La Légende du Changeling (The Legend of the Changeling in English) is a Franco-Belgian comic book series in five volumes created by Pierre Dubois (script), (art), and Scarlett Smulkowski (colors), published as albums between June 2008 and March 2012 by Le Lombard, at the pace of one volume per year.
Set in Victorian England, it tells the story of Scrubby, a fairy child exchanged at birth for a human baby. Gifted with the ability to see the little folk, Scrubby leaves the wild region of Dartmoor, where he has lived for twelve years, when his adoptive family moves to London in search of work. He goes through various trials, including the loss of his father, mother, and the girl he loves; a harsh job as a child miner; the struggle against the killer Spring Heeled Jack; and the attack of a satanic cult—before the revelation of his origins and his role.
The series received good reviews and a favorable reception. Pierre Dubois, , storyteller, and expert on the theme, created an initiatory narrative that also serves as a social critique of the Industrial Revolution, where extreme wealth coexists with extreme poverty. The fine and expressive linework of Xavier Fourquemin, who gives distinctive "faces" to his characters, and the colors by Scarlett Smulkowski complement the series’ historical-fantasy style.
Background In an interview with Richard Ely, screenwriter Pierre Dubois mentioned his fascination with the changeling of popular folklore, hence his desire to write a story on the subject: “Beyond the legend, in popular tradition, when a child was different from others, it used to be said they were a changeling, that they came from elsewhere. Pushing it even further, a child who wasn’t ‘normal’ was a fada, meaning a child of the fairies—they were different. However, these children had other gifts. Even today, they might have a gift for music or recall incredible numbers. That always frightened people. I’ve always been fascinated by the changeling, especially when you’re a child yourself and feel a little different from others…”
Before meeting illustrator , he had already imagined two scripts about changelings: a dark one in a single album, and another longer and more visual one. Fourquemin and colorist Scarlett Smulkowski had previously worked together on , which is also set in 19th-century London. The setting is therefore very close to their previous series, even if the story is different. Fourquemin was familiar with and appreciated Dubois’s earlier work on the series before they met, saying he used to buy Spirou in the 1980s just to follow that story. Dubois, for his part, liked Fourquemin’s drawing style, particularly his cover art. He had read Outlaw and reviewed Alban, for which he wrote a title board, during his time at France 3.
After finishing Miss Endicott and looking for a new project, Fourquemin met Dubois in Valenciennes and expressed his desire to create a story “about fantastic and fairy-like characters,” aiming for a pure fantasy universe to build a world, without necessarily continuing in the same genre as his previous series. Dubois preferred the fantastique. The two men developed a mutual understanding and subsequently initiated a collaboration. The selected script originates from Dubois’ characteristic tendency to avoid situating his narratives directly within the “land of the fairies.” Instead, his stories are typically set in the real world, where characters either strive to access the fairy realm or encounter fairies entering the human domain. Central to his work is the dissolution of the boundary between these two worlds—a “passage” that constitutes a recurring source of fascination for the author. The choice of the Victorian era reflects a desire to highlight “what can be lost by remaining closed to the path of fairy tales.” Le Lombard approved the project and initially planned a four-volume series, but Dubois insisted on five. The writer and illustrator drew inspiration from photographs of Dartmoor and walks through London to enrich their albums.
Plot
The storyline of The Legend of the Changeling takes place in the Victorian era, in an England undergoing an industrial revolution. It tells the story of Scrubby, a fairy child exchanged at birth for a human baby, gifted with the ability to see the little folk.
Characters
Scrubby Scrubby is a fairy child exchanged at birth for a human baby—a changeling. He frequently tries to connect with the world he came from, the world of the fairies. This is the reason for his love towards nature and bonds with animals.See volume 1 when he plays with animals in the forest, volumes 2 and 4 when he tames rats, etc. He lives among humans yet experiences a sense of otherness—positioned between two worlds, suspended between two temporalities, and situated outside the established social order. He does not grow up, and despite the terrible ordeals he endures, he retains a sense of wonder and innocence toward the world around him.For example, when he sees sculptures shaped like fauns or satyrs in the first volume, and says they “must be cold in the stone.” He transmits innocence but is not “gullible” for all that: he is an eternal child who perceives the magical and the spirits of nature at every moment, even while working deep in a mine or facing crime and prostitution. He tends to come to the rescue of those he considers good and fragile.
Scrubby’s family and friends Betty and Thomas, Scrubby’s adoptive parents, know that he is not their child. Scrubby notices changes in Betty’s behavior, as she shifts from apparent love to fierce hatred toward him. She commits suicide by throwing herself into the Thames after the death of her husband, a simple laborer who shows affection to his adoptive son. Sheela, Scrubby’s adoptive sister, shares with him a love for nature and a certain knowledge of creatures from the Otherworld, as she can dance among the fairies and repel Spring Heeled Jack. Scrubby regularly encounters others who help him by protecting, educating, and preparing him for his destiny: the old wise man of Wistman’s Wood, the mine knocker, the tramp No More, and Rob. All prevent his enemies from reaching him and arm him for the final battle. Despite losing his parents, Scrubby is surrounded by beings who love and protect him.
Enemies Sir Charles Warren, the leader of a satanic cult, is the one who summoned Spring Heeled Jack. He is marked by his fierce hatred for common people. He is also responsible for the murder of Scrubby’s father. Spring Heeled Jack, the series’ main antagonist, is a killer who prowls the streets of London. Lastly, the "Lord of Chaos" is Scrubby’s final enemy, though it is not confirmed whether he is also the demon known as Spring Heeled Jack, described as “the embodiment of evil since the dawn of time.”
Albums VolumeTitlePublished by Le LombardISBN1Le Mal-venuJune 6, 2008 (56 pages)2Le Croque-mitaineApril 24, 2009 (56 pages)3Spring Heeled JackMarch 19, 2010 (56 pages)4Les Lisières de l'ombreFebruary 9, 2011 (56 pages)5La Nuit AsraïMarch 30, 2012 (64 pages)
Le Mal-venu (The Unwelcome)
The Jobson family lives in the old wild moorlands of Dartmoor when their youngest child disappears due to the negligence of their daughter Sheela. Betty Jobson blames the fairies and performs a ritual to retrieve her son. A few days later, a strange baby is left at their doorstep. He is adopted by the family, who nicknamed him Scrubby. Twelve years later, Scrubby has become a true little wildling, in love with nature. During an outing near Wistman’s Wood, he meets the Wild Huntsman, an old hermit who teaches him the secrets of the little folk, until the Jobson family, struck by poverty, moves to London hoping to find work. Scrubby discovers a city of depravity where poor people like his parents are exploited, but he manages to reconnect with nature in Kensington Gardens. There, he befriends a homeless man named No More. A man with red eyes seems to be linked to the misfortunes of his family. The working poor begin to revolt in Hyde Park. Scrubby’s adoptive father, Thomas, is killed in the confrontation.
Le Croque-mitaine (The Boogeyman) Betty commits suicide shortly after her husband’s death by throwing herself into the Thames. Scrubby is compelled to seek employment in London to support himself and his sister, yet he retains his enthusiasm for life. Sheela secures a position as a waitress at the Princess Alice, while he takes up work in the mine, heeding the advice of the old man from Wistman’s Wood. There, he befriends a miner named Rob, who tells him about the little folk of the mines, the Knockers. He reunites with them and allies with them to save the miners from a planned attack.
Spring Heeled Jack
Scrubby, along with some of his companions who followed the little folk, survives the collapse of the mine. Having endured the trial by fire, he now emerges from the trial of earth. He succeeds in rescuing his friend Laura from the rubble by kissing her—a gesture that, unbeknownst to him, ultimately saves her life. Having lost his job as a child miner, he collects valuables from the bottom of the Thames to earn money to buy Laura a gift. He discovers that she has just been murdered near a tavern, amid a series of killings committed by a mysterious demonic figure, Spring Heeled Jack.
Les Lisières de l’ombre (The Edges of Shadow) Scrubby has lost his beloved Laura. The killer Spring Heeled Jack is spreading terror, but the fairy child knows he is no ordinary murderer. While visiting the morgue, he encounters Sir Charles Warren and discovers that he was behind his father's murder. Following a recurring shadow, he uncovers a secret satanic society and decides to confront it.
La Nuit Asraï (The night of the Asraï) Despite the death of Sir Charles Warren, Spring Heeled Jack (the demon he summoned with his cult) continues to attack London. Scrubby meets his alter ego, the real son of Thomas and Betty, who was abducted by the fairies, and who reveals to him his true nature as a changeling. He also explains that the boundary between the human world and the fairy world is becoming permeable. To defeat the Lord of Chaos, Scrubby must fully understand and accept the mystery of his origins, as well as his role as a guide and intermediary between the fairy realm and the world of humans. He learns that the faeries disappeared from the human world because they failed to choose between Good and Evil. To maintain their existence between angels and demons, they must offer a sacrifice to the Devil every hundred years; thus, a human child is abducted so the fairies do not have to offer one of their own. On the night of the Asraï, when the boundary opens, Scrubby saves his brother, who was promised as the sacrifice, and defeats the Lord of Chaos using a sword forged by his friends. He then permanently joins the world of the fae. The series concludes with the phrase, "It was in the long-ago time, when legends wandered among the eternities."
Analysis La Légende du Changeling is a Franco-Belgian semi-realistic comic series with a rather “slow and mesmerizing” pace. It is not quite a fantasy series, since it differs in that most of the action unfolds in a historical setting: Victorian England, a period both the writer and the illustrator are particularly familiar with. Characterized by being British in tone, La Légende du Changeling is rather dark and ethereal. Some passages are gloomy and cruel, others more lighthearted, blending “Celtic wonder and social naturalism.”