Belgian comics are a distinct subgroup in the comics history, and played a major role in the development of European comics.^[1] While the comics in the two major language groups and regions of Belgium (Flanders with the Dutch language and Wallonia with French) have each clearly distinct characteristics, they are constantly influencing one another, and meeting each other in Brussels and in the bilingual publication tradition the major editors have.^[2] As one of the few arts where Belgium has had an international and enduring impact in the twentieth century, comics are known to be "an integral part of Belgian culture".^[3] European comics is a generalized terms for comics produced in Continental Europe. ... For other uses, see Flanders (disambiguation). ... Wallonia (French: Wallonie, German: Wallonien, Walloon: Walonreye, Dutch: Wallonië) or the Walloon Region (French: Région Wallonne, Dutch: Waals Gewest) is the predominantly French-speaking region that constitutes one of the three federal regions of Belgium, with its capital at Namur. ... For other places with the same name, see Brussels (disambiguation). ...

History

Before 1940

Belgium was relatively late to start producing comics, with the first serious production starting in the second half of the 1920s. Earlier, illustrated youth pages were still very similar to the Images d'Epinal and the Flemish equivalent, the Mannekensbladen.^[4] The few comics that were known came from France and were mainly available in the French speaking parts of Belgium, Wallonia and Brussels. The most popular were La Semaine de Suzette, L'Épatant and Le bon point illustré.^[5] French authors like Marijac contributed to Belgian magazines as well.^[6] Épinal is a commune of northeastern France, préfecture (capital) of the Vosges département. ... Wallonia (French: Wallonie, German: Wallonien, Walloon: Walonreye, Dutch: Wallonië) or the Walloon Region (French: Région Wallonne, Dutch: Waals Gewest) is the predominantly French-speaking region that constitutes one of the three federal regions of Belgium, with its capital at Namur. ... For other places with the same name, see Brussels (disambiguation). ...

In the 1920s, after World War I, many new youth magazines started, some as independent magazines like the bilingual Zonneland / Petits Belges made by catholic publishers Altiora Averbode or scout magazines like Le Boy-Scout Belge, where Hergé (Georges Remi) debuted; others as newspaper supplements. The most famous of these became Le Petit Vingtième, the weekly youth supplement to the catholic newspaper Le Vingtième Siècle. Started in 1928, it employed the young artist Georges Remi as editor-in-chief and main contributor. Remi, better known as Hergé, launched in January 1929 a new series for the supplement: The Adventures of Tintin. Initially heavily influenced by the work of French comics authors Alain Saint-Ogan and Pinchon^[7] and the American George McManus,^[6] Hergé soon developed his own style. Tintin soon became very popular, and sales of the newspaper quadrupled on Thursday.^[8] It would become the prototype for many Belgian comics to come, in style (the so-called Ligne claire), appearance rhythm (weekly), use of balloons (where other countries like the Netherlands and Denmark would stick to comics with the text beneath the drawings for decades to come), and the method of using a first appearance in a magazine or newspaper and subsequent albums.^[9] “The Great War ” redirects here. ... Altiora Averbode is a Belgian publisher of books, comics, and magazines. ... Georges Prosper Remi (May 22, 1907 – March 3, 1983), better known by the pen name Hergé, was a Belgian comics writer and artist. ... Le Petit Vingtième (The Little Twentieth) was the weekly youth supplement to the Belgian newspaper Le Vingtième Siècle (The Twentieth Century) from 1928 to 1940. ... Georges Prosper Remi (May 22, 1907 – March 3, 1983), better known by the pen name Hergé, was a Belgian comics writer and artist. ... The Adventures of Tintin (French: ) is a series of Belgian comic books created by Belgian artist Hergé, the pen name of Georges Remi (1907–1983). ... Alain Saint-Ogan (August 7, 1895 - June 22, 1974) was a French comics author and artist. ... George McManus (January 23, 1884 - October 22, 1954) is an American cartoonist best known as the creator of the Maggie and Jiggs characters in his syndicated comic strip, Bringing up Father. ... Look up Tintin, tintin in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ...

While Tintin was very popular, it would take almost a decade before the next successful comics magazine would appear. In the meantime, more and more youth magazines would publish some pages with more modern, Tintin-like comics.

Georges Van Raemdonck, the first major Flemish comics artist debuted even before Hergé did, but worked almost exclusively in the Netherlands until after World War II. Still, he influenced some of the earliest pre-war Flemish artists like Jan Waterschoot and Buth, and as a newspaper artist with a daily comic strip, he paved the way for the typical publishing method of the Flemish comics when compared to the prevalent Walloon magazine publications.^[10] Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tōjō Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000...

More situated in the classic arts than in the mainstream comics publishing was Frans Masereel, a Flemish wood engraver whose 1926 "Passionate Journey", a wordless story in 165 woodcuts, is sometimes considered as the first graphic novel.^[11] Frans Masereel (1889-1972) was a Belgian painter, one of the greatest woodcut artist of our time. ... Trade paperback of Will Eisners A Contract with God (1978), often mistakenly cited as the first graphic novel. ...

In the second half of the 1930s, most Walloon youth magazines made room for one or more comics by local artists: Jijé in Le Croisé in 1936 and in Petits Belges in 1939, François Gianolla in Jeunesse Ouvrière, Sirius in Le Patriote Illustré, ... a whole new generation, inspired by Hergé, debuts in the years before World War II.^[12] Jijé (January 13, 1914 - June 19, 1980) was a Belgian comics artist. ... Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tōjō Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000...

Dupuis, a publisher from close to Charleroi, had already success with its two family magazines Le Moustique and Bonnes Soirées. Charles Dupuis, son of the CEO, decides to start a youth magazine, centred around a new hero, Spirou.^[13] It debuted on April 21, 1938.^[14] Initially, the experienced French artist Robert Velter, a former assistant of Martin Branner,^[14] was asked to create the main series, and the rest of the magazine was filled with popular American comics like Superman. Unusual was the decision, 8 months later, to publish the same magazine in Dutch as well as Robbedoes. This would have a profound influence on the development of the Flemish comics and assured that Belgian comics would have a large part of their development in common. In 1939, Jijé joined the magazine. He worked for it until his death in 1980, and was the driving force for its survival during and directly after the war, and its expansion and success in the next decades, as the inspirator for the most popular new artists of the 1940s and 1950s, known as the Marcinelle school.^[15] Apart from the early influence by Hergé, his main examples were American artists like Milton Caniff and Noel Sickles.^[14] Dupuis is a Belgian editor of comic books and magazines. ... Charleroi (Walloon: TchÃ¥lerwè) is the first city and municipality of Wallonia in population. ... Charles François Dupuis (October 26, 1742 – September 29, 1809) was a French savant, a professor (from 1766) of rhetoric at the Collège de Lisieux, Paris, who studied for the law in his spare time and was received as avocat in 1770. ... Chief Executive Officer (CEO) is the job of having the ultimate executive responsibility or authority within an organization or corporation. ... Spirou is: a Belgian childrens comic magazine; one of its serial comic strips, which is also published in hardcover format the eponymous character of the comic strip. ... is the 111th day of the year (112th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1938 (MCMXXXVIII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar). ... François Robert Velter (February 9, 1909 – April 27, 1991), better known by his pen-name Rob-Vel, was a French cartoonist, noted for creating the character Spirou in 1938 for the launch of the Belgian magazine of the same name. ... Martin Branner was a cartoonist probably best known for his comic strip Winnie Winkle, which he produced from 1920 to 1962. ... Superman is a fictional character and comic book superhero , originally created by American writer Jerry Siegel and Canadian artist Joe Shuster and published by DC Comics. ... The term Marcinelle school (in French, École de Marcinelle) refers to a group of Belgian cartoonists formed by Joseph Gillain (Jijé) following World War II. Marcinelle school cartoonists were all associated with the weekly magazine, Spirou, whose offices in the 1940s were indeed located in the town of Marcinelle, near... Milton Arthur Paul Caniff (February 28, 1907-May 3, 1988) was an American cartoonist most famous for Terry and the Pirates. ... Noel Douglas Sickles (January 24, 1910 - October 3, 1982) was an American commercial illustrator and cartoonist most famous for the comic strip Scorchy Smith. ...

Some Flemish magazines started producing more modern local comics as well, with works by established artists like Frans Van Immerseel in Zonneland and the expressionist painter Frits Van den Berghe in Bravo, or new names like Jan Waterschoot in Zonneland or Eugeen Hermans (aka Pink) in Ons Volkske, a weekly newspaper supplement clearly inspired by Le Petit Vingtième. The most important comics writer for Bravo and Zonneland was the prolific John Flanders, who would continue to provide stories for the Flemish magazines until the 1960s.^[16] The Scream by Edvard Munch (1893) which inspired 20th century Expressionists Portrait of Eduard Kosmack by Egon Schiele Rehe im Walde by Franz Marc Elbe Bridge I by Rolf Nesch On White II by Wassily Kandinsky, 1923. ... Frits Van den Berghe (1883-1939) was a Belgian expressionist painter. ... Bravo is the largest teen magazine within the German-language sphere. ... Jean Ray, pseudomym of Jean Raymond Marie de Kremer, is a Belgian French language writer of the fantastique. ...

World War II

During the war, many magazines had to stop publication or scale back their activities, due to a paper shortage and the limitations imposed by the German occupiers.^[14] Le Petit Vingtième disappeared with the invasion of the Germans, and Hergé started working for the collaborating newspaper Le Soir, where he had to change from a weekly double page of Tintin to a daily strip. Paper shortage also forced him to reduce the number of pages per album from the previous 120 to 62. To compensate for this, the editor Casterman decided to start publishing the albums in colour instead of black and white.^[17] This became the post-war standard for all albums by the Walloon and Brussels' publishers: Flemish comics were only produced in colours from the 1960s on. Le Petit Vingtième (The Little Twentieth) was the weekly youth supplement to the Belgian newspaper Le Vingtième Siècle (The Twentieth Century) from 1928 to 1940. ... Georges Prosper Remi (May 22, 1907 – March 3, 1983), better known by the pen name Hergé, was a Belgian comics writer and artist. ... Le Soir (meaning The Evening) is a Belgian newspaper in French. ... Casterman is an a publishing company in Tournai, Belgium, mostly famous as the publisher of graphic novels, among which Tintin. ...

Other magazines tried to continue publication, but had to replace the forbidden American comics with local material. This was an opportunity for new talent to emerge. In Spirou, Jijé was joined by Sirius and the young illustrator Maurice Tillieux.^[18] Maurice Tillieux (born 7 August 1921 — died 2 February 1978) was a Belgian writer and comic artist. ...

The Flemish magazine Bravo, started in 1936 with almost exclusively American comics, had to change course in 1940, and created a French language version as well, attracting a number of young Belgian artists like Edgar P. Jacobs, Jacques Laudy, Raymond Reding and the Flemish Willy Vandersteen, together with the already well-known illustrator Jean Dratz.^[19] Blake and Mortimer, The Yellow M Edgard Félix Pierre Jacobs, (b. ... Willy Vandersteen (February 15, 1913 at Antwerp - August 28, 1990) was a Flemish creator of comic books. ...

Another way out for young artists were a number of small animation studios, created when the popular American animated movies of the 1930s might no longer be shown. In Antwerp, Ray Goossens and Bob de Moor started with AFIM, and in Brussels, André Franquin, Eddy Paape, Peyo and Morris worked for CBA.^[20] For other uses, see Antwerp (disambiguation). ... Bob de Moor is the pen name of Robert Frans Marie De Moor (1925-1992), a Belgian comic artist born in Antwerp who died in 1992 in Brussels. ... André Franquin inspects his equipment André Franquin (January 3, 1924 – January 5, 1997) was an influential Belgian cartoonist, whose best known comic strip creations are Gaston and the Marsupilami. ... Eddy Paape (born on March 7, 1920 in Grivegnée, Belgium) is a cartoonist best known for illustrating the series Luc Orient. ... Pierre Culliford (June 25, 1928 – December 24, 1992), known as Peyo, was a Belgian comics artist, perhaps best known for the creation of The Smurfs comic strip. ... Morris may refer to: // In North America: Morris, Alabama Morris, Connecticut Morris, Illinois Morris, Manitoba Morris, Minnesota Morris County, New Jersey Morris Plains, New Jersey Morris (town), New York Morris (village), New York Mount Morris, New York Morris, Oklahoma Morris Township, Pennsylvania Morris, Wisconsin See also: Morriston Morristown Morrisville For...

1944-1958

The end of World War II was a second caesure, with again many magazines disappearing or changing hands, while a huge amount of new magazines appeared now that censure and paper shortage were coming to an end. Spirou, which had disappeared at the end of 1943, reappeared in 1944 with the same authors. Bravo on the other hand got new owners, and the main contributors searched new publishers. Le Soir as well got new owners, and there was no more room for Hergé. Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tōjō Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000...

In 1946, Raymond Leblanc wanted to start a youth magazine to expand his small publishing house Lombard, and decided to use the already very popular Tintin as the main hero for Tintin magazine. It started in 1946 with a French and Dutch language version (the latter called Kuifje), as had become the custom for Belgian comics magazines. A version for France follows in 1948. The magazine immediately employed mainly Belgian artists, most coming from Bravo: Jacobs (who already had collaborated with Hergé), Laudy, and the young debutant Paul Cuvelier. It was an instant success, and soon other names joined, including Jacques Martin. To get the same success with the Flemish version (where Tintin was not so well known yet), two of the best new Flemish artists were contacted: Bob de Moor and Willy Vandersteen.^[21] De Moor stayed with Hergé and Tintin until the end of his life, but Vandersteen left the magazine again after 11 years.^[22] Le Lombard or Lombard Editions is a Belgian comic book publisher established in 1946 when the Tintin series was launched. ... Le journal de Tintin (in its French-speaking version), Kuifje (Dutch-speaking version), was a weekly realist Belgian comics magazine of the second half of the 20th century. ... Paul Cuvelier (November 22, 1923 - July 5, 1978) was a Belgian comics artist best known for the comic series Corentin. ... This biography does not adequately cite its references or sources. ...

Many other magazines only survived for a few years, and their best artists then joined either Spirou or Tintin. Magazines like Bimbo, Story or Wrill mainly had regional success and lacked a truly popular main series.^[23] Tillieux worked for Bimbo, Martin for Wrill, André-Paul Duchâteau started his writing career in the new version of Bravo. Petits Belges / Zonneland continued to be published, but only devoted a few pages to comics. The main artist in these days is Renaat Demoen, later joined by François Craenhals. September 1964 issue Story was a magazine founded in 1931 by journalist-editor Whit Burnett and his first wife, Martha Foley, in Vienna. ... François Craenhals (November 15, 1926 - August 2, 2004) was a Belgian comics artist best known for the comic series Chevalier Ardent and Les 4 As. ...

The main competitor for Tintin and Spirou in this period was Heroic-Albums, which had a different publishing method: instead of a number of continuing stories which often appeared continuously with a rhythm of one page a week, Heroic published one complete long story every week. The main artists were Tillieux, Fred Funcken, Tibet, François Craenhals, Greg, ...^[24] Due to being censored in France, the magazine finally disappeared in 1956. Tibet, the pseudonym of Gilbert Gascard, born October 29, 1931, is a French comics artist and writer in the Franco-Belgian comics genre. ... François Craenhals (November 15, 1926 - August 2, 2004) was a Belgian comics artist best known for the comic series Chevalier Ardent and Les 4 As. ... Greg Van Meter is a fictional mutant character in the Marvel Comics Universe. ...

In Flanders, there was a similar boom of new magazines, but the most important artists and comics in the long run worked mainly for the newspapers: Marc Sleen filled many pages in the magazine 't Kapoentje, but his main series Nero appeared in the newspaper Het Volk from 1947 on. Willy Vandersteen worked for a whole series of magazines, both in Dutch and French, but his main series Spike and Suzy appeared in De Standaard from 1945 on. Marc Sleen is a Belgian comic book artist, best known for the Nero series. ... Nero is a Flemish comic strip drawn by Marc Sleen and the name of its main character. ... Het Volk (English: The People) is a Belgian newspaper that mainly focusses on news with a human undertone. // You will find what you are looking for in Het Volk, the only newspaper where people really make the news. ... Willy Vandersteen (February 15, 1913 at Antwerp - August 28, 1990) was a Flemish creator of comic books. ... The main characters of the Spike and Suzy series on a wall painting in Brussels. ... De Standaard (The Standard) is a Flemish daily newspaper with a circulation of 80,696 [1]. The first edition appeared on 4 December 1918. ...

These two artists dominated the Flemish comics scene until 1980,^[25] but even though Nero gets translated in French and German, the only success outside Flanders was Spike and Suzy, which became the most popular comic of the Netherlands and got a sizable audience in Wallonia as well, mainly because of the appearance of seven specially created stories in Tintin, which are commonly considered to be the best of the series.^[22] The main characters of the Spike and Suzy series on a wall painting in Brussels. ...

Meanwhile, many artists who would later become famous debuted on a small scale in the Walloon newspapers: Peyo, Greg, Albert Uderzo, René Goscinny, ...^[26] Pierre Culliford (June 25, 1928 – December 24, 1992), known as Peyo, was a Belgian comics artist, perhaps best known for the creation of The Smurfs comic strip. ... Greg Van Meter is a fictional mutant character in the Marvel Comics Universe. ... Albert Uderzo Albert Uderzo (born April 25, 1927 in France) is a French comic book artist, and scriptwriter. ... René Goscinny (August 14, 1926 – November 5, 1977) was a French author, editor and humorist, who is best known for the comic book Astérix, which he created with illustrator Albert Uderzo, and for his work on the early issues of the comic book series Lucky Luke with Morris. ...

In the 1950s, the comics scene in Belgium is dominated by three main publishing methods: the main magazines Tintin and Spirou, coupled with the albums published afterwards by the editors Lombard and Dupuis; the daily newspaper comics in Flanders, with the cheaper black and white albums afterwards by De Standaard and Het Volk: and the weekly newspaper supplements of the French language newspapers, which mainly lacked subsequent albums. The number of other magazines slowly decreased, and the independent comic albums publishers without a magazine disappeared with the exception of Casterman, publisher of the comics by Hergé and a limited number of other comics. Casterman is an a publishing company in Tournai, Belgium, mostly famous as the publisher of graphic novels, among which Tintin. ...

In this period, the Belgian comics had their Golden Age, a period of constant growth and expansion, with the start and continuation of many of the most popular Belgian series.

Spirou expanded from 12 pages of newspaper quality to 52 full colour pages, and the number of American comics, reintroduced after the end of the war, dwindled to near nil in 1950. Their place was taken by Victor Hubinon and Jean-Michel Charlier (Buck Danny), Maurice Tillieux (Gil Jourdan), Eddy Paape, Will, and most importantly André Franquin, Morris, and Peyo. Their series Lucky Luke, The Smurfs and Gaston Lagaffe became international bestsellers. While the first generation learned much of the art while working with Jijé, many younger artists started their professional career in the Studio Peyo before creating their own series, assuring the continuation of the School of Marcinelle. The humour aspect of the magazine was assured by the editor-in-chief Yvan Delporte, writer for Franquin, Will and Peyo.^[27] Together with the main artists of Tintin, they defined the Franco-Belgian comics for decades to come. Victor Hubinon (April 26, 1924 - January 8, 1979) is a Belgian comic-book artist, best known for the series Buck Danny and Redbeard. ... hi, i love runescape, yet i know nothing about Jean-Michel Charlier. ... Buck Danny is a French language comic strip created by Jean-Michel Charlier and Victor Hubinon, which chronicles the adventures of a trio of pilots in the United States Air Force. ... Maurice Tillieux (born 7 August 1921 — died 2 February 1978) was a Belgian writer and comic artist. ... Gil Jourdan is a Belgian detective comic strip created by Maurice Tillieux. ... Eddy Paape (born on March 7, 1920 in Grivegnée, Belgium) is a cartoonist best known for illustrating the series Luc Orient. ... Willy Maltaite (October 30, 1927, Anthée Belgium - February 18, 2000) known under his pseudonym Will, was a comics creator and comics artist in the Franco-Belgian tradition. ... André Franquin inspects his equipment André Franquin (January 3, 1924 – January 5, 1997) was an influential Belgian cartoonist, whose best known comic strip creations are Gaston and the Marsupilami. ... Maurice de Bevere (December 1, 1923 - July 16, 2001), better known as Morris, was a Belgian cartoonist and the creator of Lucky Luke. ... Pierre Culliford (June 25, 1928 – December 24, 1992), known as Peyo, was a Belgian comics artist, perhaps best known for the creation of The Smurfs comic strip. ... This article is about the comic book and TV series. ... “Smurf” redirects here. ... Gaston Lagaffe is a comic strip originally created in 1957 by the Belgian cartoonist André Franquin in the comic strip magazine, Spirou, and named after its main character. ... Yvan Delporte (June 24, 1928 - March 5, 2007) was a Belgian comics writer, and was editor-in-chief of Spirou magazine between 1955 and 1968 during a period considered by many the golden age of Franco-Belgian comics. ... Tintin, one of the most famous Belgian comics Franco-Belgian comics are comics written in Belgium and France. ...

Tintin had a similar story, with rapid success and expansion. New artists like Jean Graton (Michel Vaillant) and Raymond Macherot reached new audiences. Hergé started his Studio to help him with the work on the Tintin comics, and it defined the style of many artists like Bob de Moor and Roger Leloup. Jean Graton (born August 10, 1923) is a comic book author and cartoonist of Belgian nationality. ... Michel Vaillant is a French comic book character created in 1957 by Belgian (French-born) cartoonist Jean Graton. ... Raymond Macherot was born on 30 March 1924, in Verviers, Belgium. ... Roger Leloup (born Nov. ...

The styles of the two magazines were distinctly different, with the Ligne claire and the more serious, didactic tone of Tintin contrasting with the humorous, more caricatural Marcinelle school of Spirou. This article does not cite any references or sources. ... The term Marcinelle school (in French, École de Marcinelle) refers to a group of Belgian cartoonists formed by Joseph Gillain (Jijé) following World War II. Marcinelle school cartoonists were all associated with the weekly magazine, Spirou, whose offices in the 1940s were indeed located in the town of Marcinelle, near...

In Flanders, no local magazine could equal the success of the two translated Walloon magazines, and to survive this period, they disappeared as independent magazines and became weekly newspaper supplements. The most important was 't Kapoentje, which published the work of Buth and Rik Clément, but which had no influence outside Flanders. The only new artist to become truly successful in this period was Jef Nys with Jommeke, which debuted in 1955 and became the third major daily newspaper comic in Flanders.^[28] Jef Nys (b. ... Jommeke is the name of a Flemish comic book series. ...

Artists like Pom, Bob Mau or Renaat Demoen were less successful and had only a limited audience, while other Flemish artists started working for the French language magazines, following in the footsteps of Morris in Spirou and Bob de Moor in Tintin. The most successful of those in this period was Berck, who first appeared in this period in Tintin. Look up POM in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Arthur Berckmans (born May 3, 1929), better known as Berck, is a Belgian comics author, best known for Sammy. ...

1959-1977

From 1959 on, the dominance of Spirou and Tintin slowly disappeared. The first generation of artists could not continue the publication rhythm of the previous decades, and French magazines reached new audiences, helped by the protectionistic censoring by the French authorities. French artists like René Goscinny and Albert Uderzo, who previously worked for Belgian magazines and newspapers, started their own magazine Pilote, and the less restrictive atmosphere there attracted some of their main colleagues from Spirou like Morris, Jijé, Charlier and Hubinon. Apart from Morris, they all continued working for Spirou as well, but the decline had started. René Goscinny (August 14, 1926 – November 5, 1977) was a French author, editor and humorist, who is best known for the comic book Astérix, which he created with illustrator Albert Uderzo, and for his work on the early issues of the comic book series Lucky Luke with Morris. ... Albert Uderzo Albert Uderzo (born April 25, 1927 in France) is a French comic book artist, and scriptwriter. ... Cover for Pilote by Robert Crumb. ...

Tintin suffered from the lack of new stories by Hergé. Greg became the new editor-in-chief in 1962 and stayed on until 1975, introducing a new, more adult style and content to the magazine, and introducing some major new artists like Hermann Huppen, William Vance, Jean Van Hamme and Dany. But despite the critical acclaim of these authors, the circulation slowly declined from the record high of 270,000 copies a week in France alone, and the different international editions of Tintin disappeared over the next decade, but not before launching a last major series with Thorgal by Rosinski.^[29] Hermann Huppen, born July 17, 1938, is a Belgian cartoonist. ... William Vance, pseudonym for William van Cutsem (born August 9, 1935) is a Belgian comic book artist. ... Jean Van Hamme (born January 16, 1939) is a Belgian novelist and scenario writer of comic books. ... Dany, pseudonym for Daniel Henrotin (born January 28, 1943) is a Belgian comic book artist, best known for Olivier Rameau and Ça vous intéresse?. // Daniel Henrotin was born in Marche-en-Famenne in 1943. ... Cover of the 9th Thorgal album Les Archers. ... Excerpt from the 9th Thorgal album Les Archers. ...

Spirou as well had to introduce new artists and series to fill the pages and keep their readers. It took many of them until around 1970 to become real stars, with the rise of Raoul Cauvin as the new main writer of the magazine. The biggest new series of the 1960s was Boule et Bill by Franquin-collaborator Jean Roba. It became the most popular series of the magazine together with Gaston Lagaffe after the disappearance of Lucky Luke in 1967. Around 1970, Berck (Sammy), Lambil (Les Tuniques Bleues), François Walthéry (Natacha), and Leloup (Yoko Tsuno) were the main new artists and series,^[30] with Raoul Cauvin as the most important writer.^[31] However, the top circulation of about 280,000 copies a week (France and Belgium combined), was no longer reached after 1966.^[31] Raoul Cauvin (Antoing, Belgium, September 26th, 1938 - ) is a Belgian comics author. ... Boule et Bill is a popular comic, created in 1959 by the Belgian writer-artist Jean Roba in collaboration with Maurice Rosy. ... Jean Roba (July 28, 1930 - June 14, 2006) was a Belgian comics author from the Marcinelle school. ... Lambil (May 14, 1936) is a Belgian comic-book artist, best known for the series Les Tuniques Bleues. ... Les Tuniques Bleues, literally blue uniforms, refers to the Northern army during the Civil War in the U.S. This series of Bandes Dessinees (comic books in the Franco-Belgian tradition) follows two cavalrymen through a series of battles and adventures. ... François Walthéry (born January 17, 1946 in Argenteau near Liège) is a Belgian comics artist, best known for his series featuring an adventurous flight attendant, Natacha. ... La Fille du Vent Yoko Tsuno is a comic book series created by the Belgian writer Roger Leloup published at Dupuis and in Spirou magazine since its debut. ...

In Flanders, the situation was very stable, with the limited local publication possibilities all taken by the established authors of the 1940s and 1950s, leaving no room for new talents after the disappearance of most magazines. New artists either started working in the large Studio Vandersteen or tried to get into Spirou and Tintin, thereby strengthening the bond between the comics scenes of both language groups.

Comics fandom, started in the Netherlands and France in the 1960s, emerged in Flanders in 1966 with the different publications by Jan Smet, who also created the first Flemish comics award in 1972. This developed into the Bronzen Adhemar, the most important comics award of Flanders.^[32] In Wallonia, it only seriously commenced in 1971, with the first awards (the Prix Saint-Michel in Brussels) and fanzine (Rantanplan), both by André Leborgne, and the first specialized shop and republisher of old material, Michel Deligne. The Institut Saint-Luc in Brussels created a comics department with teachers like Eddy Paape, and was largely responsible for the new, more adult-oriented authors who came to the fore in the 1980s and 1990s. Expositions with the major artists were organized throughout the country, some by amateur enthusiasts, some endorsed by the government.^[33] Every two years, the Bronzen Adhemar is awarded during Strip Turnhout, the major Flemish comics festival, to a Flemish comics author for his body of work. ... The Prix Saint-Michel is a series of comic awards given by the city of Brussels. ...

1978-now

The last decades have shown the further decline of the traditional publication systems of the Belgian comics, and the end of the dominance of the Belgian authors in European comics.

Reflecting the shift from the dominance of weekly youth comics to longer adult comics was the demise of Tintin and the start of A Suivre in 1978, the more adult oriented monthly magazine of publisher Casterman.^[34] It published longer "chapters" of the main European authors of graphic novels, with artists like Hugo Pratt and Jacques Tardi. Among them, room was still reserved for the best Walloon and Brussels' talents, including Didier Comès, Benoît Sokal, and François Schuiten. The magazine, seen as the more intellectual reply to French magazines like Métal Hurlant who were more oriented towards graphical innovation, was a big success and had a lot of influence, but turned out to be relatively shortlived. The Dutch language edition, started in 1980, folded in 1989 (the same year Poilote ceased publication), and in 1997 the French language edition disappeared as well, further demonstrating the demise of the magazine format in a market where most people prefer to immediately buy the albums.^[35] À Suivre [To Be Continued] is a French cartoon anthology magazine published from February of 1978 to the present. ... Casterman is an a publishing company in Tournai, Belgium, mostly famous as the publisher of graphic novels, among which Tintin. ... Graphic novel (sometimes abbreviated GN) is a term for a kind of book, usually telling an extended story with sequential art ( comics). ... Hugo Pratt (June 15, 1927, Rimini, Italy – August 20, 1995, Grandvaux, near Lausanne, Switzerland,) was an Italian comic book creator who combined his strong storytelling talent with extensive historical research on Corto Maltese and his other series. ... Jacques Tardi is a French comic strip artist born in 1946 in Valence. ... Didier Comès (born December 11, 1942) is a Belgian comics artist, best known for his graphic novels published in the magazine (À Suivre). ... Example of Benoît Sokals artwork: The cover to La mort douce, an Inspector Canardo adventure originally published in 1982. ... François Schuiten (born 26 April 1956) is a Belgian comic book artist. ... Métal Hurlant is the name of a French magazine of science fiction comics, created in December 1974 by Jean Giraud (aka MÅ“bius), Jean-Pierre Dionnet and Philippe Druillet. ...

In Flanders, a final experiment with a youth comics magazine was started in 1993 with Suske en Wiske Weekblad by Standaard Uitgeverij: with a mix of classic comics and new series and carried by the most popular Dutch language series and a sizable promotional campaign, it got a sizable audience at first, but slowly lost momentum and disappeared in 2003.

The only comics magazine to survive is Spirou, but with the end of the Dutch version Robbedoes in 2005, when the circulation had dropped to only about 3,000 copies, no mass-market comics magazines for the Flemish audience remained, making it harder for young Flemish artists to gain a larger audience.

Spirou, meanwhile, after a decline during the 1970s and 1980s from 280,000 to 160,000 copies, holds on to a quite steady circulation, and is a mix of a showcase for Dupuis and a method to test new artists and series before doing the sizable investment of an album series. After experiments to target a more mature audience in the late 1970s and in the 1980s with the supplement Le Trombone Illustré and the publication of comics like XIII and Jeremiah, the focus is again fixed on humour series and an audience of young teenagers. Now famous artists like Bernard Hislaire, Zep, Tome, Janry or Midam debut or still publish in the magazine. (code) XIII Original Title XIII Series Title Code XIII Writer(s) Jean Van Hamme Artist(s) William Vance Publisher Dargaud First published 1984 Publication frequency Every year Pages 18 albums (44pg each) XIII (Thirteen) is a Franco-Belgian comic book series about an amnesiac protagonist written by the Belgian Jean... Jeremiah is a Belgian comic book series by Hermann Huppen. ... Bernard Hislaire (born in 1957 in Belgium) is a Belgian comic book writer. ... Zep (born 12th of December, 1967 as Philippe Chappuis) is a comics creator from Switzerland, known especially for his series Titeuf, which is very popular in French-speaking countries. ... A tome is a variety of large book, often a large volume of a multi-volume scholarly work. ... Jean-Richard Geurts, perhaps better known under his pseudonym Janry (born October 2, 1957 in Jadotville, currently Likasi, Zaire), is a comic strip artist. ...

But next to the magazine, Dupuis, like all the other editors, targets the older audience as well with a collection of graphic novels.

Both Lombard and Dupuis have since been bought by the French media concern Média Participations, but retain a large degree of independence.

In Flanders, this period started with the appearance of two new successful newspaper comics, Bakelandt by Hec Leemans and the extremely successful Kiekeboe by Merho.^[36] But they seemed to be at the same time the final successes of a slowly dying system, and comics in Flanders are more and more centered around albums as well. Successful series and authors are few and far between, and most, like Urbanus or F. C. De Kampioenen, are only a local success. A few peripheral figures like Ever Meulen, who is mainly an illustrator, or Kamagurka, who is more of a cartoonist, do become successful in Wallonia, France and the Netherlands,^[37] but apart from those exceptions, the main method for Flemish comics artists to become successful is still being published by the three French language publishers. Merho (October 24, 1948), the pseudonym of Robert Merhottein, is a Belgian comic-book writer and artist, best known for creating the comic strip Kiekeboe. ... Urbain Servranckx (July 17, 1949, Schepdaal, Belgium), also known as Urbain and Urbanus van Anus, is a Belgian comedian, actor, singer and comic book hero. Biography He has produced several comedy shows in Belgium and the Netherlands, as well as several gold records. ... FC De Kampioenen is a long-running sitcom on the Belgian-Flemish channel Eén chronicling the misadventures of a fictional local football team. ... Ever Meulen (born Eddy Vermeulen, in 1946), is a Belgian illustrator. ...

Some of the most successful of these since the 1960s are William Vance, Jo-El Azara, Griffo, Marvano, Jean-Pol, Jan Bosschaert and Luc Cromheecke.^[38] William Vance, pseudonym for William van Cutsem (born August 9, 1935) is a Belgian comic book artist. ... Joseph Franz Hedwig Loeckx is a cartoonist. ... Mark van Oppen, better known as Marvano, is a Belgian comic artist. ... Jan Bosschaert (born December 15, 1957) is a Belgian comics artist, painter and illustrator, best known for the comic series Sam and Jaguar, and his illustrations for the books of Marc De Bel. ... Luc Cromheecke (August 2, 1961) is a Belgian comics artist best known for the comic series Tom Carbon, Taco Zip, Roboboy and Plunk. ...

Importance

Sales

While until 1930 almost all comics published in Belgium were either French or American, due to the success of Tintin in 1950 almost no foreign comics are published in Belgium anymore, and by 1960 many or even most comics read in other Western European countries (excluding the United Kingdom) are made by Belgians or for Belgian magazines. By 1944, 275,000 albums of Tintin had been sold:^[39] by 2000, the worldwide sales had multiplied to nearly 200 million.^[40]

In 2000, almost 40 million albums were printed in Belgium each year: 75% of those were exported. An estimated 75% of the comics sold in France were made by the three large Belgian comics publishers, Dupuis, Le Lombard and Casterman. Dupuis alone, with a production of 9 to 10 million albums a year and a back catalogue of 1,000 titles, is responsible for one third of the French comics market.^[40] The Flemish market is largely monopolized by the giant Standaard Uitgeverij, whose Spike and Suzy are produced with 300,000 to 400,000 copies for each new title, half of which are exported to the Netherlands, and who also publishes Nero, Kiekeboe and Urbanus. Het Volk, who largely existed due to one title, Jommeke, with a total sales of 50 million copies in 50 years,^[41], has sold its comics to Dupuis. Even though most of these editors are now in foreign (mainly French) hands, they still operate from Belgium and are led by Belgian people. Belgium has more than 700 professional comics creators, making it the country with the most comics artists per km².^[42] Dupuis is a Belgian editor of comic books and magazines. ... Le Lombard or Lombard Editions is a Belgian comic book publisher established in 1946 when the Tintin series was launched. ... Casterman is an a publishing company in Tournai, Belgium, mostly famous as the publisher of graphic novels, among which Tintin. ... The main characters of the Spike and Suzy series on a wall painting in Brussels. ... Jommeke is the name of a Flemish comic book series. ...

Influence and recognition

Belgium has played a major role in the development of the 9th Art. In fact, even the designation of comics as the 9th Art is due to a Belgian. Morris introduced the term in 1964 when he started a series about the history of comics in Spirou^[43] Belgium's comic-strip culture has been called by Time magazine "Europe's richest".^[44] Maurice de Bevere (December 1, 1923 - July 16, 2001), better known as Morris, was a Belgian cartoonist and the creator of Lucky Luke. ... “TIME” redirects here. ...

Recognition for the Belgian comics outside the fandom was slow to come, but in the 1970s more and more comics and authors got reviews and articles in newspapers and magazines. The first official stamp picturing a comics hero was made in 1979, showing Tintin, and most famous Belgian comics followed in the next decades.^[45] Major expositions were organized from 1969 on, and finally the "Centre Belge de la Bande Dessinée" / "Belgisch Centrum van het Beeldverhaal" (Belgian Centre of Comics), commonly called the Comics Museum, was opened in Brussels in 1989 in an old warehouse designed by Victor Horta. It grew rapidly, with 160,000 visitors in 1994 and 240,000 by 2000.^[46] Different Belgian towns have mural paintings and statues of the major comics,^[47] and some of the most famous artists have been knighted.^[41] For other places with the same name, see Brussels (disambiguation). ... Maison and Atelier Horta, designed in 1898, now houses the Horta Museum, dedicated to his work. ...

Belgian comics, the authors and the magazines are generally regarded as being central in the development of the European comic. Hergé, with Tintin, and Jijé, as a comics teacher, are considered as the most influential of the early Belgian authors. French author Tibet said that the comics artists consider Hergé as God the Father and Jijé as the Godfather.^[48] Jijé was not only the teacher of important Belgian authors like André Franquin, but also of major French authors like Jean Giraud and Jean-Claude Mézières.^[48] In the Hergé Studio worked French authors like Jacques Martin, and Swiss author Derib worked for years in the Studio Peyo. The comic magazines Tintin and Spirou were translated in different languages,^[49] and the major comics from the magazines were reprinted in the main comics magazines in Italy, Spain, Portugal, Germany, or The Netherlands. Albums of the main series and authors have been translated in dozens of languages,^[50][51] and even many minor series have been translated in different languages in Western Europe. Artists like the Dutch Joost Swarte, American Chris Ware,^[52] Australian Bill Leak^[53] or Norwegian Jason^[54] are heavily influenced by the ligne claire of Hergé, while others like the Spanish Daniel Torres, Finnish Pora^[55] and French Yves Chaland more closely followed the "Atom Style" of Jijé and Franquin.^[56] More recent artists like Kamagurka and Philippe Geluck are especially popular in France.^[57] More recently, Belgian graphic novels have been translated in English as well, like Jean-Philippe Stassens Deogratias,^[58] while many older series are reprinted as well, though often with limited success. Jijé (January 13, 1914 - June 19, 1980) was a Belgian comics artist. ... Tibet, the pseudonym of Gilbert Gascard, born October 29, 1931, is a French comics artist and writer in the Franco-Belgian comics genre. ... André Franquin inspects his equipment André Franquin (January 3, 1924 – January 5, 1997) was an influential Belgian cartoonist, whose best known comic strip creations are Gaston and the Marsupilami. ... Jean Henri Gaston Giraud (born May 8, 1938) is a French comics artist. ... Jean-Claude Mézières (born 23 September 1938) is a French comic strip artist and illustrator. ... This biography does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Derib (born Claude de Ribaupierre on August 8, 1944 in La Tour-de-Peilz, Switzerland) is a Swiss comics creator, one of the most famous in Europe. ... Joost Swarte (born 24 December 1947, Heemstede) is a Dutch comic artist and graphical designer. ... The cover to the collected edition of Jimmy Corrigan by Chris Ware Franklin Christenson Ware (born December 28, 1967) is an American comic book artist and cartoonist, best-known for a series of comics called the Acme Novelty Library, and a graphic novel, Jimmy Corrigan, the Smartest Kid on Earth. ... Bill Leak (born 1956) is the daily editorial cartoonist on The Australian newspaper. ... Jason or John Arne Sæterøy (born May 16, 1965 in Molde) is a Norwegian cartoonist, known for his sparse drawing style and silent, anthropomorphic characters. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Daniel Torres (born August 20, 1958 in Teresa de Cofrentes, Valencia) is a Spanish comic book writer and artist. ... Yves Chaland (born April 3, 1957 in Lyon, France; died July 18, 1990 (car crash) was a French cartoonist. ... Philippe Geluck (born May 7, 1954 in Brussels, Belgium) is a Belgian comedian, humorist and cartoonist. ... Trade paperback of Will Eisners A Contract with God (1978), often mistakenly cited as the first graphic novel. ... Jean-Philippe Stassen, born on March 14, 1966 in Liege (Belgium). ...

Especially Hergé and Tintin have also had a lot of influence on other artists outside the circle of comics authors, like Roy Lichtenstein and Andy Warhol.^[52] Hergé has also been recognised by a street and a statue in Angoulême, France,^[59] and both the French and the Dutch postal offices have issued stamps remembering Tintin. Roy Fox Lichtenstein (27 October 1923 – 29 September 1997) was a prominent American pop artist, whose work borrowed heavily from popular advertising and comic book styles, which he himself described as being as artificial as possible. // Roy Lichtenstein was born on 27 October 1923 into an upper-middle-class family... Andrew Warhola (August 6, 1928 — February 22, 1987), better known as Andy Warhol, was an American artist who became a central figure in the movement known as Pop art. ... Angoulême is a town and commune in southwestern France, préfecture (capital city) of the Charente département. ...

Video games and animated and live action movies have been made for popular series like XIII,^[60] Tintin,^[61] Spirou et Fantasio, Spike and Suzy and Lucky Luke,^[62] and the long-running Hanna-Barbera series of The Smurfs became a worldwide success with massive merchandising,^[63] and the success continues as evidenced by the ratings animated cartoons based on the adventures of Tintin and Lucky Luke had in Germany and Canada in 2005 and 2006.^[64] But also more mature graphic novels like The Wedding Party by Hermann Huppen and Jean Van Hamme have been turned into movies. (code) XIII Original Title XIII Series Title Code XIII Writer(s) Jean Van Hamme Artist(s) William Vance Publisher Dargaud First published 1984 Publication frequency Yearly Pages 18 albums (44pg each) XIII (Thirteen) is a Franco-Belgian comic book series written by the Belgian Jean Van Hamme and drawn by... Cartoon Network Studios, formerly known as Hanna-Barbera Cartoons, Inc. ... Graphic novel (sometimes abbreviated GN) is a term for a kind of book, usually telling an extended story with sequential art ( comics). ... List of Fawlty Towers episodes The Wedding Party is the third episode of the BBC sitcom Fawlty Towers. ... Hermann Huppen, born July 17, 1938, is a Belgian cartoonist. ... Jean Van Hamme (born January 16, 1939) is a Belgian novelist and scenario writer of comic books. ...

Most major European artists worked for a while, often early in their career, in Belgium:^[49] French authors like Albert Uderzo and René Goscinny, Jacques Tardi, Jean Graton and Claire Bretécher, a German like Andreas, the Polish author Grzegorz Rosiński, the Portuguese Carlos Roque, Swiss authors Zep and Cosey... Even the major Italian author Hugo Pratt created many of his best known later works for Casterman. Albert Uderzo Albert Uderzo (born April 25, 1927 in France) is a French comic book artist, and scriptwriter. ... René Goscinny (August 14, 1926 – November 5, 1977) was a French author, editor and humorist, who is best known for the comic book Astérix, which he created with illustrator Albert Uderzo, and for his work on the early issues of the comic book series Lucky Luke with Morris. ... Jacques Tardi is a French comic strip artist born in 1946 in Valence. ... Jean Graton (born August 10, 1923) is a comic book author and cartoonist of Belgian nationality. ... Claire Bretécher (born April 17, 1940) is a French cartoonist, known particularly for her portrayals of women and gender issues. ... Excerpt from the 9th Thorgal album Les Archers. ... Carlos Roque (April 12, 1936 - July 27, 2006) was a Portuguese comics artist. ... Zep (born 12th of December, 1967 as Philippe Chappuis) is a comics creator from Switzerland, known especially for his series Titeuf, which is very popular in French-speaking countries. ... Hugo Pratt (June 15, 1927, Rimini, Italy – August 20, 1995, Grandvaux, near Lausanne, Switzerland,) was an Italian comic book creator who combined his strong storytelling talent with extensive historical research on Corto Maltese and his other series. ... Casterman is an a publishing company in Tournai, Belgium, mostly famous as the publisher of graphic novels, among which Tintin. ...

Notes

Dexia (Euronext: DEXB, Euronext: DX) is a Belgian-French financial institution, specialized in public finance. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era in the 21st century. ... is the 114th day of the year (115th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... “TIME” redirects here. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era in the 21st century. ... is the 114th day of the year (115th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... “TIME” redirects here. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era in the 21st century. ... is the 114th day of the year (115th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era in the 21st century. ... is the 114th day of the year (115th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... For other uses, see BBC (disambiguation). ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era in the 21st century. ... is the 114th day of the year (115th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... For other uses, see BBC (disambiguation). ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era in the 21st century. ... is the 114th day of the year (115th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Not to be confused with Public Broadcasting Services in Malta. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era in the 21st century. ... is the 115th day of the year (116th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Bill Leak (born 1956) is the daily editorial cartoonist on The Australian newspaper. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era in the 21st century. ... is the 115th day of the year (116th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era in the 21st century. ... is the 115th day of the year (116th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era in the 21st century. ... is the 115th day of the year (116th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era in the 21st century. ... is the 115th day of the year (116th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... For other uses, see BBC (disambiguation). ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era in the 21st century. ... is the 115th day of the year (116th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era in the 21st century. ... is the 115th day of the year (116th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era in the 21st century. ... is the 145th day of the year (146th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era in the 21st century. ... is the 115th day of the year (116th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era in the 21st century. ... is the 115th day of the year (116th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...

See also

• Franco-Belgian comics

Tintin, one of the most famous Belgian comics Franco-Belgian comics are comics written in Belgium and France. ...

External links

• The Belgian Comics Center
• Belgium portal page on comic strips