To celebrate its 120th anniversary, the Public Security of Monaco reveals itself… in a comic strip
At a glance, the comic’s cover sets the scene. In the center, below the Prince’s Palace, police officers from the Public Security are revealed in intervention posture. On foot, both lightly and heavily equipped, but also by bike, maneuvering a drone or aboard the blazing speedboat Princess Gabriella. A non-exhaustive overview of the field work of the Monegasque police.
To read more about the hectic backstage of this institution, founded in 1902 by Prince Albert Iuhwe will have to wait until the National Day, when the comic strip will be published in 4,000 copies by Éditions du Précurseur, already at work for comics The Tempest Alex, chronicle of a disaster.
A project, among others*, designed by the Department of Public Security to celebrate its 120 years of existence. “The comic strip will not be intended for sale but will serve as an object of representation, promotionexplains Captain Frédéric Aznar, member of the management secretariat and project leader. The idea is to make public security known and to please our staff, some of whom could recognize themselves physically in it.
For now, only a hundred privileged people, like Prince Albert II and Charlotte Casiraghi, have been able to taste the fictional scenario through fifteen black or colored plates by the sharp pencil stroke of designer Cédric Fernandez.
The scenario based on a real news item
The plot begins in the middle of the Monaco Grand Prix, the day when Formula 1 does not run on the street circuit. While the princely couple, escorted by agents from the Princely Family Protection Division, paid a visit to the stands, while public security personnel were patrolling and ensuring the country’s security, criminals were planning a robbery in Principality. before putting their plan into action.
A case, inspired by an armed robbery perpetrated in 2017 in Monaco, which will serve as a red thread throughout the sixty pages. “If the basis of the news item is real, everything else is modified, fictionalized and amplifiedexplains Frédéric Aznar who imagined the plot of the story, in connection with Yvon Bertorello. Throughout the pages and the investigation, we find all the professions of Public Security: investigation, cybercrime, technical and scientific police, maritime police, intervention group, administration, secretariat, etc. . …Each Division is highlighted.”
To arrest the robbers, great means are used. From the drone unit to the video surveillance system, through the territorial network and the most advanced investigations. “To be as faithful as possible, the designer toured the departments and staff, took photos”he continues.
The partners of the Monegasque police, such as Interpol, and the entire criminal chain appearing in the comic strip. Even the future building of the Public Security, currently renovated and raised in the rue Suffren-Reymond, is illustrated. “If tomorrow a young person reads comics, we want to be able to make him want to do this job”concluded Frédéric Aznar.
* Greeting card, digital painting of Albert Iuha stamp and a 120-year book, a commemorative medal, a prayer and a hymn from the Sûreté publique, a Tudor watch, a naïve painting by Claude Gauthier.
17,000
This is the number of copies sold by the Éditions du Précurseur de la bande Dessinée Storm Alex, chronicle of a catastrophe. Part of the sales were reversed to the victims of the Alpes-Maritimes. The publishing house, dormant until recently, is working on other projects. In addition to the comic strip on Public Security, similar works are in progress with the Carabiniers du Prince, the Carnival of Nice, the continuation of the Tempest Alex allowed on the reconstruction or the palaces.