Cor!
May 4, 2012 10:53 PM   Subscribe

 
It's a strange categorization they have chosen, as shown by the fact that their first example of a "Franco-Belgian" comic (Blacksad), is actually Spanish. Styles are no longer as divided by national lines as they once were.
posted by Skeptic at 11:24 PM on May 4, 2012 [2 favorites]


it's awesome to see many of these, simply because they are overlooked. but the images appear to have been selected based on what was easily available via hi-rez google image search, not on striking quality of illos.

also, regarding English comics:

"These three, and others like them, are aimed at the semi-literate working class"

oh come on. You either is or you ain't lit rit and if you call someone semi-literate you ain't on my team. typos most certainly excluded as a mark of literacy.
posted by mwhybark at 11:36 PM on May 4, 2012 [2 favorites]


Less "shining" than random, but, hey.

Europe very often does BD really amazingly well. These aren't that. At all.
posted by Sys Rq at 11:55 PM on May 4, 2012


Francisco Ibañez anthropomorphized his signature.
posted by BiggerJ at 12:22 AM on May 5, 2012




Pro tip: look at the pretty covers, ignore the text, because whoever wrote this has no clue whatsoever about European comics.
posted by MartinWisse at 1:26 AM on May 5, 2012 [3 favorites]


Those Dylan Dog covers are super great.
posted by painquale at 2:02 AM on May 5, 2012


Was thinking of FPPing this a while back, but it'll do here: I Love Comic Covers is a huge archive of pairs of comic covers that are related in some way (usually homages). Updated daily.
posted by painquale at 2:10 AM on May 5, 2012 [2 favorites]


The Dandy and Beano covers there might help foreigners understand Viz Comic a little better. Maybe.
posted by Decani at 2:14 AM on May 5, 2012


The lack of 2000 AD makes a mockery of this list.
A MOCKERY.

(I had no idea Dylan Dog was European. I blame that awful movie).

Dandy and Beano I had heard of, and read as a kid, but the third UK one? Nope.
posted by Mezentian at 4:19 AM on May 5, 2012 [1 favorite]


missing some german comic book covers, so I'll post these here from Reprodukt:

- Acht, neun, zehn
- Der unschuldige Passagier
- Das Haus
- Insekt
- wandering ghost
posted by ts;dr at 4:30 AM on May 5, 2012


Typo in title: Cor!! Should have TWO exclamation marks.

I agree with Mezentian. No 2000AD, no Eagle, no Don Lawrence? Clearly the list was designed to reassure Americans that they're not missing anything.
posted by EnterTheStory at 5:35 AM on May 5, 2012


At the risk of being entirely self-serving, if anyone in here is really into Franco-Belgian or other European comics, and writing about them in English, I have a long-neglected* English-language bédé review site** that I keep meaning to get back to, but keep letting other things get in the way. If anyone wants to contribute to it, or even take the thing over, drop me a MeMail.

*So much so that I notice that the recent WP upgrades have broken the design a bit. Oops.

**The idea is that while my French comprehension is super good, my output is middling at best; there are a lot of other English fans of bédé out there with the same language profile as me, and I think they could be well-served by well-written articles and critiques on Eurocomics.
posted by Shepherd at 6:18 AM on May 5, 2012 [1 favorite]


Bananaman saves the Royal Wedding! Yes!

Also, well timed post with it being Free Comics Day and all!
posted by davros42 at 6:36 AM on May 5, 2012


I learnt to read rapidly by myself because Mom refused to read out Dad's weekly Dandy and Beano to me. She preferred to read out loud from the daily newspaper.
posted by infini at 6:40 AM on May 5, 2012


I agree with Mezentian. No 2000AD, no Eagle, no Don Lawrence? Clearly the list was designed to reassure Americans that they're not missing anything.

Yeah, it's a bit weird - nice to see The Dandy et al get a mention though.

I really should read some of those Edgar P Jacobs books sometime.
posted by Artw at 6:54 AM on May 5, 2012


NO JOANN SFAR, NO PEACE
posted by The Whelk at 8:23 AM on May 5, 2012


No Enki Bilal? That's a thing that has to be fixed ASAP.
posted by byanyothername at 8:45 AM on May 5, 2012 [1 favorite]


I know it means "I ... Vampire!" but "Yo ... vampiro!" sounds awesome. It's as if some urban youth, off of the cover page, is calling to the vampire on the cover.
posted by filthy light thief at 9:13 AM on May 5, 2012 [3 favorites]


"Dracula be comin'!"
posted by Artw at 9:16 AM on May 5, 2012 [1 favorite]


I like those Blacksad covers enough that I immediately went to Wikipedia when I saw the first image and read all about Blacksad.

I went through about a dozen different but intense emotions reading the wiki, before I realized that in five minutes I had completely spoiled the whole thing for myself, and read the entire synopsis of the Blacksad books. I was all set to go buy the first comic books of my life, and the goddamn free and open internet ruined it for me.

Damn it!
posted by broadway bill at 10:35 AM on May 5, 2012


I have just learned a valuable lesson from broadway bill and as such, have ordered Blacksad from Amazon with no further investigation.
posted by grabbingsand at 10:49 AM on May 5, 2012 [5 favorites]


*offers a tissue to broadway bill*
posted by infini at 10:50 AM on May 5, 2012


I was all set to go buy the first comic books of my life, and the goddamn free and open internet ruined it for me.

Unless there were images of the way he draws blacksad's jaw, no, it didn't.
posted by ersatz at 11:20 AM on May 5, 2012


Oh come on Broadway Bill. You knew that Rosebud is Kane's sleigh but there was still something worth seeing in "Citizen Kane". The devil is in the details. If "Blacksad" sounds fascinating in a few kilobytes of Wikipedia spoilers, imagine how awesome everything that got left out will be.

(I keep meaning to check it out, maybe even in the original French because I've been slowly trying to learn that. So I can't speak to the actual details.)
posted by egypturnash at 11:35 AM on May 5, 2012 [1 favorite]


Adding an old fave into the mix, Lucky Luke (image from Cover Browser), that Belgian cowboy, who shoots faster than his shadow. Klondike.
posted by nickyskye at 11:37 AM on May 5, 2012 [1 favorite]


No Judge Dredd? Man, I pity anyone who only knows of this from the lame-o Stallone movie
posted by Redhush at 11:45 AM on May 5, 2012


I really should read some of those Edgar P Jacobs books sometime.

They're ... strange. Artwise it's in the same style as Herge of course, what Joost Swarte would later dub the clear line (ligne claire/klare lijn) but without any of the humour of Tintin. The stories are decent enough adventure tales, incredibly text heavy, even more so than Tintin and weirdly old fashioned; most written between 1947 and 1960, but they feel like they were written before the war.
posted by MartinWisse at 12:46 PM on May 5, 2012 [1 favorite]


Crivvens! Have ye no heard of The Broons? Have a wee peek. Dinnae mind the words, ye'll get used tae them soon enough, and it's a richt bonny sound tae hear.
posted by fearnothing at 3:17 PM on May 5, 2012 [1 favorite]


Crivvens! Have ye no heard of The Broons?

I was going to mention the Broons. But the last strip I read saw Maw trying to find a tuppence for the gas meter. It wasn't as if she had no money, she just didn't have a tuppence!
posted by mattoxic at 3:57 PM on May 5, 2012


I'll forgive the list's mistake as it reminded me to check out Blacksad.

I wish there was some commentary or side-by-side contrast with comparable American covers or something.
posted by porpoise at 8:00 PM on May 5, 2012


I can only recommend Blacksad: clever storylines, really good art.

Edgar P. Jacobs is good, pulpy fun. And yes, more reminiscent of 1920s and 30s fiction than of anything else. This said, among his works, I'd recommend above all "The Yellow M", with its Hitchcockesque intrigue.

Now, the really big author missing from the list is Franquin. This is all the more galling since the list includes Francisco Ibáñez, who copied him pretty unashamedly (including the idea of doing silly things with his signature).
posted by Skeptic at 1:06 PM on May 6, 2012 [1 favorite]


Follow-Up:
Received Blacksad last week.
Best graphic novel I've read in years. Amazing characterization and backgrounds so rich you could get lost in.
posted by grabbingsand at 8:32 AM on May 21, 2012


I picked up a collection of Asterix comic strips from the 1960s -90s yesterday. Which reminds me, why weren't Goscinny and Uderzo mentioned in this FPP? huh?
posted by infini at 9:16 AM on May 21, 2012


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