Figure 1.--Archibald in "Ribambelle" was a kind of a French Richy Rich. Notably his friend Phil looked like an American boy in long pants jeans. I get the impression he might have been English as his thoughts sometimes appear in English rather than French text. His outfit os of course that of an English school boy. The name Archibald also seems rather English as does a Butler named James. |
There were several popular comic magazines in France. One was Le journal de Spirou (actually published in Belgium) which began publishing in 1939. It inclided Spiron of course, with the "Marsupilami", but also "La patrouille des castors", "Boule et bill", "Buck Danny", "Gaston lagaffe" , "Natacha", "Yoko Tsuno" and "The smurfs". Le journal Tintin was first published in 1946, also in Belgium. It inclided "Tintin" along with "Blake and Mortimer", "Ric Hochet", "Modeste et Pompon", "Alix", and "Corentin". All the French cartoons between 1945 and 1980 were found in these two magazine. After, came "Pilote" which was a French magazine, in which we found "Asterix", "Jacques Legall" and "Barbe Rouge". The illustrators were the cartoonist of other cartoons in the Belgian magazines. American boys did not subscribe to comic books like magazines, but rather brought them in the "drug store". I'm not sure how these French comic magazines were distributed. It is interesting to note the number of cartoonms that were popular in France that were actually published or created by Belgian illustrators.
There were several popular comic magazines in France. One was Le journal de Spirou (actually published in Belgium) which began publishing in 1939. It inclided Spiron of course, with the "Marsupilami", but also "La patrouille des castors", "Boule et bill", "Buck Danny", "Gaston lagaffe" , "Natacha", "Yoko Tsuno" and "The smurfs". "La Ribambelle" also appeared in Le journal de Spirou. Le journal Tintin was first published in 1946, also in Belgium. It inclided "Tintin" along with "Blake and Mortimer", "Ric Hochet", "Modeste et Pompon", "Alix", and "Corentin". All the French cartoons between 1945 and 1980 were found in these two magazine. After, came "Pilote" which was a French magazine, in which we found "Asterix", "Jacques Legall" and "Barbe Rouge".
Several of these cartoonists are of special interest to HBC as they show children;s fashions. Herge (Georges Remy) of course drew "Tintin". "La patrouille des castors" was drawn by Michel Tacq dit mitacq. "La Ribambelle" was drawn by Roba.
American boys did not subscribe to comic books like magazines, but rather brought them in the "drug store". I'm not sure how these French comic magazines were distributed. A French reader tell us, "When i was teenager in the 1960s, I was a subscriptor of "Tintin" and i received "Spirou" from a cousin. I perconally think that the best years were from 1957-80. These weekly magazines were also sold in libraries. (In America comic books were never sold in libraries.) "
The French cartoon magazines were most popualr in the 1950 and 60s. At that time there was no much competition. Their popularity in France was the same as Harry Potter is today. In the 1960s, cartoons only appeared on one page in newspapers weekly. Later, they were on 2 and then 4 pages. The first authors became old, new authors came, with a more complicated drawing, more "adult" and the succes became decreasing. Gradually the magazines closed. Now, a lot of them are TV cartoons: "Tintin", "Lucky Lucke", "Spirou", "les schtroumpfs" (the smurfs), and "la Ribambelle".
It is interesting to note the number of cartoonms that were popular in France that were actually published or created by Belgian illustrators. I am not sure why this was. I asked one of our French readers. He replied, " I don't know exactly. I think the influence of Herge (Georges Remy-- the author of "Tintin") is the most credible explanation. He was an inspiration for others young illustrators who themselves became cartoonists. He was the creator of a style of drawing called "la ligne claire" we find in the other cartoons. It was a school of drawing. All of the French-language cartoonisrs are not Belgians, but the majority of them are. Some of them comes from the south of France. They found publishers (Casterman for Tintin, Dupuis for Spirou) who had confidence in their work. Belgium as is well known is a land of drawers daring back to the "Primitifs flamands" such as Breughel, Vanderheycken, and Rembrandt. Charleroi is the main town of the Belgian (and French) cartoons with the presence of the Dupuis editor (Spirou). There are statues of cartoons heroes, and the basketball team (vice champion of Belgium) is called "les spirous".
Some will stay that cartoons for children are so inconsequential that theu do not merit any serious examination. Here HBC disagrees. American boys in the 1930s-60s read comic magazine with great intensity. We rather suspect that the same was true in France. The magazines must have had some impact on young minds, although we are not able yet to assess this impact. American cartoons like Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, Superman, Batman, ect. were distrbuted in France and other countries. The same was not true of French/Belgian cartoons which are virtually unknown to the Americam reader. Thus an examination of these cartoons is especially important to American and also probably English readers. A side note. These cartoons would be a wonderful resource for French teachers in American and English schools trying to enliven their classes.
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