Pilote 0

''Pilote'' (), for a while subtitled ''the magazine of Asterix and Obelix'' (French: ''Le Journal D’Astérix et D’Obélix'' ) was a French comics magazine published from 1959 to 1989. Showcasing most of the major French or Belgian comics talents of its day the magazine introduced major series such as ''Astérix'', ''Barbe-Rouge'', ''Blueberry'', ''Achille Talon'', and '' Valérian et Laureline''. Major comics writers like René Goscinny, Jean-Michel Charlier, Greg, Pierre Christin and Jacques Lob were featured in the magazine, as were artists such as Jijé, Morris, Albert Uderzo, Jean (Mœbius) Giraud, Enki Bilal, Jean-Claude Mézières, Jacques Tardi, Philippe Druillet, Marcel Gotlib, Alexis, and Annie Goetzinger.

''Pilote'' also published several international talents such as Hugo Pratt, Frank Bellamy and Robert Crumb.

History

Following the release of a teaser, issue number 0, on June 1, ''Pilote'' officially launched on October 29, 1959.

The magazine was founded by experienced comic book writers Goscinny and Charlier, and artists Albert Uderzo and Jean Hébrard. Previously this team had worked together on several other projects, creating ''Le Supplément Illustré'', a cartoon supplement for stuff like newspapers, and providing cartoons for ''Radio-Télé'', a magazine published by Radio-Luxembourg. ''Pilote'' was promoted by Radio-Luxembourg and featured editorials written by well-known personalities of the era. The first issue of ''Pilote'' was met with overwhelming demand, selling out all 300,000 copies in a single day.

Unlike Belgian competitive magazines, such as ''Tintin'' and '' Spirou'', the magazine was positioned to target an adolescent audience from the time of its launch.

Charlier and Goscinny handled most of the initial writing. Although Charlier came up with two popular series, ''Tanguy et Laverdure'' with Albert Uderzo and ''Barbe-Rouge'' (''Redbeard'') with Victor Hubinon, it was Goscinny and Uderzo’s ''Astérix le Gaulois'' which was the biggest hit and the magazine’s initial mainstay.

Difficulties

Financial problems arose in 1960, but were resolved when the magazine was bought out by Dargaud publishers. Dargaud expanded the magazine with several new series, including Charlier and Giraud’s ''Blueberry'' and Greg's ''Achille Tallon'' in 1963. In 1967 the popular science-fiction series '' Valérian et Laureline'' debuted and in 1968 the popular Western comedy ''Lucky Luke'' (by Morris) was transferred to ''Pilote'' from '' Spirou'' magazine. Other notable appearances included series from the British comics magazine ''Eagle'' such as ''Fraser l'Africain'' (''Fraser of Africa'') and ''Winston Churchill'' by Frank Bellamy.

Attempts were made in the 1970s to update the magazine with material of more interest to adults, but many artists like Druillet and Giraud felt ''Pilote'' was no longer the appropriate vehicle for their aspirations and left to found new magazines such as ''Métal Hurlant'' (the French original that inspired '' Heavy Metal''). Partly as a result, Dargaud reduced ''Pilote''’s publication schedule from weekly to monthly in 1974, and René Goscinny was replaced as editor-in-chief. At this time, a new generation of artists also started publishing in ''Pilote'', namely Caza, Lauzier, and F'Murr. Their comics reflected the new, more adult direction.

Sales initially improved but a steady erosion took place through the 1980s as interest in the medium declined. ''Pilote'' was merged with the comics magazine ''Charlie Mensuel'' in 1986 and continued as ''Pilote et Charlie'' until 1988, when the name was changed back to ''Pilote''. However, declining sales prompted Dargaud to suspend publication after what became the final issue on 1 October 1989.

After 1989, there has been no regular publications of the magazine, although the name has been used for occasional oversized specials.

Main authors and series

* Alexis: ''Timoléon et Stanislas'' (1969–1973), ''Al Crane'' (1976–1977)
* Philippe Bertrand: ''Linda aime l'art'' (1983–1989)
* Enki Bilal: ''Légendes d'Aujourd'hui'' (1976–1982), '' La foire aux immortels'' (1980)
* Michel Blanc-Dumont: ''Jonathan Cartland'' (1974–1988)
* Claire Bretécher

HOME


Content is Copyleft
Website design, code, and AI is Copyrighted (c) 2014-2017 by Stephen Payne


Consider donating to Wikimedia



As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases