Between 1981 and 1998, Spirou was handled by Tome and Janry. The pair got to know each other when they were just known as Richard Vandevelde and Jean-Philippe Geurts. In 1983, they brought out a special issue with a gag about Spirou's childhood. Little Spirou was born. He is definitely not an incorruptible hero of unimpeachable character, but more of a cheeky rascal with a rather premature, naive interest in sex and an unbridled imagination. Characteristics that do not do him any favours when he is repeatedly the victim of incomprehensible and sometimes weird teachers.