 4 (in English)
Creative team
Creator(s)	De Gieter

Papyrus is a Belgian comic book series, written and illustrated by Lucien de Gieter. The story takes place in Ancient Egypt. It was first published in 1974 in Spirou magazine in the form of episodes.

An animated series was created in 1998 that was two seasons long (52 episodes) and shown on TFOU TV in France and in Quebec on Radio-Canada. In 2000 a video game was made for Game Boy developed by Dupuis and published by Ubisoft.

Plot

In the beginning, Horus the falcon god of light and Set the god of evil fought to control Egypt. The council of the Gods decided, Set was sent to exile and Horus became the first pharaoh of Egypt. For two thousand years, pharaoh succeeded pharaoh. But Set had plotted his revenge, and deep inside his sinister black pyramid of Ombos, Set imprisoned Horus in a magic sarcophagus. From then on, and no longer protected by the god Horus, Egypt was at the mercy of Set and his servant Aker. So the gods chose Papyrus, a young fisherman who must find the secret entrance to Ombos, free the god Horus and restore peace to Egypt.

Characters

The two main characters are:

• Papyrus: originally a young fisherman, is the hero of the comic, friend of the daughter of the Pharaoh, and possessor of a magic sword which was given to him by the daughter of the god Sobek; in exchange, he must protect the princess Théti-Chéri from all danger.
• Théti-Chéri: daughter of the pharaoh Merenptah, grand priestess of Isis, sacred dancer, and heiress to the throne of the Double Kingdom.

Regular side-characters include:

• Phoetus: a small mummy.
• Pouin: a black dwarf.

Albums

Thirty-three albums have been published so far:

1. La Momie engloutie (ISBN 2-8001-2721-X, ISBN 2-8001-0598-4 et ISBN 2-8001-2714-7)
2. Le Maître des trois portes
3. Le Colosse sans visage
4. Le Tombeau de Pharaon
5. L'Égyptien blanc
6. Les Quatre Doigts du Dieu Lune
7. La Vengeance des Ramsès (ISBN 2-8001-2727-9); English translation: The Rameses Revenge (ISBN 978-1905460359). The four colossi of the Temple of Rameses rise against bands of plunderers.
8. La Métamorphose d'Imhotep (ISBN 2-8001-2728-7); English translation: Imhotep's Transformation (ISBN 978-1905460502): Papyrus must find an antidote for the poisoned Pharaoh while a friend plays the role of the ruler.
9. Les Larmes du géant (ISBN 2-8001-2729-5): A Hittite princess arrives at court as a second wife for the Pharaoh, bringing with her the secret of iron. In the temple of Amonhotep III, plotters want to seize power for themselves and build invincible weapons, so they capture the Hittite princess as well as Théti.
10. La Pyramide noire (ISBN 2-8001-2730-9): Papyrus takes an enchanted Théti to a mage who may be able to heal her.
11. Le Pharaon maudit(ISBN 2-8001-2731-7): Théti and Papyrus fight against plunderers, six girls who call themselves Daughters of Akhenaton.
12. L'Obélisque: Amenope, the royal architect, and his assistant Imhotep, despite obstacles but with the help of Papyrus and Théti cut, transport, and erect an obelisk at Thebes.
13. Le Labyrinthe: Papyrus is named ambassador of Egypt by the King of Minos.
14. L'Île Cyclope (ISBN 2-8001-2734-1): Théti goes to rejoin Papyrus in Crete with the mummy of the son of Minos. Papyrus sets off again, finally finding and rescuing the princess on a fantastic island.
15. L'Enfant hiéroglyphe: Imhotep, the successor of Amenope, is saved from a fire by Papyrus. The parchment that established the plans of Amenope for the new temple were saved. But the workers strike, and Imhotep is accused of sacrilege. Théti and Papyrus discover those responsible for the strike.
16. Le Seigneur des crocodiles (ISBN 2-8001-2736-8): Captured by Libyan nomads, Papyrus and Théti escape into the desert where they meet a blind mage who asks Papyrus to give him his eyes.
17. Toutânkhamon, le Pharaon assassiné (ISBN 2-8001-2737-6): Papyrus meets Ankhesenpaaton, the wife of Tutankhamen. He helps in the assassination of the Pharaoh and the intrigues that happen afterwards.
18. L'Œil de Rê (ISBN 2-8001-2194-7): During the feast of Opet, Amenmes, one of the sons of Rameses II disputes the throne of the Pharaoh Merenptah.
19. Les Momies maléfiques (ISBN 2-8001-2739-2): In the chambers of the temple of Montouhotep, ten bodies of archers of Seqenenre Taa II, dead in combat, are mummified in haste. Meanwhile, Théti's expedition enters the desert but forgets to render homage to Seth.
20. La Colère du grand sphinx (ISBN 2-8001-2445-8 et ISBN 2-8001-2740-6): While searching for Théti, Papyrus angers the Great Sphinx.
21. Le Talisman de la grande pyramide (ISBN 2-8001-2591-8): Wanting to discover the origin of the screams heard at the foot of the Great Pyramid each night, Papyrus angers the god Anubis.
22. La Prisonnière de Sekhmet (ISBN 2-8001-2765-1): The goddess Sekhmet is upset: the ancient Great Priest of her temple has conceived a diabolical plan. The princess Théti, solely capable of calming this divinity, has disappeared.
23. Le Cheval de Troie (ISBN 2-8001-2940-9): Papyrus and Théti arrive in Troy, ruined and occupied by thieves searching in vain for the treasure of King Priam.
24. La main pourpre (ISBN 2-8001-3095-4): Papyrus and Théti find the "purple hand" in Tyre, along with victims of the leaders of the city.
25. Le Pharaon fou (ISBN 2-8001-3229-9): After having escaped from the soldiers of Tyre, Papyrus and Théti find that Pouin has become the king of Dor. After having convinced him to return to Egypt, Papyrus meets curious character named Moses who is leaving Egypt with his tribe.
26. Le Masque d'Horus (ISBN 2-8001-3354-6): The queen sends Papyrus on a secret mission: to find Théti's younger brother, who was taken by the priests of the temple of Kom Ombo.
27. La Fureur des Dieux (ISBN 2-8001-2721-X): Rameses II the younger hunts a bull in the company of his father, Sethi I.
28. Les Enfants d'Isis: Papyrus and Théti embrace under the regard of the gods, while Seth swears to avenge himself.
29. L'Île de la reine morte
30. L'Oracle
31. L'Or de Pharaon
32. Le taureau de Montou
33. Papyrus Pharaon

English Translations

Since November 2007, Cinebook Ltd has been publishing Papyrus in English. Five albums have been released so far:

1. The Rameses Revenge, Nov. 2007, ISBN 978-1-905460-35-9
2. Imhotep's Transformation, Apr. 2008, ISBN 978-1-905460-50-2
3. Tutankhamun, Apr. 2009, ISBN 978-1-905460-84-7
4. The Evil Mummies, Apr. 2010, ISBN 978-1-84918-027-6
5. The Anger of the Great Sphinx, 2012, ISBN 978-1-84918-115-0

Animated series

Season 1

1. The black Mummy
2. Anger of the Moon God
3. Lord of the Crocodiles
4. Revenge of Ramses
5. The Faceless Giant
6. The Cursed Pharaoh
7. The Black Sun of Seth
8. The Metamorphosis of Imhotep
9. The Maze
10. The Triumph of Bastet
11. City of Scribes
12. The Demon of the Red Mountains
13. The Golden Feather of the Great Falcon
14. The Return of the Red Sphinx
15. The White Egyptian
16. The Harp of Hathor
17. The Forgotten Sarcophagus
18. The House of Life
19. The Revenge of Amon
20. The Rebirth of the Child Pharaoh
21. Tears of Giants
22. The Hieroglyph Child
23. The Master of the Three Doors
24. The Black Pyramid
25. The Mirror of Nebou
26. The Second Flood of the Sacred River

Season 2

1. The Sacrilege of Papyrus
2. Mika the Sorceress
3. The Thirtieth Case of Senet Cursed
4. Justice Thoueris
5. The Awakening of Osiris
6. White
7. Stolen country

1. Four Chapels of Tutankhamun
2. The Divine Potter
3. Return Senkhet
4. The Talisman of the Great Pyramid
5. Yam
6. Time of Discord
7. Seven Knots of Horus
8. Renunciation of Papyrus
9. Nile Red
10. The Sacred Crown of Wadjet
11. Neferure
12. Emissaries
13. Princess Tiya
14. Princess Star
15. The Sacred Child of Ebla
16. The Ished Tree
17. The Djed Pillar
18. The Trial of Papyrus
19. The Nightmare

Canadian animator and cartoonist Guy Delisle documented his experiences while working on this animated series in 1997 in Shenzhen (comics)

External links

• Papyrus at IMDb
• Papyrus site by Lucien de Gieter and Jean-Pol Schrauwen
• Official site of the Papyrus animation
• English publisher of Papyrus - Cinebook Ltd