Line #101 Main/BelgianComics


1	[[quoteright:290:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/belgiancomics.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:290:A promotional stamp for the Belgian Center of Comic Strips in Brussels.]]
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4	Despite being a small European country, UsefulNotes/{{Belgium}} is considered to be one of the more important countries in comics with a huge comic book industry, along with UsefulNotes/TheUnitedStates, France and Japan. The country even habits the most comic strip authors per square mile in the world!
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6	The history of Belgium's comic books industry started way back in 1929, when Creator/{{Herge}} (1907-1983) drew the first ''Franchise/{{Tintin}}'' comic strip. During the 1930s he also created other series like ''ComicStrip/QuickAndFlupke'' (1930) and ''ComicBook/JoZetteAndJocko'' (1936). Back then there was no real European comic book culture, despite a few local succesful series. Tintin's popularity not only spawned Belgium's longtime affiliation with comics, but also became the first internationally popular European comic strip, being translated in countless languages across the globe.
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8	During the 1920s, 1930s and Second World War Hergé published his stories in newspapers. In 1946, after the war, he and Raymond Leblanc founded the comic book magazine ''Tintin''. It started a direct rivalry with the oldest (and still running) Belgian comic book magazine ''Magazine/{{Spirou}}'' that started publication in 1938. ''Spirou'''s main mascot was Spirou from the comic book series ''ComicBook/SpirouAndFantasio''. Both magazines were very popular and mostly published Belgian and French series that have been nicknamed FrancoBelgianComics. Most of the stories were drawn by French or Walloon (the Frenchspeaking part of Belgium) authors and thus most of the French language Belgian comics were published in either ''Tintin'' or ''Spirou''. ''Tintin'' had a more serious tone and therefore mostly attracted authors who drew in a realistic style and heavily studied background information before even putting a pencil line on paper. The magazine's main stars were ''Tintin, ComicBook/BlakeAndMortimer, ComicBook/{{Alix}}, ComicBook/SuskeEnWiske, ComicBook/ChickBill, ComicBook/{{Thorgal}}, ComicBook/{{Cubitus}}, ComicBook/LeonardLeGenie, ComicBook/{{Chlorophylle}},...'' Spirou had a more comedic tone and thus attracted authors who drew in a less realistic style and whose stories relied more on humour than well documented plot. Their stars were ''ComicBook/SpirouAndFantasio, ComicBook/TheSmurfs, ComicBook/TifEtTondu, ComicBook/LuckyLuke, ComicBook/BuckDanny, ComicBook/GastonLagaffe, Franchise/{{Marsupilami}}, ComicBook/BillyAndBuddy, ComicBook/BenoitBrisefer, ComicBook/JohanAndPeewit, ComicBook/LesTuniquesBleues, ComicBook/LesFemmesEnBlanc, ComicBook/{{Natacha}}, ComicBook/YokoTsuno, ComicBook/PierreTombal''.... In the 1970s the Tintin magazine gradually became less popular and after Hergé's death in 1983 it quickly went bankrupt in 1991. ''Spirou'' still remains popular, but the Dutch version ''Robbedoes'' ceased all publication in 2005.
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10	In Flanders (the Dutch speaking part of Belgium) some comics were published in the 1930s, but most of them were more traditional stories without text balloons, but with small texts in captions below each drawing. The real father of the Flemish comic strip was Willy Vandersteen (1913-1990) who started publishing his first comics and cartoons around 1938. During the 1940s he started producing many series, until finally strucking gold with ''ComicBook/SuskeEnWiske''. The popularity of this humorous family comic strip soon spread to the rest of Belgium and even the Netherlands. Over the years Vandersteen produced many new series, including ''ComicBook/DeRodeRidder'' and ''Bessy'', to name just a few. He founded a studio where many co-workers helped him running new episodes of all these series for decades. Vandersteen's success was the trigger for other succesful Flemish comic series, such as ''ComicStrip/{{Nero}}'' (1947-2002), ''ComicBook/PietPienterEnBertBibber'' (1950-1995) and ''ComicBook/{{Jommeke}}'' (1955- ...). Since the 1970s only three new comic book series remain succesful to this date. Only one of them is an entire new creation: ''ComicBook/DeKiekeboes'' (1977...). The other two are spin-offs based on television celebrities: ''ComicBook/{{Urbanus}}'' (1982-...), based on the popular Flemish comedian Urbanus, and ''Series/FCDeKampioenen'' (1997-...), based on a popular Flemish sitcom. Compared to their Walloon counterparts Flemish comics were mainly published in newspapers instead of magazines. Therefore Flemish comic authors had to whip out two new comic strip panels every day, while the Walloon comic authors published one entire page each week.
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12	The Belgian comic strip industry has been cited as one of the few things that keep the bi-lingual communities in the country together. Indeed there have been many Flemish and Walloon artists who worked together on the same comic strip. The Flemish comic strip artist Bob De Moor was an assistant of the French-speaking Creator/{{Herge}} for many years. Flemish comic strip artist Morris published in the Walloon magazine ''Spirou'' and Flemish artist Willy Vandersteen also worked for the French-speaking magazine ''Tintin'' for a decade. Flemish-born artist William Vance and French-speaking comic strip writer Jean Van Hamme collaborated together on ''ComicBook/{{XIII}}''.
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14	There's also a strong link with France. Some comic strip artists who published in the Belgian comic strip magazines ''Tintin'' and ''Spirou'' were in fact native Frenchmen, such as Jacques Martin (''ComicBook/{{Alix}}'') and Tibet (''ComicBook/ChickBill, ComicBook/RicHochet''). The scripts for the Flemish comic strip ''ComicBook/LuckyLuke'' by Morris were for many years written by Frenchman Creator/ReneGoscinny. For information about this connection, see FrancoBelgianComics.
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16	!!Belgian comic book series:
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18	[[index]]
19	* ''ComicBook/{{XIII}}''
20	* ''L'Agent 212''
21	* ''ComicBook/{{Alix}}''
22	* ''ComicBook/Aria1979''
23	* ''Bakelandt''
24	* ''ComicBook/BarbeRouge''
25	* ''ComicBook/BenoitBrisefer''
26	* ''Bernard Prince''
27	* ''Bert en Bobje''
28	* ''Bessy''
29	* ''Biebel''
30	* ''ComicBook/BillyAndBuddy''
31	* ''ComicBook/BillyTheCat''
32	* ''ComicBook/BlakeAndMortimer''
33	* ''ComicBook/{{Blueberry}}''
34	* ''ComicBook/BuckDanny''
35	* ''ComicBook/LeChat''
36	* ''ComicBook/{{Chlorophylle}}''
37	* ''Cowboy Henk''
38	* ''ComicBook/{{Cubitus}}''
39	* ''De Familie Snoek''
40	* ''ComicBook/LesDemonsDAlexia''
41	* ''ComicBook/LesFemmesEnBlanc''
42	* ''Series/FCDeKampioenen''
43	* ''ComicBook/FranquinsLastLaugh''
44	* ''ComicBook/GastonLagaffe''
45	* ''Germain... et nous''
46	* ''ComicBook/GhostMoney''
47	* ''Gil Jourdan''
48	* ''ComicBook/TheGreatPowerOfChninkel'' (''Le Grand Pouvoir du Chninkel'')
49	* ''ComicBook/InspectorCanardo''
50	* ''ComicBook/{{Jeremiah}}''
51	* ''Jessica Blandy''
52	* ''ComicBook/JoZetteAndJocko''
53	* ''ComicBook/JohanAndPeewit''
54	* ''ComicBook/{{Jommeke}}''
55	* ''ComicStrip/KabouterWesley''
56	* ''ComicBook/KidPaddle''
57	* ''ComicBook/DeKiekeboes''
58	* ''ComicBook/LamentOfTheLostMoors''
59	* ''Langteen en Schommelbuik''
60	* ''ComicBook/LargoWinch''
61	* ''ComicBook/LeonardLeGenie''
62	* ''ComicBook/LuckyLuke''
63	* ''ComicBook/LesLumieresDeLAmalou''
64	* ''De Lustige Kapoentjes''
65	* ''ComicBook/{{Marsupilami}}''
66	* ''ComicBook/{{Melusine}}''
67	* ''ComicBook/{{Murena}}''
68	* ''ComicBook/{{Natacha}}''
69	* ''ComicStrip/{{Nero}}''
70	* ''Olivier Rameau''
71	* ''ComicBook/{{Orphanimo}}''
72	* ''ComicBook/PauvreLambil''
73	* ''ComicBook/{{Papyrus}}''
74	* ''ComicBook/LePetitSpirou''
75	* ''ComicBook/PierreTombal''
76	* ''Piet Fluwijn en Bolleke''
77	* ''ComicBook/PietPienterEnBertBibber''
78	* ''ComicStrip/QuickAndFlupke''
79	* ''ComicBook/{{Rahan}}''
80	* ''ComicBook/RedEars''
81	* ''ComicBook/LaRibambelle''
82	* ''ComicBook/RicHochet''
83	* ''ComicBook/DeRodeRidder''
84	* ''Sam''
85	* ''Sammy''
86	* ''Series/SamsonEnGert''
87	* ''ComicBook/TheScorpion''
88	* ''ComicBook/TheScrameustache''
89	* ''ComicBook/TheSecretHistory''
90	* ''ComicBook/TheSmurfs'' (''Les Schtroumpfs'')
91	* ''ComicBook/SpirouAndFantasio''
92	* ''ComicBook/SuskeEnWiske''
93	* ''ComicBook/TheSwordOfArdenois''
94	* ''Thomas Pips''
95	* ''ComicBook/{{Thorgal}}''
96	* ''ComicBook/TifEtTondu''
97	* ''Franchise/{{Tintin}}''
98	* ''Tramp''
99	* ''ComicBook/LesTuniquesBleues'' (''The Bluecoats'')
100	* ''ComicBook/{{Urbanus}}''
101	* ''ComicBook/WalterMelon''
102	* ''ComicBook/YokoTsuno''
103
104	!!Belgian comic creators:
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106	* Creator/EnkiBilal
107	* Berck
108	* Jan Bosschaert
109	* Jan Bucquoy
110	* Raoul Cauvin
111	* Jean-Michel Charlier
112	* Paul Cuvelier
113	* Yvan Delporte
114	* Bob De Moor
115	* Dany
116	* Dupa
117	* Creator/AndreFranquin
118	* Creator/{{Greg}}
119	* Creator/{{Herge}}
120	* Edgar P. Jacobs
121	* Jijé
122	* Kamagurka
123	* Roger Leloup
124	* Hec Leemans
125	* Willy Linthout
126	* Raymond Macherot
127	* Merho
128	* Creator/{{Morris}}
129	* Jef Nys
130	* Creator/{{Peyo}}
131	* Pom
132	* Jean Roba
133	* Marc Sleen
134	* Maurice Tillieux
135	* William Vance
136	* Jean Van Hamme
137	* Creator/WillyVandersteen
138	* François Walthéry
139	* Jean Dufaux
140
141	!!Belgian comic magazines
142
143	* ''Magazine/{{Spirou}}''
144
145	[[/index]]

Context Main / BelgianComics