Buddy Longway is a

western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

bande dessinée (singular ; literally 'drawn strips'), abbreviated BDs and also referred to as Franco-Belgian comics (), are comics that are usually originally in French and created for readership in France and Belgium. These countries have a long tradition ...

written by the

Swiss Swiss most commonly refers to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Swiss may also refer to: Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina * Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses * Swiss Café, an old café located ...

cartoonist

Derib Derib (born Claude de Ribaupierre on 8 August 1944 in La Tour-de-Peilz, Switzerland) is a Swiss francophone comics creator. He is best known for creating the comics '' Les Aventures d'Attila'', '' Buddy Longway'' and '' Yakari''. Awards * 1974: ' ...

. It is published under the

Le Lombard Le Lombard (), known as Les Éditions du Lombard () until 1989, is a Belgian comic book publisher established in 1946 when '' Tintin'' magazine was launched. Le Lombard became part of Média-Participations since 1986, alongside publishers Darg ...

publishing house. The first

album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

came out in 1972, and 16 albums were published until 1987. Derib restarted the series in 2002, continuing with four further albums until 2006,Derib biography
; Official website, retrieved 13 March 2008 when he announced that the 20th album, ''La Source'', would be the last. Both the story arcs and the drawings are praised for the realistic portrayal of the simplistic, rough life as a trapper.

Overview

The series is a

family saga The family saga is a genre of literature which chronicles the lives and doings of a family or a number of related or interconnected families over a period of time. In novels (or sometimes sequences of novels) with a serious intent, this is often ...

which centers around the eponymous character Buddy Longway, a

trapper Animal trapping, or simply trapping or ginning, is the use of a device to remotely catch and often kill an animal. Animals may be trapped for a variety of purposes, including for meat, fur/feathers, sport hunting, pest control, and wildlife man ...

who lives in the wilderness. He lives married to a

Sioux The Sioux or Oceti Sakowin ( ; Dakota/ Lakota: ) are groups of Native American tribes and First Nations people from the Great Plains of North America. The Sioux have two major linguistic divisions: the Dakota and Lakota peoples (translati ...

Native American woman called Chinook. In the course of the series, they have two children, Jeremy and Kathleen. Main topics of the series, which is set in the 19th century, are living in the wilderness,

interracial relationships Interracial marriage is a marriage involving spouses who belong to different "Race (classification of human beings), races" or Ethnic group#Ethnicity and race, racialized ethnicities. In the past, such marriages were outlawed in the United Sta ...

,Un Indien dans la ville: Interview de Derib
/ref> Native American culture, coming of age (Jeremy and Kathleen) and age (Buddy Longway).

Background

Longway is described as a brooding, vulnerable character who visibly ages during the course of the series.
; Official website, retrieved 13 March 2008 Derib commented: "I am someone very emotional and I believe to know how to transfer this dimension into a comic book." Derib deliberately chose this slant, which was unusual compared to contemporary Western comics like ''

Lucky Luke ''Lucky Luke'' is a Western (genre), Western bande dessinée, comic album series created by Belgian cartoonist Morris (cartoonist), Morris in 1946. Morris wrote and drew the series single-handedly until 1955, after which he started collaborati ...

'' or ''

Blueberry Blueberries are a widely distributed and widespread group of perennial flowering plants with blue or purple berries. They are classified in the section ''Cyanococcus'' with the genus ''Vaccinium''. Commercial blueberries—both wild (lowbush) ...

'': "I wanted to renew the narrative modes in comics, especially the notion that a hero should be perfect, invincible or immortal (e.g. ''Lucky Luke'' or ''Blueberry''), so my idea was to write about a simple man."La Saga de Buddy Longway
; Official website, retrieved 13 March 2008 Derib said he was extremely fond of Longway, so much that he almost regarded him like a son.

References

External links

*Official website - No longer available - Belgian comic strips Belgian comics titles Buddy Longway Western (genre) comics Comics set in the 19th century Comics set in forests Comics characters introduced in 1972 Adventure comics Longway, Buddy Longway, Buddy Comics set in the United States Buddy Longway Longway, Budy Western (genre) heroes and heroines Historical comics {{Comics-stub