Europe Comics is a pan-European comics and graphic novel digital venture run by 13 European comics publishers from eight European countries. The project received funding in 2015 from the European Commission's
Creative Europe
Creative Europe is a European Union programme for the cultural and creative sectors. In its first phase, going from 2014 to 2020, it had a budget of € 1.47 billion, which were expanded to € 2.44 billion in its second phase (2021-2027).
His ...
Programme, and launched officially in November of that year.
The purpose of the initiative is the development of a lesser-known but ample European literary genre,
European comics
European comics are comics produced in Europe. The '' comic album'' is a very common printed medium. The typical ''album'' is printed in large format, generally with high quality paper and colouring, commonly 24x32 cm (9.4x12.6 in), has around 48 ...
, through the formation of a collective English-language digital catalogue, the organization of author tours and events across Europe and North America, and the creation of a website meant for comics readers and professionals.
Partners
* Akan Ajans (rights agency, Turkey)
* Ballon Media (publisher, Belgium)
* (publisher, Italy)
* Cinebook (publisher, UK)
*
Dargaud
Société Dargaud, doing business as Les Éditions Dargaud, is a publisher of Franco-Belgian comics series, headquartered in the 18th arrondissement of Paris. It was founded in 1936 by Georges Dargaud (), publishing its first comics in 1943.
...
Dupuis
Éditions Dupuis S.A. () is a Belgian publisher of comic albums and magazines.
Based in Marcinelle near Charleroi, Dupuis was founded in 1922 by Jean Dupuis, and is mostly famous for its comic albums and magazines. It is originally a French ...
Le Lombard
''Le Lombard'', known as ''Les Éditions du Lombard'' until 1989, is a Belgian comic book publisher established in 1946 when ''Tintin'' magazine was launched. Le Lombard is now part of Média-Participations, alongside publishers Dargaud and Dupui ...
The Europe Comics catalog consists of original works from each publisher of the project, translated in English and published digitally. Selected titles include:
* ''The Adventures of Jerome Katzmeier'' ( François Boucq, Le Lombard)
* ''Agrippina'' (
Claire Bretécher
Claire Bretécher (; 17 April 1940 – 10 February 2020) on Lambiek Comiclopedia was a French
Djinn
Jinn ( ar, , ') – also romanized as djinn or anglicized as genies (with the broader meaning of spirit or demon, depending on sources)
– are invisible creatures in early pre-Islamic Arabian religious systems and later in Islamic myt ...
Gipsy
The Romani (also spelled Romany or Rromani , ), colloquially known as the Roma, are an Indo-Aryan ethnic group, traditionally nomadic itinerants. They live in Europe and Anatolia, and have diaspora populations located worldwide, with sign ...
Thierry Smolderen
Thierry Smolderen (born 25 November 1954) is an essay writer, and a scenario writer of Belgian comic strips, for example of '' Gipsy''.
He is a teacher at École des Beaux-Arts of Angoulême
Angoulême (; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''Engoulaeme'' ...
, Dargaud)
* ''Globetrotting Viola'' ( and Teresa Radice, Tunué)
* '' Jeremy'' ( Jef Nys, Ballon)
* ''Keepers of Lost Time'' (Miroslav Marić and
Vujadin Radovanović
Vujadin "Vuja" Radovanović ( sr-cyr, Вујадин Радовановић, born January 12, 1962, in Mladenovac) is a Serbian comic-book and graphic novel creator.
, Darkwood)
* ''
Kobane Calling
''Kobane Calling'', titled ''Kobane Calling: Greetings from Northern Syria'' in the English edition, is a comic illustrated book written and designed by the Italian author Zerocalcare. Part of the work was published in January 2015 on '' Internaz ...
'' (
Zerocalcare
Michele Rech (; born 12 December 1983), known as Zerocalcare (), is an Italian cartoonist. His pen name, literally meaning "zero limescale", was inspired by an Italian TV commercial jingle for a descaler product because he had to choose a nicknam ...
, BAO Publishing)
* ''The Man Who Shot Lucky Luke'' (, inspired by ''
Lucky Luke
''Lucky Luke'' is a Western '' bande dessinée'' series created by Belgian cartoonist Morris in 1946. Morris wrote and drew the series single-handedly until 1955, after which he started collaborating with French writer René Goscinny. Their ...
'', Dargaud/Lucky Comics)
* ''
Michel Vaillant
''Michel Vaillant'' is a French car racing comics series created in 1957 by French cartoonist Jean Graton and published originally by Le Lombard. Later, Graton published the albums by himself when he founded Graton éditeur in 1982. Michel V ...
'' ( Jean Graton, Dupuis)
* ''The Midlife Crisis'' (
Florence Cestac
Florence Cestac (born 18 July 1949) is a French cartoonist and former publisher. She is the first woman to have won the prestigious ''Grand Prix de la ville d'Angoulême'', in 2000, and was the only one until Rumiko Takahashi in 2019.
Career
Bor ...
, Dargaud)
* '' Murena'' ( Jean Dufaux and , Dargaud)
* ''Noir'' (Łukasz Bogacz and , Timof)
* ''Portugal'' ( Cyril Pedrosa, Dupuis)
* ''The Suicide Forest'' ( and Gabriel Hernández, Dibbuks)
* '' Valerian and Laureline'' (
Pierre Christin
Pierre Christin (; born 27 July 1938) is a French comics creator and writer.
Biography
Christin was born at Saint-Mandé in 1938.
After graduating from the Sorbonne, Christin pursued graduate studies in political science at SciencesPo and be ...
and
Jean-Claude Mézières
Jean-Claude Mézières (; 23 September 1938 – 23 January 2022) was a French ''bandes dessinées'' artist and illustrator. Born in Paris and raised in nearby Saint-Mandé, he was introduced to drawing by his elder brother and influenced by co ...
, Dargaud)
Events
Since its launch, Europe Comics and its authors have participated in a number of comics and book events such as comic conventions (including the
San Diego Comic-Con
San Diego Comic-Con International is a comic book convention and nonprofit multi-genre entertainment event held annually in San Diego, California since 1970. The name, as given on its website, is Comic-Con International: San Diego; but it is ...
London Book Fair
The London Book Fair (LBF) is a large book-publishing trade fair held annually, usually in April, in London, England. LBF is a global marketplace for rights negotiation and the sale and distribution of content across print, audio, TV, film and di ...
and
Frankfurt Book Fair
The Frankfurt Book Fair (German: Frankfurter Buchmesse, FBM) is the world's largest trade fair for books, based on the number of publishing companies represented. It is considered to be the most important book fair in the world for internationa ...
) and a variety of independent comics events such as the
Small Press Expo
The Small Press Expo (SPX) is an American alternative comics convention. A registered 501(c)(3) that was created in 1994, every year since its inception, SPX has put on a festival, known as The Expo, that provides a forum for artists, writers an ...
As described in the official summary of the Europe Comics initiative, one of the "tangible ... outcomes of the project will be the creation of a European comics directory with statistical information on markets and trends," intended as a reference for both comics fans and professionals in the comics field (including publishers, journalists, and scholars).