European comics are comics produced in
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located enti ...
. The ''
comic album'' is a very common printed medium. The typical ''album'' is printed in large format, generally with high quality paper and colouring, commonly 24x32 cm (9.4x12.6 in), has around 48–60 pages, but examples with more than 100 pages are common. While sometimes referred to as
graphic novels, this term is rarely used in Europe, and is not always applicable as albums often consist of separate short stories, placing them somewhere halfway between a
comic book
A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panel (comics), panels that represent individual scenes. ...
and a graphic novel. The European comic genres vary from the humorous adventure vein, such as ''
The Adventures of Tintin'' and ''
Asterix'', to more adult subjects like ''
Tex Willer
Tex Willer is the main fictional character of the Italian comics series ''Tex'', created by writer Gian Luigi Bonelli and illustrator Aurelio Galleppini, and first published in Italy on 30 September 1948. It is among the most popular character ...
'', ''
Diabolik'', and ''
Thorgal
''Thorgal'' is a fantasy adventure Franco-Belgian comics series by Belgian writer Jean Van Hamme and Polish graphic artist Grzegorz Rosiński. Debuting in 1977, it has incorporated elements of Norse mythology, the legend of Atlantis as well as ...
''.
History
The roots of European on-paper comics date back to 18th century
caricature
A caricature is a rendered image showing the features of its subject in a simplified or exaggerated way through sketching, pencil strokes, or other artistic drawings (compare to: cartoon). Caricatures can be either insulting or complimentary, a ...
s (mocking others styles or behaviors) and illustrated picture books such as
Wilhelm Busch's
Max and Moritz. The early 19th century
Swiss
Swiss may refer to:
* the adjectival form of Switzerland
* Swiss people
Places
* Swiss, Missouri
* Swiss, North Carolina
*Swiss, West Virginia
* Swiss, Wisconsin
Other uses
*Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports
*Swiss Internation ...
artist
Rodolphe Töpffer is regarded by many as the "father of the modern comic" and his publication ''
Histoire de M. Vieux Bois'' is sometimes called the first "comic book".
Franco-Belgian comics,
Spanish comics, and
Italian comics are historically amongst the dominant scenes of European comics.
Earlier, paintings, depicting stories in subsequent frames, using descriptive text resembling bubbles-text, were used in murals, one such example written in
Greek, dating to the 2nd century, found in
Capitolias, today in
Jordan.
Festivals
A number of festivals celebrating comic art are held around Europe. These include:
*
Amadora BD
Amadora BD (formerly known as FIBDA) is an annual comic book festival held in Amadora, Portugal. Founded in 1989, it is considered the most important cartoon festival in Portugal and one of the most important European competitions.
Generally, the ...
,
Portugal
*
Angoulême International Comics Festival,
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...
*
Fumetto International Comics Festival,
Lucerne
Lucerne ( , ; High Alemannic German, High Alemannic: ''Lozärn'') or Luzern ()Other languages: gsw, Lozärn, label=Lucerne German; it, Lucerna ; rm, Lucerna . is a city in central Switzerland, in the Languages of Switzerland, German-speaking po ...
,
Switzerland
). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...
*
Helsinki Comics Festival,
Finland
Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bo ...
*
International Comics Festival "Salon stripa"
International Comics Festival is an annual event organized and led by Belgrade’s Studentski kulturni centar (Belgrade), Student Cultural Center (SKC). The Festival is the biggest comics event in Serbia, and one of the most important in the regio ...
,
Serbia
*
International Festival of Comics and Games,
Poland
*
The Lakes International Comic Art Festival,
Kendal
Kendal, once Kirkby in Kendal or Kirkby Kendal, is a market town and civil parish in the South Lakeland district of Cumbria, England, south-east of Windermere and north of Lancaster. Historically in Westmorland, it lies within the dale of th ...
,
United Kingdom
*
Lille Comics Festival,
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...
*
Lucca Comics & Games,
Italy
*
Heroes Comic Con,
Spain
*
Salón Internacional del Comic,
Spain
See also
*
Franco-Belgian comics
*
British comics
A British comic is a periodical published in the United Kingdom that contains comic strips. It is generally referred to as a comic or a comic magazine, and historically as a comic paper.
British comics are usually Comics anthology, comics antho ...
*
Czech comics
Czech comics are comics written in the Czech or Slovak language or by Czech-speaking creators, for the comic markets in the Czech Republic and Slovakia (the former Czechoslovakia).
History
One of the first Czech comic artist was the cartoonist ...
*
Dutch Comics
*
German comics
German comics are comics written in the German language or by German-speaking creators, for the major comic markets in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, with spill-overs into the neighboring, but lesser, comic markets of Liechtenstein, Luxembou ...
*
Hungarian comics
Hungarian comics are comics made in Hungary and by the Hungarian diaspora of the surrounding countries. When dealing with Hungarian comics, one cannot separate comics made by Hungarians from translated foreign matter, since in some eras most of ...
*
Italian comics
*
Polish comics
Polish comics are comics written and produced in Poland. Very few of these comics have been published in languages other than Polish.
History
One of the first and most famous Polish comics was ''Koziołek Matołek'' (Matołek the Billy-Goat), c ...
*
Portuguese comics
Portuguese comics ( Portuguese: ''Banda desenhada portuguesa'') are comics created in Portugal or by Portuguese authors. Rafael Bordalo Pinheiro, Carlos Botelho, and João Abel Manta are some of the most notable early Portuguese cartoonists.
...
*
Serbian comics
Serbian comics are comics produced in Serbia. Comics are called ''stripovi'' in Serbian language, Serbian (singular ''strip'') and come in all shapes and sizes, merging influences from American comic book, American comics to Franco-Belgian comics, ...
*
Spanish comics
References
External links
The European Comics Collection Introductory Exhibit, Michigan State University LibrariesThe Comic Art Collection Home Page, Michigan State University LibrariesEuropean Comics and Graphic Novels in Englishwww.europeancomics.net
Translated European Comics ratingswww.European-comics.com
European culture
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