Bandes dessinées, abbreviated BDs and also referred to as Franco-Belgian comics, are comics that are usually originally in French and created for readership in France and Belgium. These countries have a long tradition in comics, separate from that of English-language comics. Belgium is a mostly bilingual country, and comics originally in Dutch are culturally a part of the world of bandes dessinées, even if the translation from French to Dutch far outweighs the other direction.
André Franquin was an influential Belgian comics artist, whose best-known creations are Gaston and Marsupilami. He also produced the Spirou et Fantasio comic strip from 1946 to 1968, a period seen by many as the series' golden age.
Marsupilami is a comic book character and fictional animal species created by André Franquin. Its first appearance was in the 31 January 1952 issue of the Franco-Belgian comics magazine Spirou. Since then it appeared regularly in the popular Belgian comics series Spirou & Fantasio, as a pet of the main characters, until Franquin stopped working on the series; the character's final appearance in the series during Franquin's lifetime was in 1970.
Lucky Luke is a Western comic album series created by Belgian cartoonist Morris in 1946. Morris wrote and drew the series single-handedly until 1955, after which he started collaborating with French writer René Goscinny. Their partnership lasted until Goscinny's death in 1977. Afterwards, Morris collaborated with several other writers until his own death in 2001. Since Morris's death, French artist Achdé has drawn the series, scripted by several successive writers.
Spirou is a weekly Belgian comics magazine published by the Dupuis company since April 21, 1938. It is an anthology magazine with new features appearing regularly, containing a mix of short humor strips and serialized features, of which the most popular series would be collected as albums by Dupuis afterwards.
Joseph Gillain, better known by his pen name Jijé, was a Belgian comics artist, best known for being a seminal artist on the Spirou et Fantasio strip and the creator of one of the first major European western strips, Jerry Spring.
The Prix Jeunesse 9–12 ans is awarded to comics authors at the Angoulême International Comics Festival. It rewards the best album for a 9 to 12 years old targeted public. The award started in 1981 as the "Alfred enfant", without the distinction in age groups. In 1984, the named changed for one year to "Alfred du meilleur album enfant". From 1987, distinction is made between the age categories. This award is then called "Alfred moins de 12 ans". In 1988, the name changes to "Alfred du meilleur album jeunesse". In 1989, the name changes again to "Alph'art Jeunesse". Between 1991 and 1995, the distinction between the two categories disappears. In 1996, the name changes to "Alph'art Jeunesse 9–12 ans".
Emmanuel Larcenet, known as Manu Larcenet is a French cartoonist. He worked with Fluide Glacial magazine from 1995 to 2006 and with Spirou magazine from 1997 to 2004. He has also founded the French publisher Les Rêveurs in 1998. Since 2000, he mostly works with Dargaud.
Bernard Hislaire is a Belgian comic book creator. He is also known as Sylaire and as Yslaire, his current artist name.
Spirou & Fantasio, commonly shortened to Spirou, is one of the most popular classic Franco-Belgian comics. The series, which has been running since 1938, shares many characteristics with other European humorous adventure comics like The Adventures of Tintin, Lucky Luke, and Asterix. It has been written and drawn by a succession of artists.
Claire Bretécher was a French cartoonist, known particularly for her portrayals of women and gender issues. Her creations included Les Frustrés, and the unimpressed teenager Agrippine.
Les Tuniques Bleues is a Belgian series of bandes dessinées, first published in Spirou magazine and later collected in albums by Dupuis. Created by artist Louis Salvérius and writer Raoul Cauvin, the series was taken up by artist Lambil after Salverius' death. It follows two United States Army cavalrymen through a series of battles and adventures. The first album of the series was published in 1970. The series' name, Les Tuniques Bleues, literally "the bluecoats", refers to the uniforms of the Union Army during the American Civil War. Cinebook has started to print the comics in English as "The Bluecoats", releasing Robertsonville Prison in 2008. It is one of the best-selling series in French-language comics.
Éditions Dupuis S.A. is a Belgian publisher of comic albums and magazines.
Jean-Michel Charlier was a Belgian comics writer. He was a co-founder of the famed Franco-Belgian comics magazine Pilote.
Michel Régnier, best known by his pseudonym Greg, was a Belgian cartoonist best known for Achille Talon, and later became editor of Tintin magazine.
Jean Roba was a Belgian comics author from the Marcinelle school. His best-known work is Boule et Bill.
Marcel Denis was a French-speaking Belgian comics creator. He was the creator of the series Hultrasson and Les Frères Clips in Spirou magazine. He also made two episodes of Tif et Tondu. He was a part of the so-called Marcinelle School, influenced by Jijé and André Franquin.
The Belgian Comic Strip Center is a museum in central Brussels, Belgium, dedicated to Belgian comics. It is located at 20, rue des Sables/Zandstraat, in an Art Nouveau building designed by Victor Horta, and can be accessed from Brussels-Congress railway station and Brussels-Central railway station.
Maurice De Bevere, better known as Morris, was a Belgian comics artist, illustrator and the creator of Lucky Luke, a bestselling comic series about a gunslinger in the American Wild West. He was inspired by the adventures of the historic Dalton Gang and other outlaws. It was a bestselling series for more than 50 years that was translated into 23 languages and published internationally. He collaborated for two decades with French writer René Goscinny on the series. Morris's pen name is an Anglicized version of his first name.
Les Aventures d'Attila, also known as Attila, is a French-Belgian comic strip series of humorous animal adventures created in 1967 by Belgian scriptwriter Maurice Rosy and Swiss illustrator Derib in Spirou No. 1531. From 1968 onwards, Maurice Kornblum joined as a co-writer for the series. Didgé took over drawing duties in 1987 for a final story.
