Du Tac au Tac was a 1970s French television programme which brought cartoonists together to create improvised jam drawings based on specific themes, building upon one another's illustrations. Some highlights: Neal Adams (Batman), Joe Kubert (Sgt. Rock), and Jean Giraud (Blueberry) open Pandora's Box and in another segment, create a bestiary and draw their favorite comic-book heroes. Jean Giraud and Hugo Pratt (Corto Maltese) create a 3-panel strip using four onomatopoeia provided by Jean Claude Forest (Barbarella) and Jije (Spirou and Fantasio). Goscinny and Uderzo (Asterix) play a game of equisite corpse with Greg (Achille Talon) and Davy (Olivier Rameau). [more inside]
posted by Alvy Ampersand on May 23, 2011 - 13 comments

In 1948, in the aftermath of the Second World War, with Europe still in ruins, three young Belgian comic strip artists, Joseph Gillain (aka Jijé), Maurice de Bevere (aka Morris) and André Franquin, crossed the Atlantic with the intention of settling in the US. All three would eventually return to Belgium, their hopes of working for Disney ultimately dashed by the turmoil of the McCarthy years. However, in the meantime they made the acquaintance of their colleagues of the Charles William Harvey Studio in New York, including a cosmopolitan young wit named René Goscinny. [more inside]
posted by Skeptic on Oct 29, 2009 - 37 comments

Typography from the excellent Asterix Annotations. See also.
posted by sushiwiththejury on Dec 20, 2007 - 11 comments