Pif Gadget (also simply known as Pif) was a French comic magazine for children that ran from 1969 to 1993 and 2004 to 2009. Its readership peaked in the early 1970s.
Pif has its origins in Le Jeune Patriote, a youth magazine published by French Communists during the German occupation of France during World War II. It was published illegally from January 1942 but became legal from 1944. In 1945 it was renamed Vaillant, Le Jeune Patriote. [1] In 1946 its title was shortened to Vaillant, with the tag, "le journal le plus captivant" (The Most Captivating Magazine). For the April issue of 1965, the title was changed to Vaillant, le journal de Pif, due to the popularity of its character Pif , a dog character created by José Cabrero Arnal. Until 1969, Vaillant had, like its competitors, serialized some stories over several issues, but the magazine in this incarnation ended with issue number 1238 on February 23, 1969. [2]
Pif Gadget started again as a weekly magazine with issue number 1, released on February 24, 1969, but retained the old number relative to Vaillant. [2] The magazine was called Pif et son gadget surprise for the first few months. The gadget was a "free gift" toy with each issue, including Pifises (brine shrimp in stasis, which readers could raise as minuscule pets - known in English as sea monkeys).
The cover of Pif Gadget had the strapline Tout en récits complets (all in complete stories) indicating that none of the comic strips were serialized over multiple issues. However, this reference disappeared in December 1973 with the number 250 and the appearance of the first serialized stories, taking up the model of its competitors.
Its featured comics included:
Documentary filmmaker Fredric Lean created a series based on 'Docteur Justice' for French TV network M6. [3]
Pif Gadget's record print run was one million copies, first on April 6, 1970, and again in September 1971. This set a record for a European comic strip that still stands. The paper also benefited from being able to reach the newly industrialized countries, and was one of the select few Western magazines allowed to be sold behind the Iron Curtain due to its left-wing credentials. It went into rapid decline at the same time as the Soviet Union faded, with content thinning and stories extended over several issues. Its last major feature was during the bicentennial of the French Revolution in 1989. The original version was last printed in February 1993.
Pif Gadget was revived as a monthly magazine in July 2004 under the aegis of Pif Editions, with runs of approximately 100,000 units. Saddled with about 4 million euros of debt, the 6-person company went into receivership (redressement judiciaire) in March 2007 and was wound up (liquidation judiciaire) on January 15, 2009. [4] The last issue was published in November 2008.
It has been relaunched in 2015 as a quarterly named "Super Pif".
Pif inspired similar comics in other countries including Yps in Germany and Jippo in Scandinavia. [5]
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.
Ugo Eugenio Prat, better known as Hugo Pratt, was an Italian comic book creator who was known for combining strong storytelling with extensive historical research on works such as Corto Maltese. He was inducted into the Will Eisner Award Hall of Fame in 2005. In 1946 Hugo Pratt became part of the so-called Group of Venice with Fernando Carcupino, Dino Battaglia and Damiano Damiani.
Enrique Badía Romero is a Spanish comics artist, best known to English-speaking audiences for his work on Modesty Blaise. He is also the co-creator of the post-apocalyptic science fiction strip AXA, as well as a substantial body of work in his native Spain.
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.
Bob de Groot is a Belgian comics artist and writer, born on 26 October 1941 in Brussels, to Dutch and French parents.
Pilote was a French comic magazine published from 1959 to 1989. Showcasing most of the major French or Belgian comics talents of its day the magazine introduced major series such as Astérix, Barbe-Rouge, Blueberry, Achille Talon, and Valérian et Laureline. Major comics writers like René Goscinny, Jean-Michel Charlier, Greg, Pierre Christin and Jacques Lob were featured in the magazine, as were artists such as Jijé, Morris, Albert Uderzo, Jean (Mœbius) Giraud, Enki Bilal, Jean-Claude Mézières, Jacques Tardi, Philippe Druillet, Marcel Gotlib, Alexis, and Annie Goetzinger.
José Cabrero Arnal or C. Arnal was a Spanish comics artist, who worked in France for most of his career but was never naturalized as French citizen. He is most famous for the comics series Pif le chien and Placid et Muzo.
Rahan is a French comic series about an intelligent prehistoric man that first appeared as part of Pif gadget starting in March 1969, and was then published in albums of 2 to 4 complete stories. It was initially written by Roger Lecureux, and after his death in 1999, by Lecureux's son. Rahan has over 100 stories and lasted for 30 years.
Achille Talon is a Franco-Belgian comics series featuring an eponymous main character, created by Greg. Starting publication in the Franco-Belgian comics magazine Pilote in 1963, the series presents the comic misadventures of an anti-hero.
Jean Roba was a Belgian comics author from the Marcinelle school. His best-known work is Boule et Bill.
Gai-Luron is a French comics series about a melancholic basset hound, Gai-Luron, created on July 12, 1964, by Gotlib. Originally published in the Franco-Belgian comics magazines Vaillant and Pif Gadget, the character joined Nanar, Jujube et Piette, which Gotlib had drawn since 1962, but eventually headlined a hit series of its own. The album collection series started in 1975, and the second album, Gai-Luron en écrase méchamment was awarded the prize for French comical work at the Angoulême in 1976.
Charlie Mensuel was a French monthly comics magazine. Its publication began in February 1969, and ceased in February 1986.
Jean Tabary was a French comics artist.
Arthur le fantôme justicier was a French comic strip, created, written and drawn by Jean Cézard. It was first published in Vaillant #449 from December 20, 1953. The author drew the comic strip for the Pif Gadget magazine until he died in 1977.
Notable events of 1969 in comics. See also List of years in comics. This is a list of comics-related events in 1969.
André Chéret was a French comic book artist. He is best known for creating Rahan in 1969 alongside Roger Lécureux.
Roger Lécureux, was a French comic book writer.
Pif le chien is a character from comic strip created in 1948 for the daily L'Humanité by José Cabrero Arnal. He had as his predecessor the character of Top by the same author, who was later identified as Pif's father. It is an anthropomorphic dog that forms an antagonistic/protagonist relationship with Hercules the cat. After L'Humanité, Pif became the star series of the children's newspaper Vaillant. In 1969, Vaillant was replaced by Pif Gadget. L'Humanité and the weekly L'Humanité Dimanche also published short stories of three or four boxes in each issue.