COMIC: The Many Lies and Slander Regularly Attached to One Maximilien Robespierre

[backupmemories]

In further evidence that I procrastinate way too much, I present a small comic which has demanded the pretentious title of "The Many Lies and Slander Regularly Attached to One Maximilien Robespierre".

Mmmm...let's see, preliminary comments...well, please forgive the horrible attempt to write in cursive with a mouse, for one thing. For another, I'm willing to make more of these, so if anyone has ideas for more slander (and I'm sure there's plenty), please, share! Of course, it may be amusing only to me, but at least I found it amusing to draw. ^_^






It's all in books somewhere, I'm sure. The original slander, not the image that goes with it! (I don't think the Hannibal Lector connexion has been made yet...or at least I hope it hasn't) This was inspired when I was flipping through the pages of a book on the French Revolution in which Robespierre was not only described as being "sea-green" in color, that's basically just how they referred to him for the rest of the book. As in, instead of saying "he said to Robespierre", they would say "He said to the Seagreen", and we were supposed to know who they meant. *roll eyes* ^_^

...also, I apologise for the awful dictator image, I couldn't figure out what to put there. I'd already used "horrified into speechlessness" too many times...

Comments

[estellacat.livejournal.com]

I love these! The expression on green!Robespierre's face is especially good. And how secretpuppetmaster!Robespierre can't even control his own puppets. XDD (Poor Maxime, though, forever stuck in all these inappropriate disguises. D:)

Would the "historian" referring to Robespierre as "Seagreen" happen to be Carlyle...?

[nirejseki.livejournal.com]

Thanks! ^___^ Poor Maxime indeed. He's constantly stuck with some variant or another. I'm sure if I can come up with more ideas that I could fill up a whole new sheet...


I have no idea, I just gaped at the book in disbelief for a few minutes before edging away. The writing style was rather, hmm, unique, though, so probably yes.

[estellacat.livejournal.com]

*sighs* Yes, it does seem to be that way. You should do another sheet... You could do some of the ones for Saint-Just and the other Robespierristes too, since they have them too. >.>

It probably was Carlyle, then. I was going to say, "run from it like the plague," but you seem to have done a pretty good job of that yourself. XD

[nirejseki.livejournal.com]

Ooooh, good point. Care to suggest some good pejoratives for the others? If I get enough people, I'll do a "incorrect representations of Robespierrists/Revolutionaries" dinner table. A la the Last Supper. Because I mean, if you're going to be drawing incorrect and pejorative historical views of them, you might as well put it in the one scenario which would REALLY make them spin in their graves....XD

[estellacat.livejournal.com]

For Saint-Just you should definitely appeal to maelicia; she can probably give you as long a list as you have for Robespierre (my personal favorite botched characterization is Saint-Just the human ice-cube machine). I would call Le Bas the invisible, since no one seems to recognize his presence--and therefore never really bothered to slander him much. Couthon was, I believe, also referred to by the epithets of "tiger" and "drinker of blood," but I'd have to see whether there are others specific to him... I have somewhat disproportionate knowledge of Éléonore Duplay, and can thus say specifically that she's been portrayed as everything from a tricoteuse to a child abuser.

Other than those though, people aren't too original; they just tend to call them "bloodthirsty" or "dictators" or both--they usually call the more "peripheral" Robespierristes something on the order of "fanatical followers," "accomplices," etc. As for non-Robespierristes, they weren't typically calumniated, so there's not much to work with there.

...And I think you might have hit on the one image that would make them roll in the graves more than all the others. -__-; (Though certainly, that wouldn't be anything new either--quite a few people have been crazy enough to compare Robespierre to Jesus.)

[maelicia.livejournal.com]

Saint-Just is, as usual, soooo being cast into the fake Mary Magdalena from the Da Vinci Code (being in fact, of course, swooning-and-effeminate/very-likely-would-be-eromenos John).

And it works sooooooo very well, because David can be Peter.

Though on Da Vinci's painting, Peter has a knife, which fits better a future Thermidorian, like Tallien, but since Tallien was never a Robespierriste to start with, let's say Collot d'Herbois (who sort of pretended to be) is Judas.

Now they're spinning.

[nirejseki.livejournal.com]

I can hear the spinning. Haven't read/seen/have-actually-avoided-like-the-plague Da Vinci Code, but having taken art classes, I know which one John is! And yes, that would be Saint-Just, poor thing.

And yes, David will deny him three times before the emperor crows.

Who else would be there, though? And where There's thirteen places in the picture, and only 4 have been filled...

[maelicia.livejournal.com]

Unfortunately, my Mom adores it, even though every time she dares watching it, I do my best at being abominable and wrecking all her fun by criticising everything. From "Yes, Leonardo would rather paint a pretty boy next to Jesus than a silly slut" to "The Prieuré de Sion was a fake, a fraud by a royalist French pretending to be yet another heir to the pseudo-throne of France, and therefore the entire argument for the film is royalist propaganda, as always". Mom doesn't appreciate. *grins*

Ah, yes, I'm sure if we count, David did it.

Hm, well, there must be Couthon, Le Bas and Augustin, at least, which means we now have 7 places taken. Wait that I think of other minor robespierristes... There's Jullien de la Drôme, but he's really young, and the place of the youngest is already taken by Saint-Just... Um... Ah, well there's Hanriot, from the Garde nationale, Fleuriot-Lescot, the mayor, and Payan, from the Commune, who all died on Thermidor. There's Coffinhal, whom I think was also in the Commune, and Buonarroti, the future associate of Babeuf in the Conspiration des Égaux, who didn't die because he was in mission, far from Paris on Thermidor... I'm sure there are others I forget right now...

[nirejseki.livejournal.com]

Perhaps a better question would be, "who is there that has enough physical descriptions/pictures available somewhere so I could try to draw them"...x_x

Well, 7 is a good start, anyway. ^^ Besides, with the amount of work I have, it's going on the "to do" list, not the "to be done now" list...

[maelicia.livejournal.com]

It's better to put it on that list, so they will stop spinning now. XDDD