''Pif Gadget'' (also simply known as ''Pif'') was a French

comics magazine Comic magazine or comics magazine may refer to: * A comic book * A comics anthology * ''Comic Magazine'', a 1986 Japanese film * Comic Magazines, the parent company of Quality Comics * British comics * List of Franco-Belgian comics magazines, Franc ...

for children that ran from 1969 to 1993 and 2004 to 2009. Its readership peaked in the early 1970s.

Predecessors

''Pif'' has its origins in ''Le Jeune Patriote'', a youth magazine published by

French Communists French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), a ...

during the

German occupation of France during World War II The Military Administration in France (; ) was an interim occupation authority established by Nazi Germany during World War II to administer the occupied zone in areas of northern and western France. This so-called ' was established in June 19 ...

. It was published illegally from January 1942 but became legal from 1944. In 1945 it was renamed ''Vaillant, Le Jeune Patriote''. In 1946 its title was shortened to ''Vaillant'', with the tag, ''"le journal le plus captivant"'' (''The Most Captivating Magazine''). For the April issue of 1965, the title was changed to ''Vaillant, le journal de Pif'', due to the popularity of its character '' Pif'', a dog character created by José Cabrero Arnal. Until 1969, ''Vaillant'' had, like its competitors, serialized some stories over several issues, but the magazine in this incarnation ended with issue number 1238 on February 23, 1969.

Publication history

''Pif Gadget'' started again as a weekly magazine with issue number 1, released on February 24, 1969, but retained the old number relative to ''Vaillant''. The magazine was called ''Pif et son gadget surprise'' for the first few months. The ''

gadget A gadget is a machine, mechanical device or any ingenious article. Gadgets are sometimes referred to as ''wikt:gizmo, gizmos''. History The etymology of the word is disputed. The word first appears as reference to an 18th-century tool in Glass ...

'' was a "free gift" toy with each issue, including ''Pifises'' (

brine shrimp ''Artemia'' is a genus of aquatic crustaceans also known as brine shrimp or ''Sea-Monkeys, sea monkeys''. It is the only genus in the Family (biology), family Artemiidae. The first historical record of the existence of ''Artemia'' dates back to t ...

in stasis, which readers could raise as minuscule pets - known in English as sea monkeys). The cover of ''Pif Gadget'' had the strapline ''Tout en récits complets'' (all in complete stories) indicating that none of the comic strips were serialized over multiple issues. However, this reference disappeared in December 1973 with the number 250 and the appearance of the first serialized stories, taking up the model of its competitors. Its featured comics included: * '' Rahan'' * ''Doc Justice'' *

Hugo Pratt Ugo Eugenio Prat (15 June 1927 – 20 August 1995), better known as Hugo Pratt, was an Italian comic book creator who was known for combining strong storytelling with extensive historical research on works such as '' Corto Maltese''. He was indu ...

's ''

Corto Maltese ''Corto Maltese'' ( ; ) is a series of adventure comics named after the character Corto Maltese, an adventurous sailor. It was created by the Italian comic book creator Hugo Pratt in 1967. The comics are highly praised as some of the most arti ...

'' *

Marcel Gotlib Marcel Gottlieb (14 July 1934 – 4 December 2016), known professionally as Gotlib, was a French comics creator and publisher. Through his own work and the magazines he co-founded, '' L'Écho des savanes'' and '' Fluide Glacial'', he was a key ...

's '' Gai-Luron'' * Nikita Mandryka's ''Les Aventures potagères du Concombre masqué'' * Raymond Poïvet and Roger Lecureux's ''Les Pionniers de l'Espérance'' * ''Le Grêlé 7/13'' * ''Nasdine Hodja'' * Jean Cézard's '' Arthur le fantôme justicier'' * ''Les Rigolus et les Tristus'' * Jean Tabary's ''Totoche'' and its spin-off ''Corinne et Jeannot'' * ''Dicentim le petit Franc'' Documentary filmmaker Fredric Lean created a series based on 'Docteur Justice' for French TV network M6. ''Pif Gadgets record print run was one million copies, first on April 6, 1970, and again in September 1971. This set a record for a European comic strip that still stands. The paper also benefited from being able to reach the

newly industrialized countries The category of newly industrialized country (NIC), newly industrialized economy (NIE) or middle-income country is a socioeconomic classification applied to several countries around the world by political scientists and economists. They represent ...

, and was one of the select few Western magazines allowed to be sold behind the

Iron Curtain The Iron Curtain was the political and physical boundary dividing Europe into two separate areas from the end of World War II in 1945 until the end of the Cold War in 1991. On the east side of the Iron Curtain were countries connected to the So ...

due to its

left-wing Left-wing politics describes the range of Ideology#Political ideologies, political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy either as a whole or of certain social ...

credentials. It went into rapid decline at the same time as the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

faded, with content thinning and stories extended over several issues. Its last major feature was during the

bicentennial __NOTOC__ A bicentennial or bicentenary is the two-hundredth anniversary of a part, or the celebrations thereof. It may refer to: Europe * French Revolution bicentennial, commemorating the 200th anniversary of 14 July 1789 uprising, celebrated ...

of the French Revolution in 1989. The original version was last printed in February 1993. ''Pif Gadget'' was revived as a monthly magazine in July 2004 under the aegis of Pif Editions, with runs of approximately 100,000 units. Saddled with about 4 million euros of debt, the 6-person company went into

receivership In law, receivership is a situation in which an institution or enterprise is held by a receiver – a person "placed in the custodial responsibility for the property of others, including tangible and intangible assets and rights" – especia ...

(''redressement judiciaire'') in March 2007 and was wound up (''liquidation judiciaire'') on January 15, 2009. The last issue was published in November 2008. It has been relaunched in 2015 as a quarterly named "Super Pif".

Similar comics

Pif inspired similar comics in other countries including '' Yps'' in Germany and ''Jippo'' in Scandinavia.
Couik et Dicentim chez les Nordiques

Notes

References

* Richard Médioni, ''Pif Gadget: la véritable histoire des origines à 1973'', édition Vaillant collector, 2003.
La mémoire de ''Vaillant'' et ''Pif''
BD oubliées

External links

''Pif Collection''

''Le bozo-bozo, génial casse-tête/tour de magie''

Rahan's site

– on

Lambiek Galerie Lambiek is a Dutch comic book store and art gallery in Amsterdam, founded on November 8, 1968 by Kees Kousemaker (, – Bussum Bussum () is a commuter town and former municipality in the Gooi region in the south east of the prov ...

Comiclopedia {{DEFAULTSORT:Pif Gadget 1969 establishments in France 2009 disestablishments in France Communist magazines Comics magazines published in France French Communist Party French-language magazines Defunct magazines published in France 1969 comics debuts 1993 comics endings 2004 comics debuts 2009 comics endings Magazines established in 1969 Magazines disestablished in 1993 Magazines established in 2004 Magazines disestablished in 2009 Weekly magazines published in France Monthly magazines published in France Children's magazines published in France