205-413: Renegade Press was an American comic book company, founded by Canadian Deni Loubert , that operated from 1984 to 1988. Notable titles published by Renegade included Flaming Carrot , Ms. Tree , and normalman . Loubert was publisher of Aardvark-Vanaheim until she and husband Dave Sim (owner and major contributor to Aardvark-Vanaheim) divorced, at which point she started Renegade and moved to
410-535: A questionable character . Both were, however, already very popular before the war and the hardships of the war period only seemed to increase the demand. This created an opportunity for many young artists to start working in the comics and animation business. At first, authors like Jijé in Spirou and Edgar P. Jacobs in Bravo continued unfinished American stories of Superman and Flash Gordon . Thus, by imitating
615-675: A tabloid form. Underground comics and "small press" titles have also appeared in the UK, notably Oz and Escape Magazine . The content of Action , another title aimed at children and launched in the mid-1970s, became the subject of discussion in the House of Commons . Although on a smaller scale than similar investigations in the US, such concerns led to a moderation of content published within British comics. Such moderation never became formalized to
820-578: A BD artist and something the de facto inventor of the Franco-Belgian BD, Hergé, has never achieved even once, not even from his own native country Belgium (presumably because of the lingering impressions left by either the criticisms regarding his early Tintin stories, the post-war collaboration allegations, or both and neither of which he had ever managed to fully free himself from in his lifetime). Exemplary of Mœbius' standing in French culture,
1025-522: A Dutch-language version as well under the name Robbedoes for the Flemish market. Export to the Netherlands followed a few years later shortly after the war. The magazine was conceived and published by publisher Éditions Dupuis S.A. (as of 1989, simply: Dupuis ), which was established by its founding namesake Jean Dupuis [ fr ] as a printing business in 1898, but changed to being
1230-636: A black artist or writer allowed in a major comics company." Asian characters within comic books encountered similar prejudiced treatment as black characters did. They were subjected to dehumanizing depictions, with narratives often portraying them as "incompetent and subhuman." In a 1944 edition of the publication United States Marines , there was a story titled The Smell of the Monkeymen . This narrative portrayed Japanese soldiers as brutish simians, and it depicted their concealed positions being betrayed by their repugnant body odor. Chinese characters received
1435-517: A book-like format about half the former size. The albums, usually colored all the way through, are almost always hardcover for the French editions and softcover for the Dutch editions—though the hardcover format has steadily gained ground from the late-1980s onward as customer option alongside the softcover format, contrary to Francophone Europe, where the hardcover format is the norm. When compared to American comic books and trade paperbacks (such as
1640-556: A children's publication – but also because communist members of the commission had issues with the strong anticommunist sentiment expressed in the comic according to writer Charlier. Both volumes remained prohibited in France until 1969, though French fans on holiday in Belgium, Switzerland or Luxembourg could pick up the albums unhindered over there. The law also came in handy to somewhat regulate – though not prohibiting –
1845-473: A company named Comics Guaranty (CGC) initiated the practice of "slabbing" comics, which involves encasing them within thick plastic cases and assigning them a numerical grade. This approach inspired the emergence of Comic Book Certification Service . Given the significance of condition in determining the value of rare comics, the concept of grading by an impartial company, one that does not engage in buying or selling comics, seemed promising. Nevertheless, there
2050-458: A famous example of the British comic annual. DC Thomson also repackages The Broons and Oor Wullie strips in softcover A4-size books for the holiday season. On 19 March 2012, the British postal service, the Royal Mail , released a set of stamps depicting British comic book characters and series. The collection featured The Beano , The Dandy , Eagle , The Topper , Roy of
2255-483: A few. It was not just the BD scene these new publications and their artists changed, the perception of the medium in French society also changed radically in the 1970s–1980s, in stark contrast to the one it held in the 1940s–1950s. Recognizing that the medium-advanced France's cultural status in the world, the cultural authorities of the nation started to aid the advancement of the medium as a bonafide art form, especially under
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#17327943925072460-586: A five chapter spy genre tale written by Otto Binder and drawn by Al Carreno. It is readable online in the Digital Comic Museum . The magazine never reached a second issue. In 1950, St. John Publications produced the digest-sized , adult-oriented "picture novel" It Rhymes with Lust , a 128-page digest by pseudonymous writer "Drake Waller" ( Arnold Drake and Leslie Waller ), penciler Matt Baker and inker Ray Osrin , touted as "an original full-length novel" on its cover. "It Rhymes with Lust"
2665-628: A government ran program, the Writers' War Board, became heavily involved in what would be published in comics. "The Writers' War Board used comic books to shape popular perceptions of race and ethnicity..." Not only were they using comic books as a means of recruiting all Americans, they were also using it as propaganda to "[construct] a justification for race-based hatred of America's foreign enemies." The Writers' War Board created comics books that were meant to "[promote] domestic racial harmony". However, "these pro-tolerance narratives struggled to overcome
2870-416: A group of artists who were as much responsible for its success and then some as it was this group that defined the rejuvenated magazine in the post-war era. Upon war's end three artists from the defunct animation studio CBA were hired by Dupuis as staff artists for Spirou , Eddy Paape (before he switched over to World Press), André Franquin and Maurice "Morris" De Bevere , and it was Morris who created in 1946
3075-421: A humorous drawing. The first modern American-style comic book , Famous Funnies: A Carnival of Comics , was released in the U.S. in 1933 and was a reprinting of earlier newspaper humor comic strips , which had established many of the story-telling devices used in comics. The term comic book derives from American comic books once being a compilation of comic strips of a humorous tone; however, this practice
3280-427: A less superior race and cannot believe they bested his men."The Tuskegee Airmen, and images of black aviators appear in just three of the fifty three panels... the pilots of the 99th Squadron have no dialogue and interact with neither Hop Harrigan nor his Nazi captive." During this time, they also used black characters in comic books as a means to invalidate the militant black groups that were fighting for equality within
3485-412: A lifelong passion for the stories within comics, often focusing on specific superheroes and striving to gather a complete collection of a particular series. Comics are assigned sequential numbers, and the initial issue of a long-lasting comic book series tends to be both the scarcest and the most coveted among collectors. The introduction of a new character might occur within an existing title. For instance,
3690-944: A long tradition in comics, separate from that of English-language comics. Belgium is a mostly bilingual country, and comics originally in Dutch ( stripverhalen , literally "strip stories", or simply "strips") are culturally a part of the world of bandes dessinées , even if the translation from French to Dutch far outweighs the other direction. Among the most popular bandes dessinées are The Adventures of Tintin (by Hergé ), Spirou and Fantasio ( Franquin et al.), Gaston ( Franquin ), Asterix ( Goscinny & Uderzo ), Lucky Luke ( Morris & Goscinny ), The Smurfs ( Peyo ) and Spike and Suzy ( Willy Vandersteen ). Some highly-regarded realistically drawn and plotted bandes dessinées include Blueberry ( Charlier & Giraud , a.k.a. "Moebius"), Thorgal ( van Hamme & Rosiński ), XIII (van Hamme & Vance ), and
3895-422: A major element for the revolt at Pilote . That changed as well after 1968, when more and more artists decided to ply their trade as free-lancers , the L'Écho des Savanes founders having been early pioneers in that respect, and has as of 2017 become the predominant artist-publisher relationship. While contracts tend to be long-term for specific series at a particular publisher, they no longer prevent artists, like
4100-418: A more traditional style with more text and fewer drawings. This meant that in France, magazines like Pilote and Vaillant (relaunched as Pif gadget in 1969), and Spirou and Tintin for French-speaking Belgium, gained almost the entire market and became the obvious goal for new artists from their respective countries, who took up the styles prevalent in those magazines to break into the business. With
4305-519: A museum in the capital of France, Paris. These politicians did have a point however, as Angoulême is somewhat located off the beaten tourist track, resulting in that the museum only draws in about roughly half the visitor numbers its smaller Belgian counterpart does annually, and most of them visiting the museum during the festival season, whereas the Belgian museum draws in a steady stream of visitors all year round. A further revival and expansion came in
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#17327943925074510-589: A new record value of ¥612.5 billion due to a fast growth of digital manga sales as well as an increase in print sales. The comic book market in the United States and Canada was valued at $ 1.09 billion in 2016. As of 2017 , the largest comic book publisher in the United States is manga distributor Viz Media , followed by DC Comics and Marvel Comics featuring superhero comics franchises such as Superman , Batman , Wonder Woman , Spider-Man ,
4715-471: A number of publishers in place, including Dargaud ( Pilote ), Le Lombard ( Tintin ), and Dupuis ( Spirou ), three of the biggest influences for over 50 years, the market for domestic comics had reached (commercial) maturity. In the following decades, magazines like Spirou , Tintin , Vaillant (relaunched as Pif Gadget in 1969), Pilote , and Heroïc-Albums [ fr ] (the first to feature completed stories in each issue, as opposed to
4920-504: A printing and publishing company) had somewhat limited itself as the album publisher of Hergé's Tintin since 1934, slightly expanded upon after the war with a couple of Hergé inspired creations by closely affiliated artists such as Jacques Martin, François Craenhals and the Danish C. & V. Hansen couple. It was with the specific intent to expand beyond the somewhat limited Hergé boundaries with other, more diverse high quality work, that
5125-515: A publishing house in 1922, publishing non-comic books and magazines. Since the launch of Spirou however, Dupuis has increasingly focused on comic productions and is currently, as of 2017, a comics publisher exclusively and one of the two great Belgian Franco-Belgian comic publishing houses still in existence. As post-war exports to France (like in the Netherlands, the magazine was not available in France until 1945-46), Spirou – featuring
5330-638: A result of their deviating from the American 32-page comic book standard. In recent decades the English "graphic novel" expression has increasingly been adopted in Europe as well in the wake of the works of Will Eisner and Art Spiegelman , but with the specific intent to discriminate between comics intended for a younger and/or general readership, and publications which are more likely to feature mature content, literary subject matter or experimental styles. As
5535-638: A result, European BD scholars have retroactively identified the 1962 Barbarella comic by Jean-Claude Forest (for its theme) and the first 1967 Corto Maltese adventure Una ballata del mare salato ( A Ballad of the Salt Sea ) by Hugo Pratt (for both art, and story style) in particular, as the comics up for consideration as the first European "graphic novels". During the 19th century, there were many artists in Europe drawing cartoons, occasionally even utilizing sequential multi-panel narration, albeit mostly with clarifying captions and dialogue placed under
5740-411: A short time thereafter, transforming the magazine into a purely French one. However, while the magazine was now targeted at an older adolescent readership with stories featuring more mature themes, Goscinny stopped short of letting the magazine become a truly adult magazine. Yet, the magazine was unable to regain the dominant position it had held in the previous one-and-a-half decade, due to the flooding of
5945-403: A single so-called "hero" in sight anywhere in his series. To hammer home the point, both artists had their medieval knights , around whom both narratives were centered, die violent deaths nowhere near the fulfillment of their respective quests, thereby reinforcing the futility of such endeavors. With such series driving home the point that real history is made by mere humans and not "super-humans",
6150-497: A surge of creativity emerged in what became known as underground comix . Published and distributed independently of the established comics industry, most of such comics reflected the youth counterculture and drug culture of the time. Underground comix "reflected and commented on the social divisions and tensions of American society". Many had an uninhibited, often irreverent style; their frank depictions of nudity, sex, profanity, and politics had no parallel outside their precursors,
6355-419: A very prolific comic script writer, becoming his trademark henceforth, Charlier also became an editorial driving force and spokesperson for the agency, because of his background in law and his assertive personality. As such, he was responsible for introducing the two Frenchmen René Goscinny (who also starting out his comics career at the agency) and former Bravo artist Albert Uderzo to each other in 1951 at
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6560-422: A younger, post-war generation of French BD artists like Yves Chaland , Édika and Philippe Foerster [ fr ] debuted, whereas veterans like Gotlib and Franquin found a home for their later, darker and more cynical work. A major player in the field became French publisher and newcomer Glénat Éditions (founded in 1972, and who actually started out publishing graphic novels directly as albums before
6765-502: Is also available to read online in the Digital Comic Museum. In 1971, writer-artist Gil Kane and collaborators applied a paperback format to their "comics novel" Blackmark . Will Eisner popularized the term "graphic novel" when he used it on the cover of the paperback edition of his work A Contract with God, and Other Tenement Stories in 1978 and, subsequently, the usage of the term began to increase. In 2017,
6970-458: Is an ongoing debate regarding whether the relatively high cost of this grading service is justified and whether it serves the interests of collectors or mainly caters to speculators seeking rapid profits, akin to trading in stocks or fine art. Comic grading has played a role in establishing standards for valuation, which online price guides such as GoCollect and GPAnalysis utilize to provide real-time market value information. Collectors also seek out
7175-405: Is currently also a prolific publisher of children's books. Yet, it remained French publications and French artists who would continue to dominate the field from the late-1970s onward to this day, with such (sometimes short-lived) magazines as Bananas , Virus , Mormoil , the feminist Ah ! Nana [ fr ] , Casablanca and Fluide Glacial . It were in these such magazines that
7380-662: Is generally considered the beginning of the modern comic book as it is known today. The Silver Age of Comic Books is generally considered to date from the first successful revival of the then-dormant superhero form, with the debut of the Flash in Showcase #4 (Oct. 1956). The Silver Age lasted through the late 1960s or early 1970s, during which time Marvel Comics revolutionized the medium with such naturalistic superheroes as Stan Lee and Jack Kirby 's Fantastic Four and Lee and Steve Ditko 's Spider-Man . The demarcation between
7585-625: Is largely set in Britain and starring the magician John Constantine , paved the way for British writers such as Jamie Delano . The English musician Peter Gabriel issued in 2000 The Story of OVO which was released in a CD-booklet-shaped comic book as part of the CD edition with the title " OVO The Millennium Show ". The 2000 Millennium Dome Show based on it. At Christmas, publishers repackage and commission material for comic annuals , printed and bound as hardcover A4 -size books; "Rupert" supplies
7790-597: Is used in South Korea to refer to both comics and cartooning in general. Outside South Korea, the term usually refers to comics originally published in the country. Manhwa is greatly influenced by Japanese Manga comics though it differs from manga and manhua with its own distinct features. Webtoons have become popular in South Korea as a new way to read comics. Thanks in part to different censorship rules, color and unique visual effects, and optimization for easier reading on smartphones and computers. More manhwa have made
7995-480: Is why they are nowadays sub-categorized as Flemish comics , as their evolution started to take a different path from the late 1940s onward, due to cultural differences stemming from the increasing cultural self-awareness of the Flemish people. And while French-language publications are habitually translated into Dutch, Flemish publications are less commonly translated into French, for cultural reasons. Likewise, despite
8200-470: The Journal de Mickey , a weekly 8-page early "comic-book". The success was immediate, and soon other publishers started publishing periodicals with American series, which enjoyed considerable popularity in both France and Belgium. This continued during the remainder of the decade, with hundreds of magazines publishing mostly imported material. The most important ones in France were Robinson , Hurrah , and
8405-698: The Fleurus presse [ fr ] (on behalf of the Action catholique des enfants [ fr ] a.k.a. Cœurs Vaillants et Âmes Vaillantes de France) publications Cœurs Vaillants ("Valiant Hearts", 1929, for adolescent boys), Âmes vaillantes [ fr ] ("Valiant Souls", 1937, for adolescent girls) and Fripounet et Marisette [ fr ] (1945, for pre-adolescents), while Belgian examples included Wrill and Bravo . Coeurs Vaillants started to publish The Adventures of Tintin in syndication from 1930 onward, constituting one of
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8610-629: The German-speaking Community of Belgium lies within the territory of the Walloon Region , so that French is the most utilized (second) language in that area and has caused the handful of BD artists originating from there, such as Hermann and Didier Comès , to create their BDs in French. Born Dieter Hermann Comès, Comès actually "Frenchified" his given name to this end, whereas Hermann has dispensed with his (Germanic) family name "Huppen" for his BD credits, though he maintained
8815-568: The Western comic series Jerry Spring , that started its run in Spirou in March 1954. Jijé incidentally, had magazine tenure, but closely cooperated with the World Press artists before embarking on his own creation. Successful series Charlier himself created in this period were the educational short series Les Belles Histoires de l'oncle Paul (serving as proving ground in order to develop
9020-530: The archetype of the superhero . According to historian Michael A. Amundson , appealing comic-book characters helped ease young readers' fear of nuclear war and neutralize anxiety about the questions posed by atomic power. Historians generally divide the timeline of the American comic book into eras. The Golden Age of Comic Books began in 1938, with the debut of Superman in Action Comics #1, published by Detective Comics (predecessor of DC Comics), which
9225-404: The below-mentioned Frenchman Claude Moliterni [ fr ] , the article series was in itself an example of a Franco-Belgian BD project. The publication of Francis Lacassin 's book Pour un neuvième art : la bande dessinée in 1971 further established the term. In North America , Franco-Belgian BDs are often seen as equivalent to what are known as graphic novels — most likely
9430-519: The " Asterix " series as an almost instantaneous success. The audience radicalized at a faster pace than the editors, however, which had trouble keeping up. The French satire magazine Hara-Kiri was launched, also aimed at an adult audience. In the 1960s, most of the French Catholic magazines, such as the Fleurus publications, waned in popularity, as they were "re-christianized" and went to
9635-537: The (early) creations of Belgian greats like Morris , Franquin and Jijé – became a significant inspiration for future French bande dessinée greats such as Jean "Mœbius" Giraud and Jean-Claude Mézières , eventually setting them off on their comic careers, but who were schoolboys at the time they became acquainted with the magazine. When Germany invaded France and Belgium, it became close to impossible to import American comics . The occupying Nazis banned American animated movies and comics they deemed to be of
9840-554: The 1930s – and through really to the 1950s and 60s – these comics were almost the only entertainment available to children." Dennis the Menace was created in the 1950s, which saw sales for The Beano soar. He features in the cover of The Beano , with the BBC referring to him as the "definitive naughty boy of the comic world." In 1954, Tiger comics introduced Roy of the Rovers ,
10045-422: The 1940s there was a change in portrayal of black characters. "A cursory glance...might give the impression that situations had improved for African Americans in comics." In many comics being produced in this time there was a major push for tolerance between races. "These equality minded heroes began to spring to action just as African Americans were being asked to participate in the war effort." During this time,
10250-452: The 1968 revolt in the editorial offices, but he now found himself suddenly confronted with the magazine hemorrhaging its most promising BD talents and diminishing sales. The magazine was eventually turned into a monthly magazine, its artists who had not yet left given more creative freedoms and the Belgian influence terminated definitively with the departure of co-editor Charlier in 1972 and the last Belgian artists Hubinon and Jijé following suit
10455-477: The 1979 Angoulême comics festival with its most prestigious award), along with the magazines they created their work for. It has been observed that, unlike the Belgian publications, these mostly secular native magazines were largely left alone by the Commission de Surveillance, save for one notable exception; Pierre Mouchot, creator and editor of American inspired comic magazines in the immediate post-war era,
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#173279439250710660-805: The 1990s with several small independent publishers emerging, such as L'Association (established in 1990), Le Dernier Cri , Amok , Fréon (the latter two later merging into Frémok ), and Ego comme X . Known as "la nouvelle bande dessinée" (similar to the North American alternative comics ), these books are often more artistic, graphically and narratively, than the usual products of the big companies. Dupuy and Berberian , Lewis Trondheim , Joann Sfar , Marjane Satrapi ( Persepolis ), Christophe Blain , Stéphane Blanquet , Edmond Baudoin , David B , and Emmanuel Larcenet all started their careers with these publishers, and would later gain fame with comics such as Donjon (Trondheim & Sfar), Isaac
10865-560: The 1990s, changed the format and distribution of their comics to more closely resemble non-comics publishing. The " minicomics " form, an extremely informal version of self-publishing , arose in the 1980s and became increasingly popular among artists in the 1990s, despite reaching an even more limited audience than the small press. Small publishers regularly releasing titles include Avatar Press , Hyperwerks , Raytoons, and Terminal Press , buoyed by such advances in printing technology as digital print-on-demand . In 1964, Richard Kyle coined
11070-528: The 20 December 2006 - 19 February 2007 Hergé exposition in the even more prestigious Centre Georges Pompidou modern art museum (likewise located in Paris and incidentally one of President Mitterrand's below-mentioned "Great Works") on the occasion of the centenary of that artist's birth. Giraud's funeral services in March 2012 was attended by a representative of the French nation in the person of Minister of Culture Frédéric Mitterrand , who also spoke on behalf of
11275-399: The 20th century, with the first comic standard-sized comic being Funnies on Parade . Funnies on Parades was the first book that established the size, duration, and format of the modern comic book. Following this was, Dell Publishing 's 36-page Famous Funnies: A Carnival of Comics as the first true newsstand American comic book; Goulart, for example, calls it "the cornerstone for one of
11480-459: The 21st century and which Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini adapted into a 2003 film . Some independent comics continued in the tradition of underground comics. While their content generally remained less explicit, others resembled the output of mainstream publishers in format and genre but were published by smaller artist-owned companies or by single artists. A few (notably RAW ) represented experimental attempts to bring comics closer to
11685-526: The 76,000 copy circulation of Tintin , and it was but one of the many American comics published in France in the immediate post-war era. It was the very reason for the unlikely French Catholic-Communist alliance in this regard, and a very effective one at that as American comics all but disappeared from the French comic scene for the time being, the Le Journal de Mickey excepted, which only reappeared three years later in former occupied western Europe. It
11890-512: The American ones in particular (even though they were not mentioned by name in the law), and in this the French law actually foreshadowed the 1954 publication of the comic condemning treatise Seduction of the Innocent by Fredric Wertham in the United States itself. But there was an equally important, but unofficial, reason for the law as well; American comics were doing so well in post-liberation France, that native comic magazines, particularly
12095-471: The Catholic Church, in the form of its then powerful and influential Union des œuvres ouvrières catholiques de France [ fr ] , was creating and distributing "healthy and correct" magazines for children. In the early 1900s, the first popular French comics appeared. Two of the most prominent comics include Bécassine and Les Pieds Nickelés . In the 1920s, after the end of
12300-503: The Catholic ones, became threatened in their very existence, and the law therefore became concurrently a veiled market protection mechanism . An added sense of urgency was, besides the huge popularity the American magazines enjoyed among France's youth, that the native publications had at that time a distinct disadvantage over their American counterparts as the country still experienced a serious post-war paper shortage (reflected as such in
12505-688: The Comics Magazine Association of America. The CMAA instilled the Comics Code Authority in 1954 and drafted the self-censorship Comics Code that year, which required all comic books to go through a process of approval. It was not until the 1970s that comic books could be published without passing through the inspection of the CMAA. The Code was made formally defunct in November 2011. In the late 1960s and early 1970s,
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#173279439250712710-496: The Franco-Belgian BD with the Japanese manga format (see below ). But it is however Jean "Mœbius" Giraud, coined "the most influential bandes dessinées artist after Hergé" by several academic BD scholars , who is considered the premier French standard bearer of "Le Neuvième Art", as he has received two different civilian knighthoods with a posthumous rank elevation of his Arts and Letters knighthood to boot, an unicum for
12915-623: The Franco-Belgian historical BD had come a long way since their first romanticized and/or idealized appearances in the 1940s–1970s, particularly in Tintin and Pilote as portrayed by such artists as the Fred Funcken [ fr ] ( Le Chevalier blanc , Harald le Viking , Lieutenant Burton ), William Vance ( Howard Flynn , Rodric , Ramiro ), François Craenhals ( Chevalier Ardent ) or Victor Hubinon ( Barbe Rouge ), to name but
13120-471: The French counterparts of the slightly earlier American underground comix , also conceived and popularized as a result of the counterculture of the 1960s , of which the French May 1968 events were only a part. But unlike their American counterparts, the French magazines were mainstream from the start when they eventually burst onto the scene in the early 1970s, as publications of this kind could not escape
13325-502: The French language's cultural status. Belgium is officially a trilingual country as there is a German-speaking Community of Belgium . Belgian BD home market first print releases, be it in Dutch or in French, are rarely translated into that language with German-speaking Belgians having to wait for internationally released editions for reading in their native tongue, typically those from licensed publishers stemming from neighboring Germany . Though Dutch and German both are Germanic languages,
13530-405: The French to exercise self-censorship. Having already embarked on their divergent evolutionary path, Flemish comics escaped this kind of scrutiny, as they were at the time rarely, if at all, translated into French. In 1959, the influential French weekly Pilote launched, already from the start an attempt to be a more mature alternative to Spirou and Pilote , aimed at a teenage audience, with
13735-531: The French-language BDs extends beyond Francophone Europe, as France in particular has strong historical and cultural ties with several Francophone overseas territories. Of these territories it is Quebec , Canada , where Franco-Belgian BDs are doing best, due – aside from the fact that it has the largest BD reading Francophone population outside Europe – to that province's close historical and cultural ties with France from colonization , in
13940-484: The Frenchman Rob-Vel (and thus another early cross-fertilization example) and who served as the mascot and namesake for the new magazine, and Tif et Tondu created by Belgian artist Fernand Dineur . Both series would survive the war and achieve considerable popularity after the war, albeit under the aegis of other artists (see below). Published in a bi-lingual country, Spirou simultaneously appeared in
14145-573: The Germanic spelling for his first name. Due to its relative modesty, both in size and in scope, and despite the close historical and cultural ties, no German-Belgian artists are as of 2018 known to have created BDs specifically for the German comics world, when discounting commercial translations of their original Francophone creations. A similar situation exists in France, which has several regional languages , of which Breton and Occitan are two of
14350-658: The Incredible Hulk and the X-Men . The best-selling comic book categories in the US as of 2019 are juvenile children's fiction at 41%, manga at 28% and superhero comics at 10% of the market. Another major comic book market is France , where Franco-Belgian comics and Japanese manga each represent 40% of the market, followed by American comics at 10% market share. Comic books heavily rely on their organization and visual presentation. Authors dedicate significant attention to aspects like page layout, size, orientation, and
14555-509: The Innocent (1954). This critique led to the involvement of the American Senate Subcommittee on Juvenile Delinquency , which launched an investigation into comic books. Wertham argued that comic books were accountable for a surge in juvenile delinquency and posed a potential impact on a child's sexuality and moral values. In response to attention from the government and from the media, the US comic book industry set up
14760-661: The Magician , and the Phantom . Several reprint companies became involved in repackaging American material for the British market, notably the importer and distributor Thorpe & Porter . Marvel Comics established a UK office in 1972. DC Comics and Dark Horse Comics also opened offices in the 1990s. The repackaging of European material has occurred less frequently, although The Adventures of Tintin and Asterix serials have been successfully translated and repackaged in softcover books. The number of European comics available in
14965-611: The Pirate (Blain), Professeur Bell (Sfar). Léo Quievreux , a key artist in the 1990s scene, founded and ran his own publication house, Gotoproduction, which he ran along with Jean Kristau and Anne-Fred Maurer from 1991 to 2000 or 2001, and which published over 60 books. Before the Second World War, comics were almost exclusively published in tabloid newspapers . Since 1945, the " comic album " (or " comics album ", in French " album BD " for short) format gained popularity,
15170-518: The Rovers , Bunty , Buster , Valiant , Twinkle and 2000 AD . Franco-Belgian comics Bandes dessinées (singular bande dessinée ; literally 'drawn strips'), abbreviated BDs and also referred to as Franco-Belgian comics ( BD franco-belge ), are comics that are usually originally in French and created for readership in France and Belgium . These countries have
15375-597: The Silver Age and the following era, the Bronze Age of Comic Books , is less well-defined, with the Bronze Age running from the very early 1970s through the mid-1980s. The Modern Age of Comic Books runs from the mid-1980s to the present day. A significant event in the timeline of American comic books occurred when psychiatrist Fredric Wertham voiced his criticisms of the medium through his book Seduction of
15580-426: The U.S. "Spider-Man 'made it clear that militant black power was not the remedy for racial injustice'." "The Falcon openly criticized black behavior stating' maybe it's important fo [ sic ] us to cool things down-so we can protect the rights we been fightin' for'." This portrayal and character development of black characters can be partially blamed on the fact that, during this time, "there had rarely been
15785-507: The UK has increased in the last two decades. The British company Cinebook , founded in 2005, has released English translated versions of many European series. In the 1980s, a resurgence of British writers and artists gained prominence in mainstream comic books, which was dubbed the " British Invasion " in comic book history. These writers and artists brought with them their own mature themes and philosophy such as anarchy, controversy and politics common in British media. These elements would pave
15990-495: The United States. They were the ones painted as intolerant and disrespectful of the dominant concerns of white America". Manga (漫画) are comic books or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, though the art form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art . The term manga is used in Japan to refer to both comics and cartooning in general. Outside Japan,
16195-507: The United States. With the move, all of Aardvark-Vanaheim's titles (with the exception of Cerebus ) left that publisher to continue with Renegade. These included Flaming Carrot Comics , normalman , Neil the Horse , and Ms. Tree . Although Renegade started in high-profile fashion, its titles suffered from low print runs. In early 1988, Renegade refit its publishing strategy, but suspended all publications later that year. In July 1989
16400-528: The Wind , seven volumes, set in 18th-century seafaring and slave trading Europe, becoming one of the first BD series to deal realistically in considerable detail with the dark slavery chapter in human history) and Les Compagnons du crépuscule (1983–1989, Companions of the Dusk , three volumes, set in 13th-century Europe and published by Casterman incidentally). Both series made short work of any romantic notion about
16605-553: The Youth") and passed in response to the post-liberation influx of American comics, was invoked as late as 1969 to prohibit the comic magazine Fantask [ fr ] —which featured translated versions of Marvel Comics stories — after seven issues. The formal and official justification for the law was the legislative desire to protect the youth of France from the perfidious and corruptive influence perceived to permeate foreign comics, especially in regard to violence and sexuality,
16810-619: The advent of Pilote magazine and more specifically the May 1968 social upheaval . Legally, the Commission had no punitive powers, only advisory ones, but in practice Charlier begged to differ. The all powerful Commission, shielded by the Justice Ministry (which was the punitive authority, but who took any and all Commission recommendations at face value, no questions asked), convened on a weekly basis, sifting through publications and weeding out those they felt subject to prohibition under
17015-617: The arts ) as "Le Neuvième Art" ("the 9th art"), aside from becoming accepted as a mature part of French culture by Francophone society at large (in France and French-speaking Belgium it is as common to encounter grownup people reading BDs in public places, such as cafe terraces or public transportation, as it is people reading books, newspapers or magazines). Since then more than one BD artist have received " Ordre des Arts et des Lettres " civilian knighthoods, and these were not restricted to French nationals alone, as Japanese artist Jiro Taniguchi has also received one in 2011 for his efforts to merge
17220-478: The availability in France of Belgian magazines like Spirou (which actually came close to prohibition however, as the Korean War stories were serialized in the magazine, but which was narrowly averted at the eleventh hour by Charlier) and Tintin in favor of the native Catholic magazines, after the conservatives had reasserted their political predominance in the country during the 1950s. Rigorously enforced by
17425-408: The below-mentioned François Bourgeon and Hermann Huppen, to create other BDs for other publishers, sometimes even suspending a series for the one in favor of a series for the other. The advent of the new adult magazines had a profound effect on France's hitherto most influential BD magazine Pilote . Editor-in-chief Goscinny had at first refused to implement the changes demanded by its artists during
17630-413: The comic became successful in Tintin magazine in the period 1958–1962 (and thus, alongside Martin's The Adventures of Alix , one of the first purely French comics to appear in the Belgian magazine), effectively becoming the "spiritual father" of their later Asterix creation. But it were not just the artists contracted by World Press who infused Spirou with its new elan, Dupuis itself had contracted
17835-687: The comic book market size for North America was just over $ 1 billion with digital sales being flat, book stores having a 1 percent decline, and comic book stores having a 10 percent decline over 2016. The global comic book market saw a substantial 12% growth in 2020, reaching a total worth of US$ 8.49 billion. This positive trajectory continued in 2021, with the market's annual valuation surging to US$ 9.21 billion. The rising popularity of comic books can be attributed to heightened global interest, driven significantly by collaborative efforts among diverse brands. These collaborations are geared towards producing more engaging and appealing comic content, contributing to
18040-463: The comic book market. The rarest modern comic books include the original press run of The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen #5, which DC executive Paul Levitz recalled and pulped due to the appearance of a vintage Victorian era advertisement for "Marvel Douche ", which the publisher considered offensive; only 100 copies exist, most of which have been CGC graded. (See Recalled comics for more pulped, recalled, and erroneous comics.) In 2000,
18245-535: The comic magazine Vaillant (not to be confused with the two near-similarly named Fleurus publications) was launched in 1945 upon war's end. The secular magazine provided a platform for predominantly native comic talent born between the 1920s and the 1940s, not able or willing to work for the Catholic magazines, to showcase their work. French names of note who started out their career in the magazine were among others Nikita Mandryka , Paul Gillon , Jean-Claude Forest and Marcel Gotlib , and were less beholden to what
18450-545: The comics all together. There was a comic created about the 99th Squadron, also known as the Tuskegee Airmen , an all-black air force unit. Instead of making the comic about their story, the comic was about Hop Harrigan. A white pilot who captures a Nazi, shows him videos of the 99th Squadron defeating his men and then reveals to the Nazi that his men were defeated by African Americans which infuriated him as he sees them as
18655-433: The coon stereotype but had some subtle differences. They are both a derogatory way of portraying black characters. "The name itself, an abbreviation of raccoon, is dehumanizing. As with Sambo, the coon was portrayed as a lazy, easily frightened, chronically idle, inarticulate, buffoon." This portrayal "was of course another attempt to solidify the intellectual inferiority of the black race through popular culture." However, in
18860-458: The creations of Hermann . In Europe, French is spoken natively not only in France and the city state of Monaco , but also by significant portions of the population of Belgium , Luxembourg and Switzerland . The shared language creates an artistic and commercial market where national identity is often blurred, and one of the main rationales for the conception of the (English) "Franco-Belgian comics" expression itself. The potential appeal of
19065-637: The debut appearances of iconic characters such as Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman , the Flash , Captain Marvel , Spider-Man, the Incredible Hulk , Iron Man , Captain America and the Mighty Thor are regarded as priceless treasures within the comic book world. Many early iterations of black characters in comics "became variations on the 'single stereotypical image of Sambo'." Sambo was closely related to
19270-484: The earliest known French-Belgian comic world cross-fertilizations, only reinforced when Abbot Courtois, editor-in-chief of Coeurs Vaillants , asked Hergé to create a series about real children with a real family as opposed to Tintin ' s ambiguous age and family (and thus more in line with the Catholic norms and values on which the magazine was founded), which resulted in the 1936 comic The Adventures of Jo, Zette and Jocko . Incidentally, as Hergé created his comics in
19475-418: The earliest. Following suit was Métal Hurlant (vol. 1: December 1974 – July 1987 from also new French publisher Les Humanoïdes Associés , founded by likewise Pilote defectors, Druillet , Jean-Pierre Dionnet and Mœbius ) with the far-reaching science fiction and fantasy of Mœbius, Druillet, and Bilal . Its translated counterpart made an impact in America as Heavy Metal . This trend continued during
19680-553: The episodic approach of other magazines) would dominate the market. At this time, the French creations had already gained fame throughout Europe, and many countries had started importing the comics in addition to—or as substitute for—their own productions. The aftermath of the May 1968 social upheaval brought many mature – as in aimed at an adult readership – BD magazines, something that had not been seen previously and virtually all of them of purely French origin, which
19885-417: The era under the shadow of the all-present Catholic publications to fill the void left by the banned American comics such as Les Grandes Séries Internationales , Cricri Journal , Mireille , Ouest-Magazine , Nano et Nanette , Héros du Far West , Frimousse , Cocorico and Allez-France , all of which filled with work from French artists, now forgotten save Marijac himself (who was honored for his efforts at
20090-420: The eradication of Asian invaders." There was "a constant relay race in which one Asian culture merely handed off the baton of hatred to another with no perceptible changes in the manner in which the characters would be portrayed." "The only specific depiction of a Hispanic superhero did not end well. In 1975, Marvel gave us Hector Ayala (a.k.a. The White Tiger)." "Although he fought for several years alongside
20295-413: The extent of promulgating a code, nor did it last long. The UK has also established a healthy market in the reprinting and repackaging of material, notably material originating in the US. The lack of reliable supplies of American comic books led to a variety of black-and-white reprints, including Marvel's monster comics of the 1950s, Fawcett's Captain Marvel , and other characters such as Sheena , Mandrake
20500-422: The faith) such as Jijé (whose early realistic works were deeply steeped in the faith), or had, like Hergé did, strong ties with the as "healthy" considered scouting movement – a significant presence in Belgian society at the time, which also explains the contemporary popularity of Charlier's La patrouille des Castor series in Belgium, which was centered around a scouting chapter – and were thus, to use
20705-460: The few exceptions. It was (À Suivre) that popularized the concept of the graphic novel – in French abbreviated as "Roman BD", "roman" being the translation for "novel" – as a longer, more adult, more literate and artistic BD in Europe. Unlike its Dupuis counterpart, and while their BD catalog has expanded considerably since then, Casterman has never evolved into a purely BD publisher by completely abandoning its book publishing roots, as it
20910-501: The first appearance of Spider-Man took place in Amazing Fantasy #15. New characters were frequently introduced in this manner, waiting for an established audience before launching their own titles. Consequently, comics featuring the debut appearance of a significant character can sometimes be even more challenging to locate than the inaugural issue of that character's standalone series. Some rare comic books include copies of
21115-508: The first appearance of Superman , both sold privately through online dealer ComicConnect.com in 2010, and Detective Comics #27, the first appearance of Batman , via public auction. Updating the above price obtained for Action Comics #1, the first appearance of Superman , the highest sale on record for this book is $ 3.2 million, for a 9.0 copy. Misprints, promotional comic-dealer incentive printings, and issues with exceptionally low distribution tend to possess scarcity value in
21320-459: The first world war, the French artist Alain Saint-Ogan started out as a professional cartoonist, creating the successful series Zig et Puce in 1925. Saint-Ogan was one of the first French-speaking artists to fully utilize techniques popularized and formularized in the United States, such as Speech balloons , even though the text comic format would remain the predominant native format for
21525-437: The formal status (when discounting the manga, which has achieved a near-similar status in native Japan), with its resultant strong backing from cultural authorities. A visible manifestation of the latter has become the prestigious " Centre belge de la Bande dessinée " (Dutch: "Belgisch Centrum voor het Beeldverhaal", English: "Belgian Comic Strip Center") established in 1989 in the Belgian capital Brussels , and which, as one of
21730-403: The former French resistance, although most were released soon afterwards without charges being pressed. For example, this happened to one of the famous magazines, Coeurs Vaillants . It was founded by Abbot Courtois (under the alias Jacques Coeur) in 1929. As he had the backing of the church, he managed to publish the magazine throughout the war, and was charged with being a collaborator. After he
21935-479: The government oversight committee Commission de surveillance et de contrôle des publications destinées à l'enfance et à l'adolescence [ fr ] (Committee in Charge of Surveillance and Control over Publications Aimed at Children and Adolescents), particularly in the 1950s and the first half of the 1960s, the law turned out to be a stifling influence on the post-war development of the French comic world until
22140-437: The highest court of appeal (though only receiving symbolic punishment) under article 2 of the 1949 law for real. However, the conviction did serve as an effective deterrent for other native artists – and thus firmly establishing the Commission as a force to be reckoned with, even though they had a tough time becoming so as Mouchot kept winning his lower court cases – who continued to create their comics while erring on
22345-551: The historical town of Angoulême , already the locus of France's biggest annual BD festival since 1974. A major project in the making, involving the renovation of several ancient buildings and the designing of a new one spread over the grounds of the town's former brewery by renowned architect Roland Castro , the museum, Cité internationale de la bande dessinée et de l'image [ fr ] , only opened its doors in June 2009 (though two smaller sub-museums, eventually incorporated in
22550-590: The hugely popular football based strip recounting the life of Roy Race and the team he played for, Melchester Rovers . The stock media phrase "real 'Roy of the Rovers' stuff" is often used by football writers, commentators and fans when describing displays of great skill, or surprising results that go against the odds, in reference to the dramatic storylines that were the strip's trademark. Other comic books such as Eagle , Valiant , Warrior , Viz and 2000 AD also flourished. Some comics, such as Judge Dredd and other 2000 AD titles, have been published in
22755-432: The in that year opened Paris, France, office of World Press, in the process creating one of Franco-Belgium's most successful bande dessinée partnerships. One of the first comics both men created together in the employ of the agency was the in colonial French-Canada era set Western series Oumpah-pah , which was already conceived as loose gags in 1951, but failed to find a magazine publisher. Reworked into complete stories,
22960-433: The increasingly popular speech balloon format, it initially led to a conflict with Cœurs Vaillants , which utilized the text comic format its editors considered more appropriate from an educational point-of-view. Hergé won the argument, and speech balloon comics were henceforth featured alongside text comics in the magazine (and that of its spin-offs) until the mid-1960s, when speech balloon comics were all but abandoned by
23165-426: The industry's continued growth. The 1970s saw the advent of specialty comic book stores . Initially, comic books were marketed by publishers to children because comic books were perceived as children's entertainment. However, with increasing recognition of comics as an art form and the growing pop culture presence of comic book conventions , they are now embraced by many adults. Comic book collectors often exhibit
23370-471: The influence of the Francophone "Franco-Belgian" comics but have their own distinct style. Although Ally Sloper's Half Holiday (1884) was aimed at an adult market, publishers quickly targeted a younger demographic, which has led to most publications being for children and has created an association in the public's mind of comics as somewhat juvenile. The Guardian refers to Ally Sloper as "one of
23575-453: The larger final one, were already open to the public as early as 1991) in the process becoming the largest BD museum in Europe. The museum is administered by the CNBDI, established in 1985 for upcoming museum, but which has since then expanded its work on behalf of the bande dessinée beyond the confines of the museum alone, as already indicated above. On 11 December 2012, one of the buildings on
23780-527: The largest BD museum in Europe, draws in 200,000 visitors annually. The museum is housed in a state-owned 1905 building designed by architect Victor Horta in the Art Nouveau style, the same style French female artist Annie Goetzinger has employed for her BDs. Belgium possesses two other, smaller, museums dedicated to individual BD artists, the Marc Sleen Museum (est. 2009), located across
23985-461: The later American graphic novel format), the European albums are rather large (roughly A4 standard). Comic albums started to receive their own individual ISBNs from the mid-1970s onward all over Europe solidifying their status as books. Conceived as a format as currently understood in Belgium with the first Tintin albums in the early 1930s—incidentally the second reason for considering Tintin
24190-612: The latter in the 1960s) other than the original creators, none of them succeeded to find a readership outside France itself and are consequently remembered in their native country only. One of the earliest proper Belgian comics was Hergé 's The Adventures of Tintin , with the story Tintin in the Land of the Soviets , which was published in Le Petit Vingtième in 1929. It was quite different from future versions of Tintin,
24395-449: The launch of Circus ) with their two main magazine publications Circus (comics) [ fr ] (1975–1989) and Vécu [ fr ] (1985–1994, with emphasis on mature stories of an accurate historical nature), featuring predominantly the work of French BD talents, but who did so with a twist; Glénat targeted their magazines at a readership positioned between the adolescent readership of Pilote , Tintin and Spirou and
24600-412: The law, every decision they took being final, under no obligation to ever provide any formal justification whatsoever and without any possibility for appeal, which amounted to de facto state censorship according to Charlier. Yet, it were also the communists who provided the comic scene in France with a single bright-spot; Having its origins in the communist wartime underground resistance publications,
24805-437: The likes of much more popular heroes such as Spider-Man and Daredevil, he only lasted six years before sales of comics featuring him got so bad that Marvel had him retire. The most famous Hispanic character is Bane, a villain from Batman." The Native American representation in comic books "can be summed up in the noble savage stereotype" " a recurring theme...urged American indians to abandon their traditional hostility towards
25010-469: The magazine at a later point in time. Nonetheless, with Lombard Francophone Europe had received its first specialized comics publisher actually conceived as such. Le Lombard went on to become one of the three great Belgian publishing houses to produce comics in French (and in Dutch as well for that matter due to the bi-lingual nature of the country), alongside Dupuis and Casterman, and like them as of 2017 still in existence. Many other magazines did not survive
25215-403: The magazine directly after the liberation, when he started the secular comics magazine Coq hardi [ fr ] (1944–1963), France's first recognizable modern bande dessinée magazine. Marijac himself became a prolific figure of note in the French comic scene of the 1950s as co-editor and contributor for a series of native comic magazines other than his own Coq Hardi , and conceived in
25420-416: The magazine on his most popular creation Gaston in 1957. With the addition of artist Willy "Will" Maltaite , who took over the series Tif et Tondu from original creator Fernand Dineur, the group that became known as " La bande des quatre " (Gang of 4), consisting of Jijé, Franquin, Morris and Will, was complete and constituted the foundation of what was coined the "Marcinelle school"-style. However, such
25625-423: The magazine to break out on their own, after they had staged a revolt in the editorial offices of Dargaud, the publisher of Pilote , during the 1968 upheaval, demanding and ultimately receiving more creative freedom from then editor-in-chief René Goscinny (see also: " Jean "Mœbius" Giraud on his part in the uprising at Pilote "). Essentially, these new magazines along with other contemporaries of their kind, were
25830-449: The magazine — in the process introducing something new in the Belgian comic world: the comic album . The 1930 Tintin au pays des Soviets title is generally considered the first of its kind – even though there are three similar Zig et Puce titles from French publisher Hachette , known to predate the Tintin title by one to two years, but which failed to find an audience outside France however. The magazine continued to do so for
26035-590: The magazine(s), the general trend notwithstanding. In 1938, the Belgian Spirou magazine was launched. Conceived in response to the immense popularity of Journal de Mickey and the success of Tintin in Le Petit Vingtième , the black and white/color hybrid magazine featured predominantly comics from an American origin at the time of its launch until the war years, but there were also native comics included. These concerned Spirou , created by
26240-405: The main market. The situation for France's German-speaking minority is therefore identical to its more sizable counterpart in northern neighbor Belgium in regard to BD-related matters. The term bandes dessinées is derived from the original description of the art form as "drawn strips". It was first introduced in the 1930s, but only became popular in the 1960s, by which time the "BD" abbreviation
26445-512: The market with alternatives. Lagging behind the French for the first time in regard to the more mature BDs, the Belgians made good on their arrear when publisher Casterman launched the magazine ( À Suivre ) ( Wordt Vervolgd for its Dutch-language counterpart, both of which translating into English as "To Be Continued") in October 1977. Until then the old venerable publisher (est. in 1780 as
26650-521: The mature readership of such magazines as (À Suivre) , Métal Hurlant and others. French BD artists of note who were nurtured into greatness in the Glénat publications were among others Mayko and Patrick Cothias , but most conspicuously François Bourgeon and André Juillard . Exemplary of the different, older target audience Glénat was aiming at, became the two finite, historical series Bourgeon created; Les Passagers du vent (1979–2009, The Passengers of
26855-423: The modern Franco-Belgian BD format was conceived after all, was somewhat slower in advancing the format as a bonafide art form, but has strongly followed suit in considering the Franco-Belgian BD as a "key aspect of Belgium's cultural heritage". While the expression "the 9th art" has been popularized in other countries as well, Belgium and France remain as of 2017, the only countries where the medium has been accorded
27060-459: The modern Franco-Belgian comic as currently understood, and as amply demonstrated in the vast majority of treatises and reference works written on the subject since the 1960s, and the first to find a readership outside its originating country. As such the Tintin series went on to become one of the greatest post-war successes of the Franco-Belgian comic world, having seen translations in dozens of languages, including English, as well as becoming one of
27265-443: The modern expression, already " politically correct " in the first place, that is from the Belgian perspective at least. However, the incident Charlier had experienced with the Commission shook up the editors of Spirou and Tintin , and as France was a too important market to lose, they too henceforth chose to err on the side of caution by screening the creations of their artists before magazine publication, essentially being forced by
27470-525: The more substantial ones. But while these languages are culturally recognized as regional languages, they are not official national languages, contrary to Belgium in regard to German, with similar consequences as in Belgium for BDs and their artists. Native BDs are rarely, if at all, released in these languages by the main BD publishers, whereas artists stemming from these regions, invariably create their BDs in French – like their German-Belgian counterparts forced to do so in order to gain commercial access to
27675-501: The most lucrative branches of magazine publishing". In 1905 G.W. Dillingham Company published 24 select strips by the cartoonist Gustave Verbeek in an anthology book called 'The Incredible Upside-Downs of Little Lady Lovekins and Old Man Muffaroo'. The introduction of Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster 's Superman in 1938 turned comic books into a major industry and ushered in the Golden Age of Comic Books . The Golden Age originated
27880-434: The museum grounds, the futuristic building finished at the end of the 1980s housing the museum and CNBDI administrations, cinema, conference rooms, library and the other facilities for comics studies , was rechristened "Le Vaisseau Mœbius" (English: "The Vessel Mœbius"), in honor of the in that year deceased BD artist. When Lang had presented his plans, he was faced with opposition from some politicians who had rather seen such
28085-556: The name Foolbert Sturgeon, has been credited as the first underground comix; while R. Crumb and the crew of cartoonists who worked on Zap Comix popularized the form. The rise of comic book specialty stores in the late 1970s created and paralleled a dedicated market for "independent" or " alternative comics " in the US. The first such comics included the anthology series Star Reach , published by comic book writer Mike Friedrich from 1974 to 1979, and Harvey Pekar 's American Splendor , which continued sporadic publication into
28290-410: The nation at the services, and who was incidentally also the nephew of former President of France François Mitterrand , who had personally awarded Giraud with his first civilian knighthood in 1985, thereby becoming one of the first BD artists to be bestowed the honor. Giraud's death was a considerable media event in France, but ample attention was also given to his demise in press releases all around
28495-460: The native comics (aided by the fact that Belgium had not seen the massive influx of American comics in the same measure France had, as Belgium had been predominantly liberated by British and Canadian forces, whose soldiers did not bring along their comics in the same volume the Americans did), whereas the majority of Belgian comics artists were either Catholics themselves (or at least sympathetic to
28700-579: The next two to three decades in France, propagated as such by France's educators. In 1920, the Abbot of Averbode in Belgium started publishing Zonneland , a magazine consisting largely of text with few illustrations, which started printing comics more often in the following years. Even though Les Pieds Nickelés , Bécassine and Zig et Puce managed to survive the war for a little while longer, modernized in all three cases and all of them continued by artists (the most notable one being Belgian Greg for
28905-408: The original artwork pages from comic books, which are perhaps the most rarefied items in the realm of comic book collecting. These pages hold unparalleled scarcity due to the fact that there exists only one unique page of artwork for every page that was printed and published. The creation of these original artwork pages involves a collaborative effort: a writer crafts the story, a pencil artist designs
29110-530: The panels rather than the speech balloons commonly used today. These were humorous short works rarely longer than a single page. In the Francophonie , artists such as Gustave Doré , Nadar , Christophe and Caran d'Ache began to be involved with the medium. In the early decades of the 20th century, comics were not stand-alone publications, but were published in newspapers and weekly or monthly magazines as episodes or gags. Aside from these magazines,
29315-435: The patronage of Minister of Culture Jack Lang , who had formulated his long-term Quinze mesures nouvelles en faveur de la Bande dessinée ( 15 new measures in favor of the BD ) ministry policy plan in 1982, which was updated and reaffirmed by a latter-day successor of Lang in 1997. It was consequently in the 1980s–1990s era that the medium achieved its formal status in France's Classification des arts ( Classifications of
29520-467: The people who worked there were Bob de Moor , Jacques Martin and Roger Leloup , all of whom exhibit the easily recognizable Belgian ligne claire (clean line style), often opposed to the " Marcinelle school "-style (named for the seat of Spirou publisher Dupuis), mostly proposed by authors from Spirou magazine such as Franquin, Peyo and Morris. In 1946, Hergé also founded the weekly Tintin magazine, which quickly gained enormous popularity, like
29725-467: The poor paper quality, relatively low page count and lower circulation numbers of the native magazines of that era), something the higher quality American ones did not suffer from, they receiving preferential treatment under the Marshall Plan . The first targeted American comic for example, Tarzan , enjoyed a weekly circulation of 300,000 copies, twice the one Coeurs Vaillants had and dwarfing
29930-499: The popular and widely understood negative tropes used for decades in American mass culture...". However, they were not accomplishing this agenda within all of their comics. In the comic series Captain Marvel Adventures , there was a character named Steamboat who embodied a collection of highly negative stereotypes prevalent during that period. The Writers' War Board did not request any alterations to this character despite
30135-428: The pornographic and even more obscure " Tijuana bibles ". Underground comics were almost never sold at newsstands, but rather in such youth-oriented outlets as head shops and record stores, as well as by mail order . The underground comics encouraged creators to publish their work independently so that they would have full ownership rights to their characters. Frank Stack 's The Adventures of Jesus , published under
30340-736: The positioning of panels. These characteristics are crucial for effectively conveying the content and messages within the comic book. Key components of comic books encompass panels, speech bubbles (also known as balloons), text lines, and characters. Speech balloons generally take the form of convex containers that hold character dialogue and are connected to the character via a tail element. The tail comprises an origin, path, tip, and directional point. The creation of comic books involves several essential steps: writing, drawing, and coloring. Various technological tools and methods are employed to craft comic books, incorporating concepts such as directions, axes, data, and metrics. Following these formatting guidelines,
30545-617: The problematic portrayal. The removal of Steamboat from the series only came about due to the persistent advocacy of a black youth group based in New York City." Originally their request was refused by individuals working on the comic stating, " Captain Marvel Adventures included many kinds of caricatures 'for the sake of humor'." The black youth group responded with "this is not the Negro race, but your one-and-a-half millions readers will think it so." Afterwards, Steamboat disappeared from
30750-516: The process heavily influencing its own native Quebec comics scene. This is in stark contrast to the English-speaking part of the country, which is culturally American comics oriented. While the originally in Dutch written Flemish Belgian comic books, or rather comic/BD albums (see: below ) are influenced by Francophone BDs, especially in the early years, they evolved into a distinctly different style, both in art and in spirit, which
30955-488: The process unfolds with writing, drawing, and coloring. In the United States, the term "comic book", is generally used for comics periodicals and trade paperbacks while " graphic novel " is the term used for standalone books. Comics as a print medium have existed in the United States since the printing of The Adventures of Mr. Obadiah Oldbuck in 1842 in hardcover, making it the first known American prototype comic book. Proto-comics periodicals began appearing early in
31160-521: The publisher launched (À Suivre) , which printed BD creations by Ted Benoît , Jacques Tardi , Hugo Pratt , François Schuiten , Paul Teng and many others from French, Italian and/or Dutch origins, but relatively few from Belgian artist as there were not that many active in the adult field at that time, with Schuiten, Didier Comès – as already stated, one of the very few BD artists of German-Belgian descent, alongside Hermann Huppen – and Jean-Claude Servais [ fr ] being three of
31365-410: The publisher was shut down for good. Comic book A comic book , comic-magazine or simply ' comic' , is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are often accompanied by descriptive prose and written narrative, usually dialogue contained in word balloons emblematic of the comics art form. Comic Cuts
31570-410: The relatively few European comics to have seen a major, successful, Hollywood movie adaptation as late as 2011, nearly thirty years after the death of its creator. A further step towards modern comic books happened in 1934 when Hungarian Paul Winkler , who had previously been distributing comics to the monthly magazines via his Opera Mundi bureau, made a deal with King Features Syndicate to create
31775-507: The remainder of his life, creating close to three dozen series, several of them becoming classics of the Franco-Belgian bande dessinée . Spirou magazine became the agency's first and foremost client, and the first post-war decade saw the infusion into the magazine with many new series from young, predominantly Belgian talents like Eddy Paape , Victor Hubinon , Mitacq , Albert Weinberg [ fr ] , instituting an era in which Jijé's career truly took off with his best-known creation,
31980-427: The revolt in the offices of Pilote , artists worked in a studio system, namely a tenured exclusive working relationship at the magazine or publisher, with artists having little to no control over both commercial and creative aspects of their creations – except for a few artists who also held editorial offices at publishing houses such as Goscinny, Charlier and Greg, the former of which incidentally, having also been
32185-452: The same for Asian people. However, "Japanese and Filipino characters were visually indistinguishable. Both groups have grotesque buckteeth, tattered clothing, and bright yellow skin." "Publishers depicted America's Asian allies through derogatory images and language honed over the preceding decades." Asian characters were previously portrayed as, "ghastly yellow demons". During WWII, "[every] major superhero worth his spandex devoted himself to
32390-399: The same treatment. "By the time the United States entered WWII, negative perceptions of Chinese were an established part of mass culture...." However, concerned that the Japanese could use America's anti-Chinese material as propaganda they began "to present a more positive image of America's Chinese allies..." Just as they tried to show better representation for Black people in comics they did
32595-412: The scrutiny of the Commission de Surveillance prior to 1968, as editor François Cavanna of the satirical magazine Hara-Kiri (launched in 1960) had experienced several times to his detriment, having had to reinvent his magazine on several occasions. Aside from the creative aspects, the 1960s brought in effect another kind of freedom for French BD artists as well - commercial and financial freedom. Until
32800-456: The second one of the great Franco-Belgian comic classics, Lucky Luke , which made it first appearance in the Almanach appendix issue of 7 December 1946. Franquin was passed the comic Spirou et Fantasio by his mentor Jijé, who himself had taken over the series from original creator Rob-Vel in the war years, and it was Franquin who provided the series with its popularity, before he embarked for
33005-551: The sequential panels on the page, an ink artist goes over the pencil with pen and ink, a letterer provides the dialogue and narration through hand-lettering, and finally, a colorist adds color as the final touch before the pages are sent to the printer. When the printer returns the original artwork pages, they are typically returned to the artists themselves. These artists sometimes opt to sell these pages at comic book conventions, in galleries, and at art shows centered around comic book art. The original pages from DC and Marvel, featuring
33210-424: The series in question, Bourgeon depicted an historical reality devoid of any so-called "heroes", only featuring common people who were as often victimized as they were heroic, living in a world which was brutally hard while living a live which was therefore all too often very short for the common man, being habitually subjugated to the will of the powerful without any recourse whatsoever to objective justice, especially
33415-466: The seventies, until the original Métal Hurlant folded in the early eighties, living on only in the American edition, which soon had an independent development from its French-language parent. Nonetheless, it were these publications and their artists which are generally credited with the revolutionizing and emancipation of the Franco-Belgian BD world. As indicated, most of these early adult magazines were established by former Pilote BD artists, who had left
33620-554: The shared language, Flemish BDs do not do that well in the Netherlands and vice versa, save for some notable exceptions, such as the Willy Vandersteen creation Suske en Wiske ( Spike and Suzy ) which is popular across the border. Concurrently, the socio-cultural idiosyncrasies contained within many Flemish BDs also means that these comics have seen far less translations into other languages than their French-language counterparts have due to their more universal appeal, and
33825-433: The side of caution for the next decade. It is in this light that some of the other early French contemporary greats, such as Martin, Graton, Uderzo and his writing partner Goscinny opted to start out their careers for Belgian comic publications, neither wanting to submit themselves to the scrutiny of the Commission de Surveillance directly, nor wanting to work for either the Catholic or communist magazines for personal reasons.
34030-435: The situation in Belgium was nowhere near as restrictive as it was in France. Catholics, who were the dominant factor in politics in the country as well at the time, did not have to contend with the negligible influence of the communists, contrary to their French counterparts. There was actually no need perceived for regulating measures in Belgium as American productions, contrary to France, were already supplanted in popularity by
34235-487: The small Belgian animation studio Compagnie Belge d'Animation – CBA), Willy Vandersteen , and the Frenchmen Jacques Martin and Albert Uderzo , who worked for Bravo . A lot of the publishers and artists who had managed to continue working during the occupation were accused of being collaborators and were imprisoned after the liberation by the reinstated national authorities on the insistence of
34440-639: The start of the industry career of the French-Belgian Jean-Michel Charlier , in the process becoming one of its most towering figures. That year and a lawyer by trade, Charlier joined the newly formed comic syndication agency World Press [ fr ] of Georges Troisfontaines , Belgium's answer to King Features Syndicate. Originally hired as an editorial draughtsman, Troisfontaines recognized Charlier's talent for writing and persuaded him to switch from drawing to scripting comics, something Charlier did with great success for
34645-399: The starting point of the modern Franco-Belgian comic, besides the art style and format—albums were usually published as a collected book after a story or a convenient number of short stories had finished their run in serialized magazine (pre-)publication, usually with a one to two year lag. Since the inception of the format, it has been common for these albums to contain either 46 (for decades
34850-452: The status of fine art . During the 1970s the " small press " culture grew and diversified. By the 1980s, several independent publishers – such as Pacific , Eclipse , First , Comico , and Fantagraphics – had started releasing a wide range of styles and formats—from color-superhero, detective , and science-fiction comic books to black-and-white magazine-format stories of Latin American magical realism . A number of small publishers in
35055-594: The street of the Comic Center and dedicated to the work of the namesake Flemish BD creator, and, unsurprisingly, the especially built Musée Hergé (est. 2009) located in Louvain-la-Neuve , its interiors designed by Dutch BD artist Joost Swarte , who had worked in the Hergé tradition. In France, Minister Jack Lang – who hit upon the idea after he had visited the permanent bande dessinée exhibition in
35260-507: The style and flow of those comics, they improved their knowledge of how to make efficient comics. Soon even those homemade versions of American comics had to stop, and the authors had to create their own heroes and stories, giving the new talents a chance to be published. Many of the most famous artists of the Franco-Belgian comics started in this period, including the Belgians André Franquin , Peyo (who started together at
35465-413: The style being very naïve and simple, even childish, compared to the later stories. The early Tintin stories often featured racist and political stereotypes , which caused controversies after the war, and which Hergé later regretted. After Tintin 's early massive success, the magazine decided to release the stories in hardcover book format as well, directly after they had run their respective courses in
35670-433: The subsequent three stories until 1934 when the magazine, as such not particularly well-suited as book publisher, turned album publication over to Belgian specialized book publisher Casterman , who has been the Tintin album publisher ever since. The criticisms regarding the early stories notwithstanding and even though the format still had a long way to go, Tintin is widely considered the starting point and archetype of
35875-594: The switch from traditional print manhwa to online webtoons thanks to better pay and more freedom than traditional print manhwa. The webtoon format has also expanded to other countries outside of Korea like China, Japan, Southeast Asia, and Western countries. Major webtoon distributors include Lezhin , Naver , and Kakao . France and Belgium have a long tradition in comics and comic books, often called BDs (an abbreviation of bandes dessinées , meaning literally "drawn strips") in French, and strips in Dutch or Flemish . Belgian comic books originally written in Dutch show
36080-553: The talents and skills of young aspiring artists like Belgians Mitacq, Arthur Piroton [ fr ] , Hermann, Dino Attanasio and the Frenchman Jean Graton among others, several of whom switching over to industry competitor Lombard at a later point in their careers, most notably Hermann), Buck Danny (with Hubinon), La Patrouille des Castors (with Mitacq after his apprenticeship on L'oncle Paul ) and Jean Valhardi (with Paape and Jijé). Aside from being
36285-406: The term " graphic novel ". Precursors of the form existed by the 1920s, which saw a revival of the medieval woodcut tradition by Belgian Frans Masereel , American Lynd Ward and others, including Stan Lee. In 1947, Fawcett Publications published "Comics Novel No. 1", as the first in an intended series of these "comics novels". The story in the first issue was "Anarcho, Dictator of Death",
36490-435: The time of the demise of the animation studio not considered by Dupuis because of his young age. For Spirou Peyo continued with the series Johan et Pirlouit , which he had already started in 1947 for the Belgian newspapers La Dernière Heure and Le Soir . It was this series that in 1957 spawned another of the great Franco-Belgian comic classics, Les Schtroumpfs ( The Smurfs ). With both magazines firmly in place, it
36695-466: The town's art museum in 1982, incidentally inspiring his long-term fifteen points policy plan for the medium that year, which included the establishment of a national BD museum – announced in 1984 the advent of a major national bande dessinée museum as part of President Mitterrand's grand scheme of providing the nation with major public works of a cultural nature (in France coined as Grandes Operations d'Architecture et d'Urbanisme ), to be housed in
36900-477: The two Korean War volumes of the popular aviation comic series Buck Danny , created by Belgians Charlier (who as spokesperson for World Press/ Spirou was actually summoned to appear in person for a board of inquiry at the French Ministry of Information to account for himself) and Hubinon, which were prohibited in 1954 as article 2 expressly forbade any mentioning of an actual, current armed conflict in
37105-480: The two historic eras still lingering in anyone's subconscious because of imagery imbued upon them by 1940s–1960s Hollywood movie productions or Franco-Belgian bandes dessinées as published in Coeurs Vaillants , Tintin or Spirou in the same era for that matter. Renowned for his meticulous research into the subject matter of the BD series he was creating, not seldom taking as long as it took him to create
37310-496: The unreleased Motion Picture Funnies Weekly #1 from 1939. Eight copies, plus one without a cover, emerged in the estate of the deceased publisher in 1974. The "Pay Copy" of this book sold for $ 43,125 in a 2005 Heritage auction. The most valuable American comics have combined rarity and quality with the first appearances of popular and enduring characters. Four comic books have sold for over US$ 1 million as of December 2010 , including two examples of Action Comics #1,
37515-633: The wake of the events of 1968, their continued legal existence in the fringes does constitute the proverbial " Sword of Damocles " for the French BD world, despite artists, publishers, politicians and academics having questioned the relevance of both manifestations in a modern world in a public debate during a 1999 national conference organized on the subject by the Centre national de la bande dessinée et de l'image [ fr ] (CNBDI), France's largest and most important BD organization. Belgium, where
37720-504: The war: Le Petit Vingtième had disappeared, Le Journal de Mickey only returned in 1952. In the second half of the 1940s many new magazines appeared, although in most cases they only survived for a few weeks or months. The situation stabilized around 1950 with Spirou and the new Tintin magazine (with the team focused around Hergé) as the most influential and successful magazines for the next decade. Yet, 1944 (both France and Belgium were liberated before war's end) had already seen
37925-584: The way for mature and "darker and edgier" comic books and jump start the Modern Age of Comics . Writers included Alan Moore , famous for his V for Vendetta , From Hell , Watchmen , Marvelman , and The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen ; Neil Gaiman with The Sandman mythos and Books of Magic ; Warren Ellis , creator of Transmetropolitan and Planetary ; and others such as Mark Millar , creator of Wanted and Kick-Ass . The comic book series John Constantine, Hellblazer , which
38130-399: The weekly Spirou appearing in a Dutch version under the name Kuifje for the Flemish and Dutch markets. Notable Belgian comic artists who at a later point in time achieved fame while working for Tintin magazine included among others William Vance , the aforementioned Greg, Tibet and Hermann Huppen . Tintin magazine publisher Les Éditions du Lombard (as of 1989 simply: Le Lombard )
38335-460: The women. Bourgeon however, made his harsh message to his readership palatable by his relatively soft art style and his optimistic view regarding human resilience. No such respite was afforded the reader however with Hermann's 11th-century epos Les Tours de Bois-Maury (1984–1994, The Towers of Bois-Maury ), whose original ten-volume series was serialized in Vécu in the same era Bourgeon's Passagers
38540-417: The word is typically used to refer to comics originally published in the country. Dōjinshi ( 同人誌 , fan magazine ) , fan-made Japanese comics, operate in a far larger market in Japan than the American "underground comix" market; the largest dōjinshi fair, Comiket , attracts 500,000 visitors twice a year. Manhwa (만화) are comic books or graphic novels originating from South Korea . The term manhwa
38745-455: The world in even as faraway places like Indonesia ( Jakarta Globe , 11 March 2012), a country not particularly known for a thriving comic culture. Yet, and despite the nation having embraced the bande dessinée , it should also be noted that both the law of 1949 and its oversight committee are as of 2017 still in existence, their legitimacy remaining as intact as it was in 1949. And while their impact and influence have significantly diminished in
38950-609: The world's first iconic cartoon characters", and "as famous in Victorian Britain as Dennis the Menace would be a century later." British comics in the early 20th century typically evolved from illustrated penny dreadfuls of the Victorian era (featuring Sweeney Todd , Dick Turpin and Varney the Vampire ). First published in the 1830s, penny dreadfuls were "Britain's first taste of mass-produced popular culture for
39155-457: The young." The two most popular British comic books, The Beano and The Dandy , were first published by DC Thomson in the 1930s. By 1950 the weekly circulation of both reached two million. Explaining the enormous popularity of comics in the UK during this period, Anita O'Brien, director curator at London's Cartoon Museum, states: "When comics like the Beano and Dandy were invented back in
39360-496: The youth market was partly written by the French Communist Party , a major political force in France directly after the war (because of their highly successful and effective resistance in the war years ), to actually exclude most of the American publications. The law, called " Loi du 16 juillet 1949 sur les publications destinées à la jeunesse [ fr ] " ("Law of July 16th 1949 on Publications Aimed at
39565-419: Was a British comic published from 1890 to 1953. It was preceded by Ally Sloper's Half Holiday (1884), which is notable for its use of sequential cartoons to unfold narrative. These British comics existed alongside the popular lurid " penny dreadfuls " (such as Spring-heeled Jack ), boys' " story papers " and the humorous Punch magazine, which was the first to use the term "cartoon" in its modern sense of
39770-650: Was also in use for its book, or album, publications (see below ). Bandes dessinées were described as the "ninth art" in Francophone scholarship on the medium ( le neuvième art ). The "ninth art" designation stems from a 1964 article by Claude Beylie [ fr ] in the magazine Lettres et Médecins , and was subsequently popularized in an article series about the history of comics, which appeared in weekly installments in Spirou magazine from 1964 to 1967. Written by Belgian Morris with editorial input from
39975-555: Was also indicative of France rapidly becoming the preeminent force in the (continental) European BD world, eventually usurping the position the Belgians held until then. L'Écho des Savanes (from new publisher Éditions du Fromage [ fr ] , founded by Pilote defectors Nikita Mandryka, Claire Bretécher and Marcel Gotlib), with Gotlib's pornography watching deities and Bretécher's Les Frustrés ("The Frustrated Ones"), and Le Canard Sauvage ("The Wild Duck/ Mag"), an art-zine featuring music reviews and BDs, were among
40180-494: Was especially founded by Raymond Leblanc for the magazine's launch in conjuncture with Hergé as the latter could not find a publisher due to the fact that he was at that time still under investigation for alleged collaboration. Remarkably, album publications of the creations from the early group of artists centered around Hergé was, then and now, outsourced to longstanding Tintin book publisher Casterman, while Lombard itself only started album publications for those artist who joined
40385-421: Was forced out, his successor Pihan (as Jean Vaillant) took up the publishing, moving the magazine in a more humorous direction. Likewise, Hergé was another artist who also found himself on the receiving end of similar accusations of the former Belgian resistance. He managed to clear his name and went on to create Studio Hergé in 1950, where he acted as a sort of mentor for the assistants that it attracted. Among
40590-514: Was in Circus ; Not only did Hermann's stark and uncompromising art style served to reinforce the grim atmosphere of his medieval settings, any and all redeeming optimistic commentary on human nature was also lacking in his narrative, quite the contrary actually, making his Middle Ages truly the Dark Ages where the vast majority of humanity was living short, violent lives in abject squalor, with not
40795-484: Was not just American productions which were prohibited under the law, several Belgian French-language comic creations of the era also fell victim to the scrutiny of the oversight committee charged with upholding the law for varying reasons, as stipulated in its rather sweeping article 2 (presently article 3), which allowed for almost at will prohibition of comics for reasons that suited the policies of any French government in power at any given time. A famous example concerned
41000-443: Was on recommendation of the Commission persecuted for his likewise American (and Italian) inspired comic series Big Bill le Casseur and P’tit Gars , having to appear in court no less than eight times in the period 1950 - 1954, actually winning most of his cases in the lower courts. While both he and his creations are likewise forgotten, Mouchot became the only French comics artist to be legally persecuted, and ultimately convicted by
41205-407: Was replaced by featuring stories of all genres, usually not humorous in tone. The largest comic book market is Japan. By 1995, the manga market in Japan was valued at ¥ 586.4 billion ( $ 6–7 billion ), with annual sales of 1.9 billion manga books ( tankōbon volumes and manga magazines ) in Japan, equivalent to 15 issues per person. In 2020 the manga market in Japan reached
41410-413: Was the high-status, high-profile «Mœbius transe forme» exposition the prestigious Parisian Fondation Cartier pour l'Art Contemporain art museum organized from 2 October 2010 – 13 March 2011. As of 2017, it stands out as one of the largest exhibitions ever dedicated to the work of an individual BD artist by an official, state-sanctioned art museum – art as in art with a capital "A" – alongside
41615-404: Was the success of Spirou and Tintin that initiated what many fans and scholars consider the golden age of the (Franco-)Belgian comic. As a result, the American comics didn't come back in as great a volume as before in both Belgium and France after the war, but in the case of France not for want of popularity, quite the contrary actually. In France, a 1949 law about publications intended for
41820-458: Was the success of these artists, that the work of pre-war artists Rob-Vel and Dineur, was eclipsed by that of the younger generation, causing them to slide into oblivion. In 1952, another future great working in the Marcinelle school tradition was added to Spirou , artist Pierre "Peyo" Culliford upon introduction by Franquin. Peyo was actually a former colleague of Franquin at CBA, but was at
42025-455: Was then still the Belgian bande dessinée tradition, other native contemporaries were – in essence ranking among the first native French artists to provide the "Franco" element in what later would become the "Franco-Belgian comics" expression, with comic artist Marijac having been a trailblazer. Marijac actually started out for Coeurs Vaillants in the 1930s, but distanced himself from
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