CLING ! La bande dessinée parle cash

The exhibition opens in the heritage salons of the Hôtel de la Monnaie, a setting that contrasts monetary splendor with the popular vitality of comics. Spread over 650 m², the presentation combines opulent furnishings and museographic displays to allow original pages and objects to breathe in a well-paced journey.

More than 250 pieces from public and private collections are gathered: original pages, rare editions, objects, and film excerpts which together trace the visual history of relationships with money. Curated by Lucas Hureau and Damien MacDonald, the visit is structured around a sensitive framework of eight archetypes: a thematic organization favoring the operational character of archetypes over strict chronology.

Archives and creations engage in dialogue throughout the exhibition: historical documents meet contemporary proposals, each enlightening the other and inviting a reexamination of heroes and their monetary obsessions. Production was delegated to the Cité internationale de la bande dessinée et de l’image d’Angoulême (CIBDI), scenography by Marine Brunet (agency Soplo), and graphics by Roman Gigou give the path a precise and coherent visual tone, both demanding and readable.

Underlying it all, the exhibition asks a simple question: what does money do to stories, and what do images say about our desires, fears, and financial cunning? This question runs throughout the visit.

From the adventurer to the forger, eight universal figures representing our relationship with money in comics. Adventurers set off hunting treasures and joining gold rushes.

Thieves, sometimes comic, sometimes menacing, showcase their wild heists, from the Daltons to the Rapetou.

Eight original commissions entrusted to contemporary authors. Savers accumulate, from childhood piggy banks to armored safes. Billionaires fascinate and unsettle, from Scrooge McDuck to Largo Winch.

Marginals, champions of resourcefulness, defy the system. Forgers wield illusion and counterfeiting.

Alchemists, finally, remind us that true wealth lies in the imagination. André Franquin, Lagaffe deserves slaps, 1979, color printed album cover Dupuis Edition. These eight archetypes provide a transversal reading of the ninth art.

They connect the earliest American press strips to contemporary manga through Franco-Belgian classics and comics. Each was the subject of a new commission by a leading author: Ugo Bienvenu, Blutch, Coco, Nicolas de Crécy, Florence Cestac, Anouk Ricard, Thomas Ott, and Catherine Meurisse.

Alchemists, finally, remind us that true wealth lies in the imagination.

From Tintin to Scrooge McDuck, a gallery of heroes at the heart of the Hôtel de la Monnaie. Visitors will find Tintin chasing treasure, Asterix and Lucky Luke caught up in their adventures, Scrooge swimming in gold coins, and Gaston Lagaffe battling parking meters. Batman, the Smurfs, the Freak Brothers, Lupin III, Blueberry, and Corto Maltese complete this gallery alongside major figures from manga and underground comics.

650 M² In the historic salons of Hôtel de la Monnaie Spanning 650 square meters, the exhibition “CLING! Comics Speak Cash” gathers original pages, rare editions, objects, and film excerpts in dialogue with contemporary creations.

The scenography, by Marine Brunet of agency Soplo, and the graphics by Roman Gigou orchestrate these encounters in a space rich in history. Winsor McCay, Pennies into Dollars, 1933, The Omaha Bee-News. Pennies into Dollars powerfully illustrates the complexity of American economic policy in the heart of the Great Depression.

The drawing shows an allegorical figure of Uncle Sam operating a massive machine as coins fly in all directions. Signs read “Depression,” “Sales Taxes,” “Manufacturers,” “Public Works,” and “Agriculture,” depicting an economy in crisis.

Published in The Omaha Bee-News on May 26, 1933, this editorial cartoon showcases McCay's graphic virtuosity, known for his masterpiece Little Nemo in Slumberland, and his ability to turn a dry subject into an immediately readable visual allegory. The exhibition is curated by Lucas Hureau and Damien MacDonald.

The Monnaie de Paris delegated production to the Cité internationale de la bande dessinée et de l’image d’Angoulême.

From Blutch to Catherine Meurisse, money through the lens of contemporary creativity. The eight original works don’t just pay tribute to the classics: they renew comics’ perspective on money. From Blutch to Catherine Meurisse, including Nicolas de Crécy and Coco, each artist challenges the masters of the past and updates the ninth art’s discourse on wealth.

These works converse with historical pages and offer contemporary resonance to the exhibition’s archetypes. Impertinence lies at the heart of this exploration.

The path navigates from social critique to educational messages, from early 20th century daily press to the latest graphic novels. Behind the humor and adventure, comics have turned the miser, speculator, and thief into familiar, often endearing characters.

Eight contemporary authors, including Blutch, Catherine Meurisse, and Nicolas de Crécy, were given free rein to create an original work around an archetype of the relationship to money. Will Eisner, The Spirit, original cover, “The Spirit Magazine” no. 38, 1982. Will Eisner, considered one of the founding fathers of the graphic novel, revolutionized visual storytelling with bold layouts and cinematic treatment.

His character The Spirit, a masked vigilante who appeared in 1940, embodies the international dimension of the relationship between comics and money. The original cover of issue 38, preserved at the CIBDI Comics Museum in Angoulême, bears witness to the connection between American comics and the French comic heritage.