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La Patrouille des Castors (The Beaver Patrol) is a series of Belgian comics drawn by MiTacq and written by Jean-Michel Charlier. 30 albums were published between 1955 and 1993, by Dupuis, all relating the adventures of a Scout patrol.
This series, which was first published in Spirou magazine on November 25, 1954, relates the fictional adventures of a Scout patrol. In the first album, the patrol consisted of six Scouts, although one of them, Lapin (rabbit) disappeared quickly from future stories after the team decided five main characters was a more suitable number for the series. The artist, Michel Tacq (MiTacq), had himself been a Scout during a large part of his life. It was his idea to create a series with Scouts as the main characters, but he needed a script to realise the project, which was provided in 1954 by Charlier, already a very active scriptwriter.
The publication in Spirou lasted from 1954 until 1979 although there was a long interruption from the beginning of 1967 until April 1971, after which publication was slower than it had been before 1967, because Charlier was then very busy with the several other series for which he was writing. Charlier was eventually replaced by Marc Wasterlain who wrote the scripts for two albums, and then, MiTacq took over as writer. Several albums only credit MiTacq as writer and artist, whereas in reality he was assisted either by Charlier, Wasterlain or his friend Jacques Stoquart.
The Beaver Patrol is a group of scouts who are taken on adventurous situations provided, most of the time, by their Scout camp during their holidays in foreign countries. As all Scouts should, they act honourably and charitably, but they face enigmas and puzzles in each region they visit in the best traditions of boys own adventures. Each character of the patrol has a very distinct profile, which makes it possible for them to have all the qualities needed in difficult situations.
As the series goes on, the graphic style evolves and the protagonists get older. They replaced their blue shirt (designed for 12- to 17-year-old boys) by a red shirt (made for Pioneers, 15- to 17-year-old scouts), according to the 1964 uniform reform for Belgian Scouts. Although Spirou magazine is Belgian, as well as the two creators of the series, its audience was primarily in France. During the course of the stories the Beavers left their native country often to travel to other countries and continents. Not only did the Beavers travel in various countries but the stories also took place in varied locations, be it underground, on the sea and even underwater.
The series was parodied by the author himself in a story written with Yvan Delporte with the series La Patrouille des Zoms.
The patrol is a built like an example of a perfect Scout troop, with each member having a totem and specific qualities:
All published by Dupuis:
All of these albums were collected in the collection Tout MiTacq, consisting of 14 volumes published between 1989 and 1996 by Dupuis.
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.
Pierre Culliford was a Belgian comics writer and artist who worked under the pseudonym Peyo. His best-known works are the comic book series The Smurfs and Johan and Peewit, the latter in which the Smurfs first appeared.
Spirou is a weekly Franco-Belgian comics magazine published by the Dupuis company since April 21, 1938. It's 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.
Spirou & Fantasio 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 and Asterix. It has been written and drawn by a succession of artists.
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.
Edouard Paape, commonly known as Eddy Paape, was a Belgian comics artist best known for illustrating the series Luc Orient.
The Prix Saint-Michel is a series of comic awards presented by the city of Brussels, with a focus on Franco-Belgian comics. They were first awarded in 1971, and although often said to be the oldest European comics awards, they are actually the second oldest comics award in Europe still presented, behind the Adamson Awards. Their history is quite erratic though, with a long pause between 1986 and 2002.
Buck Danny is a Franco-Belgian comics series about a military flying ace and his two sidekicks serving in the United States Navy or the United States Air Force. The series is noted for its realism both in the drawings and the descriptions of air force procedures as part of the storyline. In particular the aircraft depicted are extremely accurate. Mixing historical references with fiction, Buck Danny is one of the most important 'classic' Franco-Belgian comic strips. Starting in 1947, the first albums were set against the backdrop of World War II, but from 1954 onwards, the series started to play in 'the present' and has so ever since. Like this, the series reads as a chronology of military aviation as well as the events that were catching people's imagination at the time of publishing, ranging from the Korean war, the cold war, UFOs, international terrorism and drug running, the space race, rogue atomic bombs, the collapse of the Soviet bloc and recently the conflicts in Sarajevo and Afghanistan. The series takes place in a floating timeline with the conflicts and aircraft changing through the times, although the main characters largely remain the same through the decades.
René Follet, sometimes known by the pen name Ref, was a Belgian illustrator, comics writer and artist.
Willy Maltaite, better known by the pseudonym Will, was a Belgian comics creator and comics artist in the Franco-Belgian tradition. In the genre known in Francophone countries as bande dessinée, Will is one of the young cartoonists trained by Jijé, who made them live and work with him in his studio in Waterloo. He is considered one of la Bande des Quatre, and a founding member of the Marcinelle school.
Natacha is a Belgian comics series, created by François Walthéry and Gos. Drawn by Walthéry, its stories have been written by several authors including Gos, Peyo, Maurice Tillieux, Raoul Cauvin and Marc Wasterlain.
Frank Pé, often signing solely as Frank is a Belgian comic book artist, best known for Broussaille and Zoo.
Les Aventures de Tanguy et Laverdure is a Franco-Belgian comics series created by Jean-Michel Charlier and Albert Uderzo, about the two pilots Michel Tanguy and Ernest Laverdure, and their adventures in the French Air Force.
François Walthéry is a Belgian comics artist, best known for his series featuring an adventurous flight attendant, Natacha.
Les Belles Histoires de l'oncle Paul, and later Les Plus Belles Histoires de l'oncle Paul, is a Belgian comics series of historical stories created by Jean-Michel Charlier and Eddy Paape and published in the Franco-Belgian comics magazine Spirou from 1951 to 1982.
Michel Tacq, or Mitacq, was an author of Belgian comics. He was involved in Scouting for most of his life.
Michel Ledent, known by the pseudonym Midam, is a Belgian comics author, best known for Kid Paddle.
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.