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''César'', or ''César and Ernestine'', is a Belgian comic strip series by author Maurice Tillieux.
It features a cartoonist, César, who has to cope with everyday problems, and Ernestine, his neighbor's daughter, whom he has to look after. He must also put up with his cleaning lady, Églantine, and his neighbor, police officer Petitcarné.
The series, first published in '' Spirou'' between 1957 and 1959, was then transferred to '' Le Moustique'' between 1959 and 1966 before the gags appearing in ''Le Moustique'' were republished in ''Spirou'' and its Dutch-language edition ''Robbedoes'' from 1969 to 1973. In parallel, the series was published in four paperback editions, then reissued as a complete series in the 1980s and 90s, as well as in November 2011.
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from:1957 till:1957 text:"1957-07-11"
from:1959 till:1959 text:"1959-12-31"
from:1966 till:1966 text:"1966-07-28"
from:1969 till:1969 text:"1969-01-02"
from:1973 till:1973 text:"1973-12-27"
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from:1957 till:1959 color:skyblue align:center text:" Spirou"
from:1959 till:1966 color:teal align:center text:" Le Moustique"
from:1966 till:1969 color:gris
from:1969 till:1973 color:skyblue text:" Spirou"
The series was first published in ''Spirou'' between 1957 and 1959. Caesar's first appearance was in ''Spirou'' No. 1004, July 11, 1957, in a two-page story called Petit divertissement en chambre. This first appearance was a rough sketch of the character. He has black hair but already owns an old car.
Ernest returns in ''Spirou'' no. 1042 (April 3, 1958) for a special spring issue in which the police officer Petitcarné, disrupts César's spring cleaning. A third story appeared in ''Spirou''
The series was then published in ''Le Moustique'' between 1959 and 1966. César left ''Spirou'' to join ''Le Moustique'' on December 31, 1959. ''Le Moustique'' is published by
The series was created in ''Spirou'' No. 1004 on July 11, 1957, for the duration of four short stories. At the request of publisher Charles Dupuis, it was transferred on December 31, 1959, to ''Le Moustique'', also owned by ''Editions Dupuis''. The series was published in gag form once a week until it was finally discontinued on July 28, 19665. Subsequently, the gags published in ''Le Moustique'' were colored and reprinted as “filler” in ''Spirou'' and its Dutch-language equivalent ''Robbedoes''. Due to the difficulty of translating the puns into Dutch, not all the gags in the series were reprinted in ''Spirou''. The series made its last appearance in ''Spirou'' no. 1863, December 27, 1973. However, in ''Spirou'' no. 1999, one of Caesar's first stories was reprinted under the name ''Classiques Dupuis'' and in no. 3041, July 24, 1996, cartoonist Godi paid tribute to the series with a gag, no. 300.
Presentation of the series on BDoubliees.com
Belgian comics characters Belgian comic strips
Synopsis
The series follows the daily life of César, a single cartoonist. He'd like to lead a quiet life, but unfortunately for him, he has to put up with Ernestine, his neighbor's daughter, whom he has to look after, the police officer Petitcarné, neighbor and Ernestine's father, who gives him tickets for nothing, and the impossible-to-live-with cleaning lady Églantine.History
The series was then published in ''Le Moustique'' between 1959 and 1966. César left ''Spirou'' to join ''Le Moustique'' on December 31, 1959. ''Le Moustique'' is published by Dupuis
Éditions Dupuis S.A. () is a Belgium, Belgian publisher of comic albums and magazines.
Based in Marcinelle near Charleroi, Dupuis is mostly famous for its comic comics album, albums and magazines. Initially a French language publisher, it now ...
, which also publishes ''Spirou''. For a long time, it functioned as a learning class for ''Spirou''Gil Jourdan
Gil Jourdan is a Belgian detective comic strip created by Maurice Tillieux. It is a combination of mystery, adventure and humour.
Origin and premise
In 1956 the Belgian comic magazine '' Héroïc Albums'' ceased publication. ''Felix'', the a ...
'' in ''Spirou'' since 1956 - to provide one. Maurice Tillieux brought out his character César, created three years earlier in ''Spirou'' for four short stories, and modified him slightly by replacing young Ernest with his sister Ernestine. In Le Moustique, the series was published on a half-page, but the layout of the squares - nine squares spread over three strips - would allow it to occupy a full page elsewhere. César's rapid success enabled the series to be published in a full-page format from the nineteenth strip on May 5, 1960.
Secondary characters are grafted on around César, inspired to Maurice Tillieux by real people more or less close to him: Ernestine is inspired by his youngest daughter, the agent Petitcarné by one of his neighbors, and the cleaning lady Églantine by a cleaning lady who had worked for him. All this little world evolves in a neighborhood inspired to Maurice Tillieux by his neighborhood.
The series appeared regularly until July 28, 1966, when Maurice Tillieux stopped the series at gag two hundred and ninety-nine, feeling that he had come to the end of his subject and finding less and less inspiration. This was particularly true of his youngest daughter, who was about to turn eight and no longer uttered the spontaneous lines that inspired Ernestine.
César found a second life when he returned to ''Spirou'' from no. 1603, January 2, 1969, and simultaneously to ''Robbedoes'', the Dutch-language equivalent of ''Spirou'' until 1973.
For the occasion, the gags that had appeared in ''Le Moustique'' were put in color and published in no particular order, with the deletion of some whose puns were unadaptable in Dutch. César was published until no. 1863, December 27, 1973. At the same time, four albums featuring the gags published in ''Spirou'' were released by ''Dupuis'', while the gags published in ''Le Moustique'' and the first gags published in ''Spirou'' remained unpublished until the release of the complete Tout César in two volumes.
The series was published in parallel in four paperback albums, then reissued as a complete series in the 1980s and 1990s, and again in November 2011.
In ''Spirou'' no. 3041 of July 24, 1996, cartoonist Godi paid tribute to the series and its author Maurice Tillieux by drawing the three-hundredth gag in the series. Despite its numbering, this gag is only the 298th in the series. There's an error in the numbering of the series. There are two gags no. 33, and no gags no. 35, no. 36 and no. 37. As for gags no. 277 and no. 293, they are seriously modified copies of gags no. 5 and no. 37, respectively. The first four stories published in Spirou between 1957 and 1959 have their numbering, and are not part of the official numbering of the series, which was reset to zero when the series moved to ''Le Moustique'' in 1959.
Characters
The hero of the series is César, a bohemian and hardened bachelor cartoonist. His ordinary life is punctuated by everyday troubles, of which he is often the victim. A rebel at heart, he's always repeating: “What's allowed by law must fit on the edge of a postage stamp!”; he's also hot-tempered and kind to the point of being trapped by his goodness. Despite his fits of anger, he's also a peaceful man who likes to smoke a pipe in his armchair and cook, an art in which he excels and knows. He could have a quiet life if he didn't have sticky neighbors around him, a housekeeper who makes trouble, and the local police officer who gave him 3,236 tickets in six months. César's great accomplice is Ernestine, his neighbor's daughter. She must be around five years old, and possesses the perverse innocence of a child. She doesn't understand the useless complications of the adult world, which leads to some funny, but common-sense remarks. With her incredible repartee, she loves to play tricks, the victim of which is often poor Caesar. Maurice Tillieux drew inspiration for Ernestine's reflections from his own youngest daughter, Anne. Constable Petitcarn is the neighborhood policeman, as well as César's neighbor and Ernestine's father. He likes to write tickets for the smallest of reasons, César being his first victim with 3,236 tickets received in six months. Speaking of César, he likes to say: “I give him tickets for his good ”. A former soldier who fought in the war, he often pesters César with his wartime memories. In his family, he is known to have a sister-in-law who is a farmer and, according to him, never stops having calves. Maurice Tillieux was inspired to create the character by one of his neighbors, who never realized it. César also has a cleaning lady, Églantine, whose main characteristic is that she's lazy. She buys brooms to lean on while she waits for time to pass, and often complains that pretending to work is more tiring than actually working. Nevertheless, César finds her a good woman; she, for her part, criticizes César for being too intellectual and complicated. A lazy cleaning lady who had worked for Tillieux gave her the idea for this character. Agent Petitcarné's son and Ernestine's brother is Ernest. He played Ernestine's role in the very first stories of the series, before being replaced by her. Thereafter, the only mention of him is that he's always busy playing marbles.Publication
Albums
Album publication history
The first ''César et Ernestine'' album appeared in 1964 in the gag de poche collection published by Dupuis. Containing 123 black-and-white pages, its title was simply César, and the series was not yet called ''César et Ernestine''. Shortly afterwards, César (Deuxième service), the second album in the César series, was released in the Gag de Poche collection, as no. 12. Like the first album, it is in black and white. The revival of César's gags in Spirou gave the series a new lease of life. Editions Dupuis took advantage of the situation to bring out a first large-format album in 1971, entitled ''L'école des gags''. Paperback and in color, the series was renamed for the occasion ''César et Ernestine'' (for publications in ''Spirou'', it always bore the name César). The second album, entitled ''La vie à deux'', came out a few months later. The third volume, ''Quel métier!,'' in 1972. The fourth volume, ''Au fil des mauvais jours'', was not released until two years later, in 1974. Despite these four albums, many of the ''César et Ernestine'' gags published in ''Le Moustique'' and ''Spirou'' remained unpublished. They remained unpublished until 1988, when the first volume of ''Tout César'' came out, entitled ''Tout César - L'école des gags'', and listing in chronological order the issues published in ''Le Moustique''. It runs to 156 pages and is numbered 7, following the numbering of the earlier ''Tout Gil Jourdan'' albums by the same author, which comprised six volumes. The following year, 1989, saw the release of volume two, ''Au fil des (mauvais) jours'', with 160 pages and no. 8. In 1997, a new 160-page complete edition was released, entitled ''Tout César - Tome 1''. Followed a few months later by volume two.The original collection
# ''L'école des gags, Dupuis,'' 1971 (Script and drawing: Maurice Tillieux) # ''La vie à deux, Dupuis'', 1971 (Script and drawing: Maurice Tillieux) # ''Quel métier, Dupuis'', 1972 (Script and drawing: Maurice Tillieux) # ''Au fil des mauvais jours, Dupuis'', 1974 (Script and drawing: Maurice Tillieux)Special issues
* GP 1 ''César,'' ''Dupuis, Gag de poche'', 1964 (Script and drawing: Maurice Tillieux - Color: Black and white) * GP 2 ''César (Deuxième service)'', ''Dupuis'', ''Gag de poche'', 1964 (Script and drawing: Maurice Tillieux - Color: Black and White) * TT 7 ''Tout César - L'école des gags, Dupuis'', 1988 (Script and drawing: Maurice Tillieux) * TT 8 ''Tout César - Au fil des (mauvais) jours'', ''Dupuis'', 1989 (Script and drawing: Maurice Tillieux) * TT 1 ''Tout César - Tome 1'', ''Dupuis'', 1997 (Script and drawing: Maurice Tillieux) * TT 2 ''Tout César - Volume 2'', ''Dupuis'', 1997 (Script and drawing : Maurice Tillieux)Magazines
The series was created in ''Spirou'' No. 1004 on July 11, 1957, for the duration of four short stories. At the request of publisher Charles Dupuis, it was transferred on December 31, 1959, to ''Le Moustique'', also owned by ''Editions Dupuis''. The series was published in gag form once a week until it was finally discontinued on July 28, 19665. Subsequently, the gags published in ''Le Moustique'' were colored and reprinted as “filler” in ''Spirou'' and its Dutch-language equivalent ''Robbedoes''. Due to the difficulty of translating the puns into Dutch, not all the gags in the series were reprinted in ''Spirou''. The series made its last appearance in ''Spirou'' no. 1863, December 27, 1973. However, in ''Spirou'' no. 1999, one of Caesar's first stories was reprinted under the name ''Classiques Dupuis'' and in no. 3041, July 24, 1996, cartoonist Godi paid tribute to the series with a gag, no. 300.
See also
* ''Spirou'' (magazine) * Maurice Tillieux *Dupuis
Éditions Dupuis S.A. () is a Belgium, Belgian publisher of comic albums and magazines.
Based in Marcinelle near Charleroi, Dupuis is mostly famous for its comic comics album, albums and magazines. Initially a French language publisher, it now ...
References
Bibliography
* * * * {{Cite book , last=Tillieux , first=Maurice , title=Les Dossier de la Bande Dessinée n° 10: Maurice Tillieux , date=2001External links
Presentation of the series on BDoubliees.com
Belgian comics characters Belgian comic strips