Bande Dessinée Belge

An overview of the comics published in Belgium, in all languages of the country, but most prominently French.

Name:

Aliases:

Belgische Strip
Belgian Comics

Start year:

None

First issue:

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Note: To avoid redundancy, this page should not be credited to all issues published by publishers from Belgium (which are listed below) but specifically to all comic material that was uniquely first published in Belgium, translated or otherwise. For an editable and easily organizable list of comics published in Belgium, click here.

Definition

This page represents all Belgian comics, not exclusively the French ones, but for more information on the shared industries it has with its neighboring countries and bande desinée in general, see their respective pages.

History

The Belgian comic industry, like many aspects of the country, is often divided into the Dutch portion and the French portion. Due to the regional aspect of these languages and the way the country is divided there is significant crossover with neighboring industries in France and the Netherlands but Belgium is especially significant in the larger bande desinée industry alongside France. Two of the first European comic publications to last over 2000 issues (Spirou and Tintin) were both original Belgian publications, with versions released in both French and Dutch surpassing 2000 issues in both cases. The French-language version of Spirou has gone on to last well over 4000 issues, making it one of the global comic publications with the highest continous numbering. Though the contemporary France/Franco-Belgian industry tend to crossover significantly, some of the biggest French-language publishers come from the Belgian side including Dupuis, Casterman and Le Lombard. On the Dutch side there are less major publishers to represent the entire Dutch industry but some notable ones include Ballon Media and Standaard Uitgeverij.

Notable Creators and Series

Many of the most famous early French-language comics came from Belgian publishers and/or Belgian creators due to the shared history of the comic industry between France and Belgium. This includes Tintin, Spirou, Lucky Luke, Gaston, Smurfs and more modern comics like Thorgal.

Translation Industry

Although major publishers like Casterman publish translations of material from outside of Europe including manga and American comics, one of the more unique aspects of Belgium due to the multiple official languages is their industry of translating material within the country or within it's neighboring spheres. This can include several instances where Belgium has their own international division of a larger publisher like Dargaud or Glenat to publish in the language not represented by the primary publisher (such as Belgium publishing the Dutch version but importing the France-published French version or vice versa with the Netherlands). But it also includes translating works from within Belgium itself including with famous publications like Robbedoes or Kuifje.