- Originally published on the Bartitsu.org site on Thursday, 10th January 2019
The French painter and cartoonist Marius Rossillon (1867-1946), under the pseudonym “O’Galop”, invents a bizarre new hybrid combat sport in this 1895 sketch series, which originally appeared in Le Rire.
“Velo-Boxe” appears to have been a satirical comment on state of the French honour duel during the very late 19th century. With both the law and social sentiment steering sharply away from the tradition of life-risking duels, aggrieved parties who wanted to settled their differences physically developed some creative alternatives. However, as the artist points out, honour can only be satisfied physically at a physical cost – the implicit question being, is it worth it?
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Rosillon was also, not incidentally, the creator of the “Michelin Man” character, here illustrated delivering the Coup de la Semelle Michelin (“The Kick of the Michelin Tread”) in a 1905 advertising poster:
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