European Comics and American Comics ...

[Alrik]

Hello, everyone.

I was quite baffled as I saw Shantara didn't know Lucky Luke. This is a true classic here, but seemingly not so much outside Europe.

Belgium has a very well known "comics industry", as I call it for now. Many good comics are produced in France and in Belgium. I don't know much about German comics, but I do know there are good, talented German comic writers as well.

How are things, how much do you know about European comics ? Not only Lucky Luke, but also Tintin, Asterix, the Smurfs and so on ? And what do you think about them ?

And how much do Europeans know about American comics ?

Alrik

[Elliot Kane]

From the POV of Britain, we don't get many of the European comic, mainly because a lot of them don't get translated, and we tend to be the most monolingual people around.

That said, I think most of us know Asterix and Tintin, who are very popular.

We do get a lot of US imports, so I am more familiar with the likes of Superman than Blacksad.

And from the UK POV (Or from mine, at least ), 2000AD is the best, of course

[Alrik]

Yes, I agree : Translations is a different thing ...

[The Spider]

I was born in America and I've heard of Asterix, Tintin, and Lucky Luke, but that's mostly because my parents and other relatives were familiar with the comics.

Smurfs though, I was familiar with through the cartoon airing.

[Gray Lensman]

At this point, Asterix and Tintin have crossed over into the US pretty well. I always see volumes of those in the bookstores now. However, this is a fairly recent phenomenon for us. I doubt you'd be able to find them some ten to twenty years ago.

I'm American, but my family is European, so I got exposed to Asterix at an early age. That said, my exposure to European comics is still pretty limited. I'd love to learn more about European comics, but the real problem is getting hold of them.

Honestly, the US comics market is pretty insular. Aside from a very strong manga market that's grown inside the last few years or so, you won't see many comics from outside the US over here. It's a shame, but the US market is very hard to penetrate, sadly.

[SilvaShado]

Very true. I was trying to follow 2000 AD, but once an issue is missed, it's very hard to find. So I've had to given up for now, though mostly because of finances.

It'd be nice, though, to be able to read other countries comics here in America. Unfortunately, manga is the only type that has been able to get in, though most of the content has been aimed at younger audiences. It'll still take quite a few years for more mature work to get in.

[Galadriel]

Isn't there anyone who knows the comics of Suske & Wiske, short for François and Louise, here is a list of the names that are used in the different countries:
# Afrikaans (SA): Neelsie & Miemsie
# Chinese (Taiwanese version): Dada & Beibei
# Chinese (Version mainland): Bo bu & Bo be te
# Danish: Finn & Fiffi (later: Bob & Bobette)
# Esperanto: Cisko kaj Vinjo
# English (UK): Spike & Suzy
# English (USA): Willy & Wanda
# Finnish: Anu ja Antti
# French: Bob & Bobette
# Greek: Bobi & Lou
# Indonesian: Bobby dan Wanda
# Italian: Bob e Bobette
# Japanese: Susuka tó Wisuka
# Latin: Lucius et Lucia
# Norway: Finn & Fiffi
# Portugese: Bibi & Baba
# Portugese (Brazil): Zé & Maria
# Spanish: Bob y Bobette, Bob y Bobet
# Swahili (afrikan): Bob na Bobette
# Tamil (Indonisia): Bayankaap & Bayanam
# Tibetan: Baga & Basang
# Iceland: Siggi og Vigga
# Swedish: Finn & Fiffi
Very popular comics here in Belgium, we can follow their adventures in the newspaper too
They are 60 this year, but you wouldn't say ;D

[Galadriel]

Ok, because I just wanna show of with our great comics, here are some more of the best we have to offer in that genre ;D
Blauwbloezen (as much as the blue shirts) about the civil war in America, North vs. South
Very good humour in these!
Lucky Luke! Shoots faster then his shadow! ;D

Kuifje or Tintin, with his faithful little doggie Bobby

Robbedoes or Spirou,

from the same editor there is the Marsipulami and Guust Flater (something like Joe Mistakes or so)
Natasja, the hot stewardess from the same writer Peyo we have our Smurfs
Kiekeboe (free translated as Peekaboo)
De Geuzen (from the same writer as Suske & Wiske)

Also from Willy Vandersteen, Robert & Bertrand

We have very good comics, but the best are from Willy Vandersteen, with that typical kind of Belgian humour in it and always a little bit of history in.

Enjoy!

[Gray Lensman]

I can't say I've ever heard of them, Gal, but I'm intrigued. Tintin is pretty much my only exposure to Belgian comics, sadly. But that series sounds interesting. Also has serious staying power if it's lasted that long.

[Galadriel]

greylensman said:

I can't say I've ever heard of them, Gal, but I'm intrigued. Tintin is pretty much my only exposure to Belgian comics, sadly. But that series sounds interesting. Also has serious staying power if it's lasted that long.

You can always ask for them in your local comicbook store? I'm sure you can have most of them in English, or at least in French or German. Try E-bay, a lot of the comics are selled there. But like I said, most of them has this typical dry Belgian humour in it.

[The Spider]

I remember seeing Disney use Marsipulami for some cartoons (and they might've reprinted some of the comics in DISNEY ADVENTURES).

[Galadriel]

thespider said:

I remember seeing Disney use Marsipulami for some cartoons (and they might've reprinted some of the comics in DISNEY ADVENTURES).

They did? I wonder if you could find me that cartoon?

[peterh]

I grew up on a healthy mix of Disney, DC (and a bit Marvel), comic strips and European comics. The Danish album market was wonderful - you could read anything from TinTin to Milo manara and even Love and Rockets - it's was a very diverse market and probably still is.

I know the comics Gal refers to, though I can't remember the Danish names for Kiekebo, De Geuzen and Robert&Bertram - so I can't be sure I've read them

[Galadriel]

I have found out that the comics of Guust Flater are called Gaston Lagaffe in French. I'm looking for the Robert & Bertrand, Kiekeboe and De Guezen comics in other languages, but I can't find any so far.

[Alrik]

Yes, I also know him by the name of "Gaston", but in my early days some comic characters were called a bit differently here in Germany.

To me, Lucky Luke & Asterix are true classics.

I know Suske & Wiske from my "early days", but I don't remember their names. I hardly see them here.

A completely German thing (at least as far as I know) is the character Nick Knatterton, a German detective from the 50s-70s.
English article about him :
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nick_Knatterton

[peterh]

Gaston lagaffe, Or Vakse Viggo as he is called in Denmark, is a monthly feature in our bi-weekly Beetle Biley comic.

BB is a collection of comic strips featuring besides BB such cartoons as Hagar, Zits, BC, Swamp and others. Amazingly it's been selling in the 250.000 range sometime. Nowadays it's read by 205.000 people - biweekly! That's more than any US comic sells on a monthly basis.

Asterix, Lucky Luke, Spirou and others are still being published in the album format, which is roughly the same size as the Marvel Absolute hardcovers and are selling quite good. We've had a long tradition for publishing albums that dates back to the 70ies and sales are still strong.

[The Spider]

galadriel said:

thespider said:

I remember seeing Disney use Marsipulami for some cartoons (and they might've reprinted some of the comics in DISNEY ADVENTURES).

They did? I wonder if you could find me that cartoon?

I don't know for sure. I'll have to see if I actually kept it, because I cut down my collection of DISNEY ADVENTURES in the past year.