Tintin, one of the most famous Belgian comics

Franco-Belgian comics are comics or comic books written in Belgium and France. These countries have a long tradition in comics and comic books, where they are called BDs (singular BD, from Bande Dessinée) in French. Because Belgium is bilingual, in Dutch they are called Strips or Stripverhalen. Belgian comic books originally written in Dutch (i.e. in Flanders) are certainly influenced by "Franco-Belgian" comics, but have a different feel. European comics, especially Italian ones are strongly influenced by Franco-Belgian comics. Copied from French Wikipedia, and renamed. ... Copied from French Wikipedia, and renamed. ... Tintin and Snowy (Tintin et Milou) are world travellers and inseparable friends in The Adventures of Tintin. ... Comics (sometimes spelled comix) are combinations of words and images into a medium for telling stories. ... A comic book is a magazine or book containing the art form of comics. ... // Definitions Flanders (Dutch: Vlaanderen, French: Flandre or Flandres) has two main designations: a historical region (the County of Flanders), and an administrative region of Belgium (the Flemish Region and the Flemish Community). ... A European comic is a comic or comic book made by an European author and artist. ...

La bande dessinée is derived from the original description of the artform as "drawn strips". It is not insignificant that the French term contains no indication of subject matter, unlike the American comic book subdivisions of "funnies", "superhero" comics, underground comics, etc.. Indeed, the distinction of comics as the "ninth art" is prevalent in Francophone scholarship on the form (le neuvième art), as is the concept of comics criticism and scholarship itself. Relative to their respective size, these countries' innumerable authors publish huge numbers of comic books works year. In North America, the more serious Franco-Belgian comics are often referred to as graphic novels, for various reasons, but whether they are long or short, bound or in magazine format, in Europe the loaded term graphic novel is used less, even for long, intricate comic books like the works of Didier Comès. American comic books are typically small magazines containing fictional stories in the artistic medium of comics. ... Superman (left) and Batman, two of the most recognizable and influential superheroes. ... The term underground comics or comix describes the self-published or small press comic books that sprang up in the US in the late 1960s. ... World map showing location of North America A satellite composite image of North America North America is a continent in the northern hemisphere, bounded on the north by the Arctic Ocean, on the east by the North Atlantic Ocean, on the south by the Caribbean Sea, and on the west... Graphic novel (sometimes abbreviated GN) is a term for a kind of book, usually telling an extended story with sequential art ( comics). ... A satellite composite image of Europe Europe is geologically and geographically a peninsula, forming the westernmost part of Eurasia. ...

Half of Belgium (Wallonia and Brussels) and France share the French language, making them a unique market where nationality has almost faded out. Although Switzerland contributes less to the body of work, it is significant that many scholars point to a Francophone Swiss, Rodolphe Töpffer, as the true father of comics. This choice is still controversial, and it is true that Töppfer's work is probably unconnected to the genesis of the artform as it is now known in the region, as recounted below. National motto: Walon todi ! (Walloon forever!) Official languages French, German Capital Namur Minister-President Jean-Claude Van Cauwenberghe Area  - Total 16,844 km² Population  - Total (2002)  - Density 3,358,560 inhabitants 199. ... Emblem of the Brussels-Capital Region Flag of The City of Brussels Brussels (Dutch: Brussel, French: Bruxelles, German: Brüssel) is the capital of Belgium and is considered by many to be the headquarters of the European Union, as two of its three main institutions have their headquarters in the... French (français, langue française) is one of the most important Romance languages, outnumbered in speakers only by Spanish and Portuguese. ... Rodolphe Töpffer (January 31, 1799 - June 8, 1846) was a Swiss teacher, author, painter, cartoonist, and caricature artist. ...

History

In the early decades of the 20th century, comics were not stand-alone publications, but were published in newspapers and monthly magazines as episodes or gags. (19th century - 20th century - 21st century - more centuries) Decades: 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s As a means of recording the passage of time, the 20th century was that century which lasted from 1901–2000 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar (1900–1999 in the... A collection of magazines A magazine is a periodical publication containing a variety of articles on various subjects. ...

Aside from these magazines, the Catholic Church was creating and distributing "healthy and correct" magazines for the children. In 1920, the abbot of Averbode in Belgium started publishing Petits Belges, a magazine consisting largely of text with few illustrations. 1920 is a leap year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar) // Events January January 7 - Forces of Russian White admiral Kolchak surrender in Krasnoyarsk. ...

One of the earliest proper Belgian comics was Hergé's Tintin, with the story Tintin in the Land of the Soviets which was published in Le Petit Vingtième in 1930. It was quite different from how we have come to know Tintin, the style being very naïve and simple, even childish, compared to the later stories. The early stories were often politically incorrect, in ways Hergé later regretted. Georges Remi Hergé Georges Remi (May 23, 1907 - March 3, 1983), better known by the pen name Hergé, was a Belgian comics writer and artist. ... Tintin and Snowy (Tintin et Milou) are world travellers and inseparable friends in The Adventures of Tintin. ... Tintin in the Land of the Soviets (Les Aventures de Tintin, reporter du Petit Vingtième, au pays des Soviets) is one of a series of classic comic-strip albums written and illustrated by Belgian writer and illustrator Hergé. ... 1930 is a common year starting on Wednesday. ... Political correctness is the alteration of language to redress real or alleged injustices and discrimination or to avoid offense. ...

The first nudge 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 the Journal de Mickey, a weekly 8-page "comic-book," in fact, the first real comic-book. 1934 was a common year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ... King Features Syndicate is a syndication company owned by The Hearst Corporation; it distributes about 150 comic strips, newspaper columns, editorial cartoons, puzzles and games to thousands of newspapers around the world. ...

The success was quite immediate, and soon all the other publishers would start churning out periodicals with American series. This continued during the remainder of the decade, with hundreds of magazines publishing mostly imported material.

When Germany invaded France and Belgium, it became close to impossible to import American comics. Likewise, comics of questionable character (in the view of the Nazis) were banned outright. American comic books are typically small magazines containing fictional stories in the artistic medium of comics. ... Attention: This website has been censored by the Government of Israel. ...

Of course, the demand was still there, and the previously exclusively French or Flemish comics scrambled to get new material. For example, Edgar P. Jacobs (who later created Blake and Mortimer) had to improvise the ending to an episode of Flash Gordon in the Belgian magazine Bravo. Along with Jacobs, Jacques Laudy, Raymond Reding, Albert Uderzo, and Willy Vandersteen also got their start in Bravo. This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... Edgard Félix Pierre Jacobs, (b. ... Blake and Mortimer is a comic strip/graphic novel series that was created by the Belgian writer and artist Edgar P. Jacobs (1904-1987). ... Flash Gordon is a science fiction comic strip originally drawn by Alex Raymond, first published on January 7, 1934. ... Albert Uderzo (born April 25, 1927 in France) is a French comic book artist, and scriptwriter. ... Willy Vandersteen (February 15, 1913 at Antwerp - August 28, 1990) was a Flemish creator of comic books. ...

The magazine Spirou had started shortly before the war, and was one of the few magazines to survive the changing conditions. Despite being outlawed for long periods by the Germans and having a hard time finding paper, they managed to publish a collection in 1944. 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. ... 1944 was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar). ...

After the war, the American comics didn't come back in nearly as large numbers as before. Interestingly, a lot of the publishers and artists who had managed to continue working during the occupation were accused of being collaborators and were imprisoned by the resistance.

As an example, this happened to one of the famous magazines, Coeurs Vaillants ("Valiant Hearts"). 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 of course charged with being a collaborator. After he was forced out, his successor Pihan (as Jean Vaillant) took up the publishing, moving the magazine in a more humorous direction. 1929 was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ...

Hergé was another artist to be prosecuted by the resistance. He, as most others, managed to clear his name and went on to create Studio Hergé in 1950, where he acted as a sort of mentor for the students and assistants that it attracted. Among the people who studied there were Bob de Moor, Jacques Martin, Roger Leloup, and Edgar-Pierre Jacobs, all of whom exhibit the easily recognizable Belgian clean line style. 1950 was a common year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ... Bob de Moor is the pen name of Robert Frans Marie De Moor, a Belgian comic artist born in Antwerp in 1925 and died in 1992 in Brussels. ... Jacques Martin is a French comic book writer and artist, born in Strasbourg, France on 25 September 1921. ... Ligne claire, literally meaning the clear line, is a style of drawing pioneered by Hergé (creator of Tintin). ...

With a number of publishers in place, including Les Editions Dargaud & Dupuis, two of the biggest influences for over 50 years, the market for domestic comics had reached maturity. In the following decades, magazines like Spirou, Le Petit Vingtième, Vaillant, Pilote, and Heroïc Albums (the first to feature completed stories in each issue, as opposed to the episodic approach of other magazines) would continue to evolve into the style we now know. At this time, the school had already gained fame throughout Europe, and many countries had started importing the comics in addition to—or as substitute for—their own productions. 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. ... Pilote was a French cartoon anthology published from 1959 to 1989. ...

In the sixties, most of the catholic magazines started to wane in popularity, as they were "re-christianized" and went to a more traditional style with more text and less drawings. This meant that comics like Pilote and Vaillant gained almost the entire market and became the obvious goal for new artists, who took up the styles prevalent in the magazines to break into the business. Pilote was a French cartoon anthology published from 1959 to 1989. ...

The time after 1968 brought many adult comic books, something that hadn't been seen before. L'Écho des Savannes with Gotlib's crazed delirium of deities watching porn and Bretécher's Les Frustrés ("The Frustrated Ones") were among the earliest. Le Canard Sauvage ("The Mad Duck"), an art-zine featuring music reviews and comics was another. Métal Hurlant with the far-reaching science fiction and fantasy of Mœbius, Druillet, and Bilal, made an impact in America in its translated edition, Heavy Metal. This trend continued during the seventies, until the original Métal Hurlant folded in the early eighties, living on only in the American edition (which had in the meantime become independent from its French language parent), although some would argue that it is only a shadow of the original. 1968 was a leap year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1968 calendar). ... Pavonazzeto marble sculpture, see Erotic art in Pompeii Pornography (from Greek πορνογραφια pornographia — literally writing about or drawings of harlots) is the representation of the human body or human sexual behaviour with the goal of sexual arousal, similar to, but (according to some) distinct from, erotica. ... 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. ... Jean Giraud (born May 8, 1938) is a French comics artist. ... Philippe Druillet, born June 28, 1944 in Toulouse, is a French comic book artist and writer. ... Enki Bilal filming Immortel (Ad Vitam) Enki Bilal (born October 7, 1951) is a cartoonist and film director. ... Magazine cover featuring the main characters of Richard Corbens Den series, one of Heavy Metals most popular early features Heavy Metal is an American science fiction and fantasy comics magazine started in 1977. ...

The eighties showed the adult comics getting somewhat stale, wallowing in sex and violence (examples of which can be seen in Heavy Metal magazines from the period). The revival came in the 1990s with several small independent publishers emerging, such as l'Association, Amok, Fréon. These comic books are often more artistic (graphical and narrative research) and better packaged than the usual products of the big companies. // Events and trends The 1990s are generally classified as having moved slightly away from the more conservative 1980s, but keeping the same mind-set. ... LAssociation is a French publishing house which publishes comics. ...

Formats

One of the other interesting things to come from the war is the format. Before the war, comics were almost exclusively published as tabloid size newspapers. Now, they are sized about half that. The comics are almost always colored all the way through, and, when compared to American comics, rather large (roughly A4 standard).

Comics are also often published as collected albums (graphic novels), with about 40-50 pages, after the run is finished in the magazine. Lately, most comics are published exclusively as albums and do not appear in the magazines at all. (Many magazines have disappeared, including greats like Métal Hurlant and Pilote.) Graphic novel (sometimes abbreviated GN) is a term for a kind of book, usually telling an extended story with sequential art ( comics). ... 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. ... Pilote was a French cartoon anthology published from 1959 to 1989. ...

Some famous periodicals are Tintin, Charlie Hebdo, A suivre, Spirou (see Franco-Belgian comics magazines for more). 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. ...

The Styles

While the newer comics don't really fall into the old styles, and have generally evolved into something completely different and the old artist who pioneered the market are getting old and retiring, there are still two distinct styles within the school:

The Realistic

As mentioned, late Tintin is a classic example of the realistic style. The comics are often laborously detailed, making the pictures interesting to look at for times on end. Another trait is the often "slow" drawings, with little to no speed-lines, and strokes that are almost completely even. It is also known as the Belgian clean line style or ligne claire. This was exhibited in magazines like Vaillant, Tintin, and Métal Hurlant. Ligne claire, literally meaning the clear line, is a style of drawing pioneered by Hergé (creator of Tintin). ...

The Comic-Dynamic

This is the almost Barksian line of Franquin and Uderzo. Pilote is almost exclusively comic-dynamic, and so is Spirou and l'Écho des Savannes. These comics have very agitated drawings, often using lines of varying thickness to accent the drawings. Carl Barks (March 27, 1901 – August 25, 2000) was a famous Disney Studio illustrator and comic book creator, who invented Duckburg and many of its inhabitants, such as Scrooge McDuck and the Beagle Boys. ... André Franquin (January 3, 1924 – January 5, 1997) was a Belgian cartoonist, perhaps best known for his humorous comic strip creation Gaston and the Marsupilami. ... Albert Uderzo (born April 25, 1927 in France) is a French comic book artist, and scriptwriter. ...

Foreign comics

Despite the already big amount of local publications, the French and Belgian editors publish numerous adaptations of comics from all over the world, particularly other European publications, from countries such as Italy, with Hugo Pratt and Milo Manara, Spain, with Daniel Torres, Argentina, with Alberto Breccia, Héctor Germán Oesterheld and José Muñoz. Hugo Pratt (June 15, 1927 - 1995) was an Italian comic book creator and the creator of Corto Maltese. ... Milo Manara (born Maurilio Manara, September 12, 1945, Luson, Italy) is an Italian comic book creator (writer and drawer), best known for his erotic approach to the medium. ... Alberto Breccia (born in Montevideo, Uruguay, on 15 April 1919 died in Buenos Aires on 10 November 1993) was a comic strip creator. ... Héctor Germán Oesterheld was a comic scripts writer born in 1919 in Buenos Aires, Argentina of German descent. ...

American and British comic books are not well present on the French and Belgian comics market, probably due to the differences of comics' tradition between these countries.

Japanese manga has been receiving more attention since 2000. Recently, more manga has been translated and published, with a particular emphasis on independent authors like Jiro Taniguchi. In addition, in an attempt to unify the Frenco-Belgian and Japanese schools, cartoonist Frédéric Boilet started the movement La nouvelle manga. Rurouni Kenshin manga, volume 1 (English version) Manga (漫画) is the Japanese word for comics; outside of Japan, it usually refers specifically to Japanese comics. ... 2000 is a leap year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Aruku Hito Jiro Taniguchi (谷口ジロー Taniguchi Jirō) is a Japanese manga artist, born the 14 August 1947 in the prefecture of Tottori, Japan. ... Frédéric Boilet is a French cartoonist and a mangaka who was born in in Épinal, France on January 16th, 1960. ... An example of Nouvelle Manga by Frédéric Boilet and Kan Takahama La Nouvelle Manga is an artistic movement combining French comics with Japanese manga. ...

Japanese animation appeared in France and Belgium during the 1970s, and a number of Japanese teenage and adult series were adapted to a younger audience. Following this, the Catholic lobby group Famille de France (Association of Parents) managed to ban all japanese animation from tv in the 1990s. In France, Japanese animation is currently making its come back through cable tv. This article provides extensive lists of events and significant personalities of the 1970s. ... // Events and trends The 1990s are generally classified as having moved slightly away from the more conservative 1980s, but keeping the same mind-set. ...

Festivals

Belgium and Frances count numerous comics festival. The most famous is probably the Angoulême International Comics Festival, an annual festival begun in 1974, in Angoulême, France. The Angoulême International Comics Festival is the main comics festival in Europe. ... 1974 is a common year starting on Tuesday (click on link for calendar). ... Angoulême is a town in southwestern France, préfecture (capital city) of the Charente département. ...

Cosplay (dressing as a cartoon/anime/jrock/sentai character) contests, karaoke, and meetings with famous artists are usually organised. Cosplayer Francesca Dani as Dejiko from Digi Charat. ... A Karaoke machine Karaoke (Japanese: カラオケ, from 空 kara, empty, and オーケストラ ōkesutora, orchestra) is a form of entertainment where an amateur singer accompanies recorded music. ...

The Lavaur festival specialises in Franco-Belgian artists - "Le cartoonist" specialises in Japanese artists.

Links

• For a non-exhaustive list of French and Belgian authors, see List of comic creators
• For a non-exhaustive list of French and Belgian comic books, see List of comic books
• For a non-exhaustive list of French and Belgian characters, see Franco-Belgian comics/Characters
• For a non-exhaustive list of French and Belgian comics magazines, see Franco-Belgian comics magazines
• For a non-exhaustive list of French and Belgian comics publishing houses, see Franco-Belgian publishing houses

This is a list of comic creators. ... This is a listing of comic books. ... Some important characters from the Franco-Belgian comics: Adèle Blanc-Sec Alix Astérix Blake and Mortimer Blueberry Colonel Clifton Gaston Isabelle Largo Winch Lucky Luke Les Schtroumpfs (The Smurfs) Spirou Superdupont Spike and Suzy, also called Bob & Bobette or Willy and Wanda, originally Flemish Suske en Wiske Tintin...

External links

• BD Paradisio: http://www.bdparadisio.com/ (in French).
  
• BDSelection: http://www.bdselection.com/ (in French).
  
• Zilverendolfijn: http://www.zilverendolfijn.nl/.
  
• De 9de kunst: http://www.de9dekunst.be/ (in Dutch).