Okay so after hearing razorfist screaming about how anime ripped off french comic books for the fiftieth time, I decided to give frog comics a try.
Each time I tried I regretted it. If it's not tintin or bumbar or asterisk and obelisk, its an excuse of stye over substance. Basically "oh wow, some armadillo aliens landed in a planet. They just bumped into a hole. The end".
Cred Forums and that self-loathing cripple's chan.
Lincoln Brooks
>puns fuck off britbong
Aaron Wright
Can you go into detail about franco-belgian comics you've already?
Ethan Jackson
This thread had my interest, i myself gonna start with the smurfs.
Dylan Myers
Just to start you off: Thorgal Donjon Blacksad (the old) Spike & Suzy comics (the new ones are trash) Blake and Mortimer etc...
Evan Parker
>style over substance What's the problem with that? Just learn how to appreciate form, don't be a meaning slave your whole life.
Mason Wood
>Style over substance
I sure hope you aren't reading any cape comics then, because they have an actual industry style they insist on being applied consistently to all of their products.
Nicholas Green
I had a list of recommended French comics but I can't find it right now. Blacksad it's pretty good. At least the first 3 volumes.
Henry Gomez
Style is substance.
Nathaniel Myers
Remember Liefeld? Dude got a job because kids dug his style. He never was good at making comics, but that didn't matter to the industry at all.
Brayden Rivera
This. We all know story is king with comics, and that a good story can carry bad art better than good art can carry bad storytelling, but sometimes, you gotta remember that comics are a marriage of story and ART. Because of how fast we read through comics, we never stop and look at each panel as what it is: a work of art. Each panel takes a long time, and a page has around 6-9 of them. It's a significant amount of work, especially if you're doing a 40+ page story.
So do yourself a favor sometimes and just appreciate the beauty of a drawing like you would an illustration.
Oliver Peterson
I'll share those that I have saved
Brayden Mitchell
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Hunter Turner
This reeks of someone who really wants some sort of serialized continuous story and doesn't want something like a beautiful small narrative.
Franco-belgian stuff mostly fits smaller narratives. But hey, try The Incal. If you are unable to like even that, I fear for your tastes.
Isaiah Bailey
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Jason Ramirez
*slap*
Mason Barnes
ouch!
Sebastian Kelly
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Isaac Reed
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Landon Russell
I'd say European comics are a lot like Japanese comics in that there are a bunch of different popular ones and they all have different styles
There's also Seuls and Blacksad, which are both pretty popular and well known on Cred Forums
Christian Richardson
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Lincoln Adams
>Seuls pic related is Seuls, also known as Alone in english translations
Thomas Clark
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Jackson Taylor
pic related is Blacksad Not as furbait as it might seem
Blake Cox
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Samuel Cook
Try Melusine for QT witches and cheesy gags but don't expect anything more
Colton Edwards
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Christopher Smith
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Zachary Jones
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Justin Barnes
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Nolan Morris
You didn't say what type of stuff you like or don't like, but Spirou & Fantasio Gaston Lagaffe, whatever his translated name is Lucky Luke, though not sure if it's frog Blueberry Melusine Dungeon / Donjon The Bluecoats Miss Don't Touch Me
Colton Myers
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Blake James
kino ending
Caleb Ward
Just abandon the idea of having serialized stories, that's just not at all how things worked with franco-belgian comics. The golden and silver age (from the 40s to the mid 70s) it was really all about short, self-contained stories which can be something of a surprise for foreign readers, especially if you are used to manga or american comics with hundred of volumes, splitting storylines, stuff like that. The standard for french, belgian and italian comics is a self contained story in 40 to 60 pages. There have been a lot of exceptions since the 70s of course but that's still the most common format. As for recs >I want longer stories, the way I'm used to them Thorgal (some viking dude finds out weird stuff about gods and aliens and massive shenanigans happen. Gets married and has kids in the process. Is separated in several arcs, but the overall story has been going on since the 80s) Buddy Longway (the entire life of a frontieersman from adventurous youth to settling and founding a family, ended not so long ago after at least 30 years if I'm not mistaken) XIII / 13 (a man finds himself alone on the beach with a tatoo that reads 13, and no memory of his past life whatsoever. the amount of shenanigans that ensue is beyone measure and makes for a great thriller. Oh and they made a movie from it but everyone seems to have forgotten it even happened. How fitting) Lanfeust de Troy + Sillage (two series I never had any interest in whatsoever but they were massively successful and pretty much kept comic books alive in the early 2000s so I guess they must have done some things right?)
Jaxon Jenkins
>I want some trippy shit, gimme some trippy shit with weird art and stuff I'll need to read through several times The saga of Lone Sloane (really weird sci-fi series about some massive intergalactic renegade. The stories don't make much sense when there is no writer at the help which was only the case for Delirius, the narration is fucking weird but everything illustrated by Druillet is worth reading for the batshit-insane art alone, pic related) Cities of the fantastic / les cités obscures (really weird series of small stories that may or may not really be tied together. They all work as small stories, as allegories, as building a larger world, or as a commentary on the medium itself. Oh and the art that takes its clue from architacture styles is amazing too) Requiem, vampire knight (really feels like some "crazy anime" do with all the mixing of cliches and images resulting in stuff like nazi vampires from hell and genocidal templars. If you have been on /tg/ then you have seen some pages of it)
>my life is boring and I want a laugh, give me something fun Gaston Lagaffe (arguably one of the most famous gag series, and for good reasons) Les Idées Noires (made by the same guy who wrote Gaston, when he was feeling blue and had an opportunity to write outside of his usual magazine that had strict rules about inoffensive content. In his own words : "Gaston dragged through the soot") Les Bidochons (King of the Hill in France, sort of. Avoid the later volumes as the series got tired after a while...) Les Dingodossiers (René Goscinny gets free range do write whetever the fuck he wants and gets Gotlieb to draw it. Really good and a great example of the "liberation" of the media in the late 60s and early 70s when the old formats and conventions were being played with and ultimately broken)
Xavier Gutierrez
>Well there the Jodoverse comics that Alejandro Jodorowsky made after his dune movie didn't get made Like Incal and Metabarons. >Thorgal >Blacksad >Elric the ruby throne and strombringer even though the white wolf hasn't gotten a English release date yet >Valerian and Laureline >Lieutenant Blueberry >Also a few short stories that moebius wrote/drew like Arzach or the Long Tomorrow.
Adam Evans
Ive read some moebius stuff and, for as good as they are, they've left me wanting.
Ive read tintin and I liked it but its a bit formulaic and id like to cut my teeth on.some meatier stuff. Besides that, ive been spoiled in the old scroofe mcduck comics and those hold far more charm and humor then bumbar or asterisk to me. Its not that I don't like style not appreciate the form, I just want to see what kind of stories they have to tell. I like visiting a world and just being swept away bit I would like to hear what that world is going through is all.
I know they have them. Just wanna see them. Thanks.
Joseph Thomas
>Its not that I don't like style not appreciate the form, I just want to see what kind of stories they have to tell. I like visiting a world and just being swept away bit I would like to hear what that world is going through is all.
Probably Donjon then. There's also Companions at Dusk and Alim the Tanner. Those should scratch that itch.
Jack Walker
Wake/Sillage. Wears it's Star Trek-iness on it's sleeve but it's a solid sci-fi adventure serial without the abstract surreal tone of guys like Jodo or Bilal if that's not your thing.
Isaiah Price
Okko >Edo-period japanese fantasy adventure Freaks' Squeele >College students with supernatural powers getting into crazy/perverted antics. Think Animal House if it took place in the X-Men universe La Colere De Fantomas >three-part Art Nouveau-era crime thriller, Fantomas is an infamous character in French pop culture seen as one of the precursors to the archetypal comic book supervillain Quest of the Time Bird >Widely-acclaimed high fantasy adventure any of Tardi's WWI books
Eli Gray
>Fantômas Patrician rec.
Jonathan Jenkins
Wake is always a good recommendation
Levi Morris
Depends of what you want :
Everything from Philippe Druillet is worth reading. He's my personal favorite.
> I want trippy SF with breathtaking visuals Lone Sloane (except Salammbo)
> I want Game of Thrones mixed with persian/african fantasy Salammbo
> I want hyper-depressive trippy biker fight-&-drugs in a dying world La Nuit (The Night)
> I want the story of some random guy in a wacky fantasy universe Vuzz
> I want an incredibly well-drawn fantasy lovedrama, including the biggest chad in the entre universe Yragael et la fin des temps (Yragael and the end of times)
If you're not fond of Druillet's style, I can advise you:
- Anything written by Jodorowsky (L'Incal, la Caste des Métas-Barons) - Works from Bastien Vivès (Elles, Une sœur, Polina) - Gaston Lagaffe - Lanfeust de Troy - Requiem: Chevalier Vampire
There is many more. As you can guess, I only listed my favorites. If you want more, just ask. I'm always eager to help those who seek french comics :) (unless you search something not SF related, then i'll be half-screwed)
Xavier Murphy
>Ive read tintin and I liked it but its a bit formulaic Tintin was pretty left-field for me when I first read it. I've been spoiled on the charm, humour, and most distinctly, craftsmanship, of Peanuts and such. So I was unsure about whether I would like it. It unexpectedly turned out that I really loved it, was pretty fresh.
Luis Jackson
>Hyper-depressive Druillet Add Nosferatu to the list. That thing is so weird, I'm not sure if it's fun or grim as all fuck.
David Hernandez
I just started picking up those three-in-one hardcover TinTin volumes. No idea why I've never bothered to check it out until now, it's really cute.
Is it worth tracking down Soviet and Congo? From what I've heard those two stories are kinda rough, and aren't part of this rerelease anyway.
Camden Lee
Soviets is pretty clunky and very political. Dunno if you can read french but it has been reedited massively just last year so now it's quite easy to find. Congo actually has a neat story. And it's not particularly hard to find for what I know, it's been reprinted quite a lot. Dupont best girl Dupond worst girl This is a cold, hard fact. Fite me, cunts
Jonathan Thompson
>Blacksad >French
Jose Reed
Les Legendaires
Austin Nelson
Maliki
Joshua Thompson
Great book
Robert Cox
Blueberry is hands down the best Western strip ever
Hunter Bell
Pinocchio by Winshluss
Camden Peterson
I remember seeing one album of that getting a storytime here but nothing else.
Cooper Flores
Do you start someone brand new with the classics? or do you recommend newer popular stuff to get them interested? For the second route I'd say something like Lastman - Bastien vives
Matthew Cruz
Brand New
Oliver Scott
What are you trying to communicate? Are you saying you are brand new?
Robert Turner
I am not a shitty band.
Jackson Phillips
Never heard of them. Guess they must be really shitty.
Kevin Thomas
>Bastien vives He can't keep getting away with it.
He can and he will. The man is living the dream and it is amazing to watch.
Brayden Collins
Is this anywhere yet?
Nathaniel Scott
>Is this anywhere yet? Oh, his new book? Yes, it's out physically. No, no scans yet. That'll be another 5, 6 months tops. Hey, that's just how the frogs roll.
Jaxson Lopez
Roll on froggy
Jason Johnson
Is this a meme?
Henry Bailey
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Luis Martin
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Hudson Robinson
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Jeremiah Hernandez
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Charles Sanders
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William Rodriguez
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Benjamin Butler
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Xavier Cook
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Mason Rivera
What's this?
Isaiah Clark
Dad is pretty good.
David Kelly
What's this about?
Cameron Sanders
Salammbo: >Salammbô (1862) is a historical novel by Gustave Flaubert.[1] It is set in Carthage during the 3rd century BC,[1] immediately before and during the Mercenary Revolt which took place shortly after the First Punic War. Flaubert's main source was Book I of Polybius's Histories. The novel kickstarted a renewed interest in the history of the pre-Imperial Rome's conflict with the North African Phoenician colony of Carthage. >After the First Punic War, Carthage is unable to fulfill promises made to its army of mercenaries, and finds itself under attack. The fictional title character, a priestess and the daughter of Hamilcar Barca, the foremost Carthaginian general, is the object of the obsessive lust of Matho, a leader of the mercenaries. With the help of the scheming freed slave, Spendius, Matho steals the sacred veil of Carthage, the Zaïmph, prompting Salammbô to enter the mercenaries' camp in an attempt to steal it back. The Zaïmph is an ornate bejewelled veil draped about the statue of the goddess Tanit in the sanctum sanctorum of her temple: the veil is the city's guardian and touching it will bring death to the perpetrator.
except this time, it's drawn by Druillet.
Grayson Bailey
He already has stopped, kinda. My bet would be that his editor sat him down and had "the talk". That's what being nominated at Angoulême every year for five years will do to a man. I'll still be mad until he starts crediting his writers though
Bentley Green
Oh and Lone Sloane is in it for some reasons.
Jaxson Richardson
ouchi!
Jaxson Myers
Only read Asterix and Obelix, if it was written by Goscinny. He was taken from us too soon. I also recommend Spirou and Fantasio. It's kinda low key compared to Asterix, Tintin and Lucky Luke, but it certainly deserves more attention. Grand Budapest Hotel could be considered a spiritual sequel to this.
Tyler Thompson
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Carter Edwards
I don't see any evidence that he's stopped? It seems to me like he's increasing that kind of content. Unless you are picking up on something to the contrary?
And what do you mean about uncredited writers? Not doubting you but I have no context on that.
Hudson Lee
>no one cares about the Czechs and Slovaks, who were sold like the Kurds today.
Aiden Morgan
Very charming
Joseph Bell
Those two guys look like Asterix and Obelix.
Charles Green
Not so much the content but the attitude. If you go read interviews in small zines arround the time Polina was published, all he said was "I don't care about stories, I just draw girls so I can fap to them later lol so I drew some ballerinas and it was hot for a moment but then I moved on to girls with bigger boobs cuz that's better" Contrast that to his rounds of interviews for Une Soeur and he sounds like he's trying hard to be a hybrid of Benoît Peeters and Posy Simmonds and it's just sad. I'd say that he can do actual erotic stuff because he has a good enough reputation to get away with it and pass it off as "experiments", "personnal expression" or "criticism on the medium" rather than just wanting to have fun. Good for him really. As for uncredited staff, there's quite a bit of rumor again going back to his earlier years due to the massive shift in productivity and quality of writing from his 4-panels gags he posted online (most of which were copy-pasted four times with different speech bubbles) and his longer graphic novels. Especially when at the time all he had to say about them was that if he couldn't wank to the character he'd lose interest and just stop. Considering the amount of stuff he published that's over 100 pages, there's a bit of inconsistence, hence some rumors about uncredited writers or illustrators to help him get started and do something instad of just being a lazy wanker. It's hard to tell whether he was just being a dick in interviews or if he was being honest. But whether that's true or not, it's good to see that he's reached the point where he can do whatever the fuck he wants an my dick is thankful because his love for breasts really shines through his art
Nathaniel Stewart
Spirou is great but kinda all over the place with all the writers it had over the time. >pre-war Spirou Worth a read for the historical exoticism alone. Holds up surprisingly well compared to very early Tintin. >Franquin Has a slow start but moves on to be some of the best silver-era stuff. Establishes all of the important elements of the world as well as characters like Gaston, the Marsupilami, Zorglub (GOAT villain) and the count of Champignac. Must-read if you are at all interested in froggie and waffle comics >Fournier Big modernization of the series. Starts to tackle contemporary issues and does it quite well. >Tome & Janry That's when things start to be a bit wonky. There are some really solid stories in there (the continuation on Zorglub, Cyanure...) but also some pretty gimmicky comedy and lame attempts at being political. The Machine that Dreamed, last album the duo did, was incredible and a last attempt at modernizing the series again, but it didn't really find its readership at time of release, sadly. >Morvan & Munuera Kind of a step back from the pretty weird and conceptual stories of the late Tome & Janry era, went back to simpler stories. Started to silp in influences from manga in the pacing resulting in more action. Didn't work very well.
Didn't check the most recent stories by Yoann & Vehlmann though
Camden Cook
Yoann and Vehlmann's run had been pretty good so far. Certainly much better than Morvan and Munuera's abysmal turn.
Franquin > Tome & Janry > Yoann & Vehlmann > Fournier > Nic & Cauvin > Morvan & Munuera
Brandon Jackson
>Franquin My favourite run as well. Too bad he didn't like them that much, since it they weren't his own creation, but thankfully he was professional about it.
Brandon Gonzalez
This is good though a bit formulaic once you've read more than four stories of it
Austin Edwards
I think I remember this? doesnt spirou think whatshisface is a german spy at first or someshit? I mostly remember their norwegian names.
Bentley Lee
Yoann & Vehlmann have been very meta, Spirou is a 70 year old comic book character inside and outside the comic.
They also give him great panicky/freaking out faces.
Brandon Cox
Fantasio
Jace Wright
...
Jordan Hernandez
Nobody gives a shit. Most people working on children's comics have released porn as well and people who started their careers with series that were chokefull of torture, rape, racism, cannibalism and general violence have drawn children's comics as well.
Aiden Diaz
Characters and settings from older volumes crop up with increasing regularity as well.
Jose Taylor
This is the prelude to some seriously heterosexual gay porn with that German Shepherd police chief.
Tyler Walker
I've only read the 20-page preview that's online, but I loved it and totally want to read the whole story sometime
Lincoln Murphy
Funny! I know just enough French to understand this one. I'll translate it a bit:
Later... Well, did you find it? Yeah, but... it was occupied!..
Connor Stewart
>seriously heterosexual gay porn
Wyatt Taylor
Does anyone know more good adventure comics in the vein of Valhardi or Ric Hochet? You know the type, brave and capable protagonist, fast cars, shoot outs, mysteries to solve.
Aiden Moore
Gil Jourdan (which is getting a full reedition in some pretty tasty-looking bound volumes. Pretty classic adventure formula, but hey, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. Also check Tif & Tondu by the same guy) Jonathan (the first five volumes are great, though it's more of a weird adventure with mysteries rather than an action-packed thing) Les Casseurs/Al Russell & Brock (think late 70s cheesy buddy-cop movie in comic book form. Loads of murrican car chases and stuff like that) Archie Cash (a Charles Bronson-lookalike keeping law and order in South America, shooting rotten officials in the fucking face and pushing voodoo cultists in crocodile pits, all of that in the usually family-friendly Spirou Magazine back in the days)
Kevin Peterson
Some of these look really good, thanks. Would you recommend Buck Danny and Dan Cooper? They look a similar in premise.
Matthew Garcia
>Buck Danny&Dan Cooper >Not Les Innomables
It's like you hate fun. Though admittedly, I got no reason how they ever managed to get to the Hongkong arc without being axed. First book is just not good in comparison to the rest.
Kevin Barnes
I vaguely remember reading Buck Danny when I was really young and it was full of neat plane dogfights and stuff like that. Haven't read it since I was 7 (and the plot points flew right over my head) though so I wouldn't know.
Another rec if you can find it would be Jess Long. A lot of it is shorter, with 10-30 pages crime and mystery stories rather than 45 but it got quite weird with some of the plots, and the art is great. Les Masques de Mort got me durably spooked when I was little.
David Martinez
Not sure if the two are really comparable. Like, Buck Danny is a 40s war comic turned adventure in the late 50s when war stories got a bit outfashioned, Les Innomables is some 80s weirdness and at that point everything was fair-game because Pilote had happened in the meantime.
Easton Clark
Did anyone translate Universal War Two yet? I think I saw the first one here once but nothing else.
Grayson Rivera
>Les Innomables First time I'm even seeing this name. Maybe I do hate fun, but after googling it doesn't look like it fits my tastes. I'm more into classic clear line Herge style adventure and more realistic looking franco-belgian crime/drama/adventure/noir.
Jess Long looks amazing, thanks!
Zachary Myers
Inspector Canadro > Blacksad
Wyatt Baker
>no tail
Noah Allen
...
Angel Anderson
Kairos looks amazing but i find it very angry story. Especially the characters and how they act.
Hunter Gonzalez
That's it! In norway he's called "Kvikk" (Quick)
Aaron Brooks
It is nearly off puttingly angry, like the main character has no other emotions. Like a tiny dragon hulk.
Asher Long
>trying to find the Marsupilami in an abandonned Zorglub jungle base SOLD
Jayden White
>I drew some ballerinas and it was hot for a moment but then I moved on to girls with bigger boobs cuz that's better" I don't see anything wrong with this statement?
I think it's reasonable to present a different side of yourself for different media audiences. It only bad once you start denigrating one audience or the other. I think vives isn't just a one note creator. He likes doing both erotic work and "critical" work and has learned you can't sound like an adolescent perv when you're doing the media rounds for your lit-focused or more family friendly BDs.
On the topic of ghostwriters, who knows. I enjoy his work for the most part, so honestly I don't really care as long as the content is good. It's not like he has a ghost artist. That would be a problem.
David Young
>Okay so after hearing razorfist screaming about how anime ripped off french comic books for the fiftieth time, I decided to give frog comics a try. >Watching Razorfist >Taking any of his opinions seriously
Besides the fact that Daniel Harris is an edgelord who conveniently misconstrue facts to suit his narrative, I never seen much of a connection between Japanese and French comics, aside from the fact that 80's-era Japan really dug Blade Runner.
Xavier Brooks
>written in french >published by a french publisher don't be such a pedant, user. It's good eurocomics, the rest doesn't really matter.
William Stewart
>The Eternaut >European I'm sorry, what the fuck is this bullshit?
Lincoln Brown
YEah, That looks like a fuck up
Jayden Miller
argies qualify
Hudson Nelson
>don't be a meaning slave your whole life. Reminder that Foucault was a lazy cunt who came up with subjective reality to justify spending WWII sitting on his arse outside a Parisian cafe while better men were fighting and dying for his right to tear apart their civilisation with his pontificating fart-sniffing.
Lucas Russell
Well if it's in a virgin/chad image, it must be true.
Nolan Carter
Be careful with Corto Maltese, make sure you're picking up the old Pratt books and not the shitty modern revival.
Jack Richardson
explain?
Ayden Watson
I know Miyazaki's been influenced by Moebius, here's a quote: "Through Arzach, which dates from 1975, I believe. I only read it in 1980, and it was a big shock. Not only for me. All manga authors were shaken by this work. Unfortunately, when I discovered it, I already had a consolidated style so I couldn't use its influence to enrich my drawing. Even today, I think it has an awesome sense of space. I directed Nausicaä under Mœbius's influence."
And I also read how Akira was influenced by the Métal Hurlant magazine and a Bilal/Dionnet story in particular: "The same thing with [Katsuhiro] Otomo, where they said “he is a TV guy” and after I said “I did Métal Hurlant” he said, “You did Exterminator 17?!” Suddenly excited, he said, “That’s where Akira comes from,” showing me a 17 on a tomb in the story. From a very small opening he saw the premises of a nihilist opera." I've read Exterminator 17 and it wouldn't be the first thing I'd recommend to someone new to French comics or Bilal. But I enjoyed it.
Those seem more like influences than straight-up plagiarism, as Razorcuck tends to allude to. In other words: nothing new under the sun.
Christian Miller
Hugo Pratt is the creator of Corto Maltese, he died in 1995. All of his Corto books are masterpieces, some of the best comics I've ever read.
In 2015 the writer of Blacksad wrote a new Corto Maltese book (pic related), and it's fucking shit.
So if you're looking to get into Corto Maltese, pick one of the books written between the 1970's and 1990's written and drawn by Hugo Pratt.
Blake Allen
Wat? there's new corto? How is that legal?
Zachary Robinson
I'm pretty sure The Night from Druillet was also an inspiration for Akira.
You should check on the Nausicaa manga. It may be the most heavily french inspired work from Miyazaki.
Jayden James
Depending on the contracts between writers and publishers, the series may or may not be continued. That's why Lucky Luke, Blake and Mortimer or Spirou are still going to this day despite their original creators all being dead while Tintin isn't.
Blake Johnson
Well sure, but I meant "legal" in the sense of it being "kosher" or acceptable for someone else to continue corto.
Charles Baker
In that case it pretty much isn't. It's been panned by quite a few people and I've yet to meet someone who had good things to say other than "eh, it's interesting to see someone else try to reproduce it but it doesn't really work" Kinda like what happened when Uderzo kept Asterix going by himself. Never forget.
Cameron Long
Slightly different, but yeah that was also a travesty