I've been trying to understand the mechanisms that led to Franco Belgian comics becoming such an incredible market. The devotion and mainstream acceptance of the medium of comics in France and Belgium is really something special. We see this same mainstream acceptance leading to the global rise of Manga as well. I'm fascinated by how this all came to be and this video was a wonderful explanation of what was at play.

Finally found good chanell with knowledgeable, comic collector. It seems that in US they know little about european comics, which is too bad because I think that fr-bl school have much more to offer than US superheroes or Manga. It seems that in Finland there isnt much editions in finish language, and here on Balkans we have really vivid comic scene with thouzaunds of titles translated, and also growing community with lot of youtube channels. Greetings from Montenegro keep doing good videos!

Thanks for this video 😊 I grew up reading Franco-Belgian comics (bédés) being born in Quebec, Canada. I still read and collect bédés like Astérix, Spirou and Tintin. I’m not much into American superhero comics or Japanese manga, though I respect the fandom and the art. Franco-Belgian comics have had a huge influence on my thinking about sequential art and also my own illustration work, so I appreciate the few creators like yourself drawing more attention to the ‘third enclave’ of comic book art as there is ample attention already devoted to North American and East Asian works and artists. Kudos et merci!

Excellent subject. The Franco-Belgian cultural market is not a homogeneous one, despite the fact is quite protective. Let's not forget that it also includes the canadian-french market and, in minor parts, the rest of the official french-speaking countries. As such books can be easily made available in several regions of the world. However is still a "limited" market just because the de-facto "world" language is still english. In many ways i think the french market still haven't found an efficient way to reach a much deserved worldwide status that it deserves (and that applies to many European authors, franco-belgian or not). Keep these episodes coming!

here's your mom :) ... thanks for your very informative and entertaining video. Lots of details that I didn't knew about, the nazi text you read about the "evil U.S.comics" gave me the creeps.

As a Belgian comic book lover, I love this history class you've given here. thanks!

The German comic scene was til the early 60s dominated bei news paper strips and after been published in news papers the second publishing would be in albums or comic books. The Belgian Publisher Casterman published a few Belgian comics in German Language in the 50s like Tintin or Suske en Wiske. In the 50s Mickey Mouse Magazin startet their comic books in Germany. In the wake of this success, we had a famous publisher Rolf Kauka, who startet his own comic books also in the genre of funnies or humour comics. He also published first time stories from France and Belgian (he was the first who published Asterix in Germany). The breakthrough for Franco-Belgian comics in other genres than humour was the magazin Zack. Starting 1972 in a weekly format, they published stories from Tintin and Pilote. Later they published as second use the most beloved stories in album format. in the late 80s/90s the first Franco-Belgian Comics were published as hardcovers in realy good quality (the first attempts in the 70s failed, because they made it cheap, for example with type writer machine lettering). And since 2006 the biggest publisher for Franco Belgian Comics in Germany is Splitter and I think the quality is the best you could wish for. Their cataloge is hugh. German comics in the 70s and 80s mainly copied the style of Franco Belgian comics, a few with great success and there allways had been German humour comics. But I think since the late 90s there is a hole new genre of German comics in the format of (smaler in size) graphic novels with seroius content and mostly as one shots.

What a lovely, great discussion! I am still only halfway through this but I find the questions about history, terminology, language, 'definitions' and categories absolutely irresistible. Kudos on an in-depth, and hugely enjoyable, spotlight. The domination of the 'Franco Belgian' comic has always been something I have accepted but never really thought about or questioned. As someone who can read only what is translated and available, so the role of the publisher is paramount to me. The presence of both North American and Japanese comics in global markets is directly linked to their publishers and distributors, even in the age of digital piracy and availability! I do think, though, you should put up content warnings before exposing us to such terrors like those mutated ducks you show.

Great video man. I've loved Asterix and Tintin since a child. Still read them lol

Glad to see you back with new content. This BD affair has actually lot to unpack. Even those european countries which we never heard or talk about their BD scene, despite their peculiarities, must have in some way being influenced by the Franco-Belgian hub. That’s what you get when we’re talking about the biggest european publishing market. For instance, here in my country, Bande Dessinée is called Banda Desenhada, so we have a huge tribute to French speaking market, essentially concerning belgian artists.

I'm glad to see you post a new video. Especially an in depth one. Thanks for continuing to put out awesome videos.

A fascinating video that I didn't know I needed to see but certainly did. Keep up the good work (and dry humour) from a Brit In Bangkok inspired to revisit his bandes desinees!!

I really like this video! I especially like the fact that it started because they were under threat of Walt Disney taking over comic book stores & I can agree with that as someone who lives in the state of Tennessee. You see, most American comics & really, most movies & TV shows that get international distribution are from the Los Angeles area of California. VERY few pieces of American media outside of that area ever get any international distribution, even when it comes to music. As a Tennessee citizen, it feels so unfortunate knowing that 50 states means squat to the country's entertainment industry... or better yet, just call it the Californian entertainment industry because that's what it is.

Glad to see you back in action. Love your channel. I've been hooked on European comics, since the mid sixties, when my aunt gave me three Tintin books for my birthday. Since I live in the US, it's tough to find English translations. Cinebook does a good job, and I wish there were more publishers like them. I've seen so many interesting comics, on your channel, that I wish were translated. Keep up the great videos.

Super knowledgeable speaker, great video!

Thanks for the video, it's interesting. I hope someday European comics will be widely published in USA and maybe japan too !

Nice review on European comics. I am an American who is a big fan of Tintin comics.

Thank you for the great honor that you bring upon us, dear fellow european!

Very interesting. Quite a fascinating history, thanks for the explanation.

Fantas... Amaz... Uncan ... Excellent history video

Wow, this is great. A really long video about BDs!! Woohoo!!

Another great video AC. You might have to blur out those hideous monsters though, a bit too graphic for YT

hey analog comics are they're comics writers who are bilingual as two native languages like the Hernandez brothers in California of love and rocket's fame?

One day, it would be great to discuss the Asterix phenomenon in Germany: they translated it in each local dialect, with local jokes! It's a curious mixture of original and local humor, in my mind, a perfect adsptation with meaning!

37:40 It's a bit more than just "continuing to work", "L'étoile mystérieuse" (1942) had some anti-semitic and anti-american iconography that got smoothed out in the edition of 1953. The bad guy was called "Blumenstein" and he had the nazi-stereotypical jewish nose and his boat was flying the american flag... And there is is friendship with Wallez and links (friendship ?) with Léon Degrelle. Nothing as bad as Céline pamphlets or anything like that but still..

Hey analog you should split the Spirou video into a four part series as in Gold, Silver, Bronze, and modern age, to describe the log history of the publisher in its historical and generational context.

I've been doing a deep dive into italian comics and UK comics myself. Italy in particular has some really awesome stuff that just doesn't get much attention over here(anglo north america).

This is a wonderfully fascinating and informative video, thank you very much. I've always wondered why only some of the Franco-Belgian comics made it to the UK. I remember going to Spain as a young schoolboy and being blown away by the amount of clearly long running comic books that were available and completely new to me. To this day I am still amazed to discover how tricky it is trying to get many of these European Classics in the English language. I also prefer the Album sized format, and looking at the success of the Omnibus format in American collected editions, I'd say they too are finally catching on to the benefits of the format/size.