The Mechanoid Associates – Les Mecanoïdes Associés by Paul Gillon

The world was different in the early 80s. No internet meant limited paths to new information. And for me as a teenager living in a small Canadian town, we were even more isolated from the dynamism of large cities. So when I discovered that Heavy Metal magazine existed on the newsstand, it was my first exposure to European comics and their creators, as well as some of the most progressive North Americans: Jean ‘Mœbius’ Giraud, Enki Bilal, Caza, Philippe Druillet, Richard Corben, Howard Chaykin and many more.

One of the earliest stories I read was a simple romantic comedy done with robots titled “Mademoiselle, My Wife” (“Mademoiselle, Ma Fille”) by Paul Gillon in the January 1982 issue of HM. I was immediately drawn to Gillon’s stylistic similarities to Dick Giordano, a prominent American comic book artist.

I acquired a copy of Les Mecanoïdes Associés, the story collection that “Mademoiselle, Ma Fille” comes from. Published in 1982, Gillon was awarded the Grand Prix de la ville d’Angoulême that year. The Grand Prix is a lifetime achievement award given annually during the Angoulême International Comics Festival to a comics author. It is considered the most prestigious award in Franco-Belgian comics.

Heavy Metal was incredibly important in broadening North American appreciation for international comics. However, a number of creators over the years have had reservations about the quality of its English translations.

As an exercise, I drew upon GoogleTranslate and DeepL online and did the first page of “Mademoiselle, Ma Fille.” Using two translation programs allowed me to compare. It was useful when one gave me something odd and the other helped with the context. I then made whatever awkwardness in the straight translation more natural sounding in English. The results were different enough from the HM version that I was encouraged to continue.

All of this was to get me to a place where I could do colour work for the first English edition and a new French edition. Included here are a number of pages. I sent a package to Humanoids in the US a few years back, and they replied that they no longer held the rights to Les Mecanoïdes Associés. So if there’s someone out there who knows who this should be put in front of – Gillon’s heirs?, another publisher? – I’d be grateful for your assistance. You can always contact me at the email link in the footer.

This post was significantly updated in January 2026.

The Mechanoid Associates – English

Les Mecanoïdes Associés – Français