Blondin et Cirage (''Blondin and Cirage'', literally ''Blondy'' and ''Shoe polish'') is a Belgian humoristic adventure comic strip by

Jijé Joseph Gillain (), better known by his pen name Jijé (; 13 January 1914 – 19 June 1980), was a Belgian comics artist, best known for being a seminal artist on the ''Spirou et Fantasio'' strip (and for having introduced the Fantasio character) a ...

created in 1939 for the Catholic children's magazine ''Petits Belges''. The comic was also published in its Flemish counterpart ''

Zonneland ''Zonneland'' is a Belgian Dutch-language youth magazine published by Averbode since 1920. A French version called ''Petits Belges'' also started in the same year. It changed its name to ''Tremplin'' in 1960. History and profile ''Zonneland'' was ...

'', initially under the name ''Wietje en Krol'', later as ''Blondie en Blinkie''. It stars two boys, Blondin – who is white – and Cirage – who is black.

Concept

Blondin is a white, blond-haired boy who functions as the

straight man The straight man is a stock character in a comedy performance, especially a double act, sketch comedy, or farce. When a comedy partner behaves eccentrically, the straight man is expected to maintain composure. The direct contribution to the ...

of the comic. Cirage is a black boy who functions as his comedic

sidekick A sidekick is a slang expression for a close companion or colleague (not necessarily in fiction) who is, or is generally regarded as, subordinate to the one they accompany. Some well-known fictional sidekicks are Don Quixote's Sancho Panza, ...

, yet is equally clever; despite Cirage's role of providing comic relief, he is the one who solves the problems the duo encounters, and so can be considered the true hero of the series. They go on several adventures which bring them to the United States, Africa and Mexico.

History

''Blondin et Cirage'' made their debut in the 29th issue of ''Petits Belges'' in 1939. They had three adventures during World War II, with Cirage being absent in the last one due to the racial policies of the Nazi occupation. After World War II they reappeared in '' Spirou'' where their adventures ran from 1947 until 1963. Blondin et Cirage is notable for featuring the first black titular character in a Belgian comic strip. While Cirage has a somewhat stereotypical appearance, the character is otherwise far more clever and sympathetic than most portrayals of black people in Western media at that time.

Albums

* 1. ''Blondin et Cirage en Amérique'' (''Blondin and Cirage in America'') (1939) * 2. ''Blondin et Cirage contre les gangsters'' (''Blondin and Cirage against the gangsters'') (1940–1941) * 3. ''Jeunes Ailes'' (''Young Wings'') (1942) * 4. ''Les Nouvelles Aventures de Blondin et Cirage'' (''The New Adventures of Blondin and Cirage'') (1947) * 5. ''Blondin et Cirage au Mexique'' (''Blondin et Cirage in Mexico'') (1951) * 6. ''Le Nègre Blanc'' (''The White Negro'') (1951) * 7. ''Kamiliola'' (''Kamiliola'') (1952) * 8. ''Silence! On Tourne'' (''Silence! We're filming'') (1953) * 9. ''Blondin et Cirage découvrent les soucoupes volantes'' (''Blondin and Cirage discover flying saucers'') (1954) * 10. ''Le Merveilleux Noël de Blondin et Cirage'' (''The Happy Christmas of Blondin and Cirage'') (1963)

In popular culture

In 1998 the characters were commemorated as a comic book wall painting designed by Georgios Oreopoulos et Daniel Vandegeerde, part of the

Brussels' Comic Book Route Brussels' Comic Book Route (or ''The comic strip route in Brussels'') is a path composed by several comic strip murals, which cover the walls of several buildings throughout the inner City of Brussels, as well as the neighborhoods of Laeken and Au ...

. It can be visited in the Rue Capucine/Capucijnstraat in

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

Sources

{{Reflist, 30em

External links

* http://www.bedetheque.com/serie-2445-BD-Blondin-et-Cirage.html Belgian comic strips Belgian comics titles Belgian comics characters 1939 comics debuts 1963 comics endings Comics characters introduced in 1939 Comic strip duos Child characters in comics Male characters in comics Fictional Belgian people Fictional African people Black people in comics Humor comics Adventure comics Comics set in Belgium Dupuis titles