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Buy Full NotesJean Auquier is the manager of the Centre Belge de la Bande Dessinée in Brussels, Belgium. Belgium is home of many famous cartoonist and characters such as Tintin, the Smurfs (Les Schtroumpfs), etc. Why is it that comic strip became a specialty, a symbol of this small country? Learn about the history and the evolution of this popular form of art and culture and about the Centre Belge de la Bande Dessinée itself in the first part of this fascinating conversation with Jean Auquier!
Episode Timeline
Part 1
How is Belgium associated to comic books?
How the first comic strips were published
The art of creating suspense and hooking the reader
Part 2
The art of being funny
Gaston Lagaffe, a famous anti-hero
The first comic books
Part 3
What is direct colour?
The price of comic books
Part 4
Le Centre Belge de la Bande Dessinée – a heritage building
Why the expression « Centre de la BD Belge » doesn’t work
What you can see in the museum, projects and involvements
Vocab List
accrocher = to hook on
bande (nf) = strip
BD, bande dessinée (nf) = comic strips, comic books
bulle (nf) = speech bubble
cartonné,e = hardcover
case (nf) = box, square [comic book]
dessinateur, -trice = cartoonist
en huis clos = behind closed doors; [legal] closed hearing
encre de Chine (nf) = Indian ink
exposition (nf) = exhibition
feuilleton (nm) = saga; serial, series
gag (nm) = joke, gag
lettrage (nm) = lettering
libraire = bookseller, bookshop owner
mise en page (nf) = layout
phylactère (nm) = speech bubble
planche (nf) = [picture] plate; board
rebondir = to bounce back and forth
rebondissement (nm) = unforeseen/unexpected/sudden development
rédaction [de journal] (nf) = editorial board; writing room, news room
relier = to bind
reliure (nf) = binding
souple = paperback
Questions:
- (Part 1) When did the art of comic books start in Belgium?
- (Part 2) Why was the character Achille Talon originally created?
- (Part 3) Why are Belgian comic books so expensive compared to other countries’s books?
- (Part 4) What’s the exact date of the opening of the Centre Belge de la BD ?
Answers:
- In the 1920’s
- To fill gaps: if an author/cartoonist was missing a deadline, if there was a spot in the magazine that wasn’t filled with advertising, etc.
- You buy them because you love the author/cartoonist or the topic/story. You put them on a shelf, not in a box. They’re a cultural item, part of a collection.
- October 6th, 1989
Links & Resources
- Website: www.cbbd.be
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