Comic+Strips

Known in France as 'les bandes dessinées' or BD for short, comic books are very popular in a way that they never have been in the UK. They are generally considered to be an artform of their own, rather than just entertainment for children. Some of the more well-known characters such as Tintin have even reached international fame, often because of television cartoons based on the original, pencil-drawn characters. Just click on any of the cartoon images on this page and you will be re-diverted to that character's official website - have fun!



 __**The Adventures of Asterix**__ ( by René Goscinny and Albert Uderzo) - These comic strip adventures first appeared in the magazine Pilote in 1959 and to date more than thirty comic books have been published.

The series is set in Gallo-Roman times with Asterix living in a small Brittany village, not yet occupied by the Romans, but frequently attacked. The ancient Gauls fight to resist this Roman occupation by drinking a magic potion, which gives them temporary superhuman powers. Asterix's rather unintelligent friend Obelix has permanent superhuman powers since he apparently fell in a vat of the potion when he was a young boy! Asterix's faithful dog, Dogmatix, accompanies him on all kinds of exciting adventures.

The Asterix series is one of the most popular Franco-Belgian comics in the world, with the series being translated into over 100 different languages.

The success of the series has led to the adaptation of several books into 11 films; eight animated, and three with live actors. Here is a selection of short extracts from some of those animations. media type="custom" key="4481024"

  **__Boule et Bill__** (by Jean Roba) - This is a very popular comic, first created in 1959 by the Belgian writer-artist. The highly amusing adventures centre around a typical family: a man and his wife, their young son Boule and Bill the cocker spaniel. Some stories even feature the family's pet turtle, Caroline. Most of the mayhem happens in or around the family home but other mishaps occur on family outings or holidays to the beach. Here is one of my favourite episodes. media type="custom" key="4481196" And here are some wonderful [|'Boule et Bill' pictures] that you can print out and colour in at home.

**__Gaston Lagaffe__** (by André Franquin) - This very popular comic strip, originally created in 1957, focuses on the every-day life of a lazy and accident-prone news-office junior, whose surname actually means 'the blunder!' Gaston avoids doing any work and even takes a nap while all around him panic over deadlines. At first, Gaston was an irritating simpleton, but he developed a likeable personality and sense of humour. He certainly doesn't have any common sense however and creates disaster wherever he strikes! Take a look at these two videos; the first shows images from comic books featuring Gaston whilst the second is an extract from a new, televised cartoon adaptation.

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** __Lucky Luke__ ** (by Morris and Goscinny) - The main character of this Franco-Belgian collaboration is Lucky Luke, a crime-fighting, all round good guy, known as 'the fastest cowboy in the wild-west.' It is said that he can shoot faster than his shadow! He fights against injustice, usually involving the bumbling Dalton brothers, Joe, William, Jack and Averell. He rides "the smartest horse in the world" - Jolly Jumper. This is a trailer for his animated film adventure 'Tous à l'ouest.' media type="custom" key="4481544" There are plenty of Lucky Luke pictures on the [|jedessine.com website] - either colour them on-line or print them off and complete at home.

** __The Adventures of Tintin__ ** (by Hergé) - 'The Adventures of Tintin' is a series of comic strips created by Belgian Georges Remi under the pseudonym Hergé. They first appeared in 1929, in a children's supplement to a Belgian newspaper. The stories relate the adventures of Tintin, his faithful fox terrier Snowy and other characters such as grumpy Captain Haddock, the intelligent but hard-of-hearing Professor Calculus and the bungling, incompetent detectives Thomson and Thompson. The series is one of the most popular European comics of the 20th century, with translations published in over 50 languages and more than 200 million copies of the books sold to date. Here are two short extracts from Tintin's animated adventures as well as two very old black and white clips from 1960 in which Hergé quickly sketches Tintin and Captain Haddock. media type="custom" key="4481482" <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">You'll find a wide selection of Tintin pictures to print and colour [|here] and [|here].

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">**__Babar__** (by Jean de Brunhoff) - The story of Babar first appeared in its comic strip form in 1931 and was based on a tale that Brunhoff's wife, Cecile, had invented for their children. As a very young elephant, Babar witnesses his mother being killed by hunters and flees the jungle for Paris where he is befriended by a kind old lady, who buys him clothes and sends him to school to learn how to read and write. Following the death of the elephant king however, Babar's cousins, Celeste and Arthur, track Babar down in the big city and persuade him to return to the elephant realm where, because of his education, he is crowned as the new king and brings western civilisation to his fellow elephants. <span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">Here is a short, animated Babar clip entitles 'Halt, who goes there?' media type="custom" key="4481558" <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">You can find plenty of Babar pictures to print off and colour by clicking [|here] or [|here.]

<span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 140%;">Did you realise that Bury's twin town of Angoulême is the capital of comic-book art? Every year, in late January, the town hosts an enormous comic-strip festival, 'Le Festival International de la Bande Dessinée', which regularly pulls close to a quarter of a million visitors to the region. There are performances, interviews, exhibitions and artists sign endless copies of their books for devoted fans. Just to give you a flavour of the event, here's some video footage from the 35th annual festival in 2008.

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<span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 140%;">It looks really exciting doesn't it? To find out more about the town's comic-book festival, why not take a look at [|this Wikipedia page;] it's full of extra information!

<span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 140%;">Dotted all around the town are many reminders of Angoulême's link with 'la bande dessinée.' A statue of Hergé, the Belgian creator of Tintin can be found in the town centre and street names on many of the house fronts are written inside metal speech bubbles or 'bulles' as they are called in French. Colourful paintings by famous BD artists decorate the sides of several buildings... <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 140%;">

<span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 140%;">Follow [|this link] for a virtual tour of all the painted walls in Angoulême. Once on the website, click any of the small orange squares on the map to see what has been painted at each location. You can make each picture bigger by selecting 'agrandir l'image.'

<span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 140%;">Similar examples of cartoon strip wall art can be found in Brussels, the capital city of Begium. Take a look at this photostream from [|Flickr] and see if you recognise any of the characters.

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<span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 140%;">Now here is a slideshare of cartoon strips created by some very talented pupils at our partner school, Alphonse Daudet, in Angoulême. media type="custom" key="4828425"

<span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 140%;">Perhaps the thought becoming a cartoon-strip illustrator is your dream job? Well, if it is, then take a look at this selection of videos that will teach you some of the tricks of the trade. media type="custom" key="5182493"