Claire Bretécher
Claire Bretécher (; 17 April 1940 – 10 February 2020) on Lambiek Comiclopedia was a French
Marcel Gotlib
Marcel Gottlieb (14 July 1934 – 4 December 2016), known professionally as Gotlib, was a French comics artist/writer and publisher. Through his own work and the magazines he co-founded, ''L'Écho des savanes'' and ''Fluide Glacial'', he was a key ...
and
Nikita Mandryka
Nikita Mandryka (20 October 1940 – 13 June 2021) was a French cartoonist.
He started drawing in the '' Vaillant'' magazine, before moving to ''Pilote'' in 1967, and then created '' L'Écho des savanes'' along with Claire Bretécher and Marc ...
. It featured the work of French and international authors and graphic artists in mature-oriented
comics
a medium used to express ideas with images, often combined with text or other visual information. It typically the form of a sequence of panels of images. Textual devices such as speech balloons, captions, and onomatopoeia can indicate ...
over the course of 34 years and temporarily ended publication in December 2006. It was relaunched in 2008.
History
The first issue of ''L’Écho des Savanes'' was published on May 1, 1972. It was the only issue that year, although popular demand caused it to be reprinted in several editions. All its pages (except for the cover) were in black and white and exclusively contained the work of its founders, Bretécher, Gotlib and Mandryka. Marked as a publication for adults, it staked a different course than ''
Pilote
Cover of the first ''Pilote'' issue #0
''Pilote'' () was a French comic 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'', '' ...
'' magazine, the family-friendly publication the founders had a long relationship with. Over the following two years, it was a quarterly publication. Only near the end of this period, work by other creators began to appear, such as
Alexis Alexis may refer to:
People Mononym
* Alexis (poet) ( – ), a Greek comic poet
* Alexis (sculptor), an ancient Greek artist who lived around the 3rd or 4th century BC
* Alexis (singer) (born 1968), German pop singer
* Alexis (comics) (1946–1977 ...
,
Harvey Kurtzman
Harvey Kurtzman (; October 3, 1924 – February 21, 1993) was an American cartoonist and editor. His best-known work includes writing and editing the parodic comic book '' Mad'' from 1952 until 1956, and writing the ''Little Ann ...
,
Jean Solé
Jean may refer to:
People
* Jean (female given name)
* Jean (male given name)
* Jean (surname)
Fictional characters
* Jean Grey, a Marvel Comics character
* Jean Valjean, fictional character in novel ''Les Misérables'' and its adaptations
* J ...
, and Moebius.
In 1975, the magazine adapted a bi-monthly schedule, and from 1976 it became monthly. Although no longer labeled "for adults", the usual cover imagery suggested nothing about the contents had changed. During this period, contributions began to arrive from creators such as
Neal Adams
Neal Adams (June 15, 1941 – April 28, 2022) was an American comic book artist. He was the co-founder of the graphic design studio Continuity Associates, and was a creators-rights advocate who helped secure a pension and recognition for Supe ...
,
Richard Corben
Richard Corben (October 1, 1940December 2, 2020) was an American illustrator and comic book artist best known for his comics featured in '' Heavy Metal'' magazine, especially the ''Den'' series which was featured in the magazine's first film ad ...
,
Robert Crumb
Robert Dennis Crumb (; born August 30, 1943) is an American cartoonist and musician who often signs his work R. Crumb. His work displays a nostalgia for American folk culture of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and satire of contem ...
,
Dick Giordano
Richard Joseph Giordano (; July 20, 1932 – March 27, 2010) was an American comics artist and editor whose career included introducing Charlton Comics' "Action Heroes" stable of superheroes and serving as executive editor of DC Comics.
Early li ...
,
Alejandro Jodorowsky
Alejandro Jodorowsky Prullansky (; born 17 February 1929) is a Chilean-French avant-garde filmmaker.
Best known for his 1970s films '' El Topo'' and '' The Holy Mountain'', Jodorowsky has been "venerated by cult cinema enthusiasts" for his wor ...
Gérard Lauzier
Gérard Lauzier (30 November 1932 – 6 December 2008) was a French comics author and movie director, best known as one of the leading authors in the more adult-oriented French comics scene of the 1970s and 1980s.
Biography
Gérard Lauzier was bo ...
,
Jacques Lob
Jacques Lob (19 August 1932 – 24 May 1990) was a French comic book creator, known for several comics creations, including '' Superdupont''.
Biography
Jacques Lob began his career as an illustrator of humorous cartoons that were published in va ...
Georges Pichard
Georges Pichard (17 January 1920 – 7 June 2003) was a French comics artist, known for numerous magazine covers, serial publications and albums, stereotypically featuring partially exposed voluptuous women.
Biography
A native of Paris, he was ...
,
Jacques Tardi
Jacques Tardi (; born 30 August 1946) is a French comic artist. He is often credited solely as Tardi.
Biography
Tardi was born on 30 August 1946 in Valence, Drôme. After graduating from the École nationale des beaux-arts de Lyon and the Éco ...
,
Martin Veyron
Martin Veyron (born 27 March 1950 in Dax, Landes, France) is a French comic book author and novelist, best known for his graphic novels and editorial cartoons. His style combines disenchanted vaudeville and scathing studies of mores in the manner ...
,
Wallace Wood
Wallace Allan Wood (June 17, 1927 – November 2, 1981) was an American comic book writer, artist and independent publisher, widely known for his work on EC Comics's titles such as '' Weird Science'', ''Weird Fantasy'', and ''MAD Magazine'' fro ...
and
Berni Wrightson
Bernard Albert Wrightson (October 27, 1948 – March 18, 2017), sometimes credited as Bernie Wrightson, was an American artist, known for co-creating the Swamp Thing, his adaptation of the novel ''Frankenstein'' illustration work, and for his o ...
.
From the late 1970s, leading to 1982's suspension of publication, ''L'Écho'' continued a successful run, including frequent editions of ''L'Écho special U.S.A.'', and a side publication titled ''Virus'' (five issues in 1980–1981). The work by Bretécher, Gotlib, and Mandryka stopped appearing, and notable additions to the pool of contributors were
Jean Michel Charlier
Jean-Michel Charlier (; 30 October 1924 – 10 July 1989) was a Belgian comics writer. He was a co-founder of the famed Franco-Belgian comics magazine ''Pilote''.
Life
Charlier was born in Liège, Belgium, in 1924.De Weyer, Geert (2005). ...
,
Guido Crepax
Guido Crepas (15 July 1933, in Milan – 31 July 2003, in Milan), better known by his pen name Guido Crepax, was an Italian comics artist. He is most famous for his character '' Valentina'', created in 1965 and very representative of the spirit of ...
,
Jean-Claude Forest
Jean-Claude Forest (11 September 1930 – 30 December 1998) was a French writer and illustrator of comics and the creator of character Barbarella.
Biography
Jean-Claude Forest was born in Le Perreux-sur-Marne, a Paris suburb and graduated f ...
Tanino Liberatore
Gaetano Liberatore (born 12 April 1953), better known as Tanino Liberatore, is an Italian comics author and illustrator. His best known fictional character is RanXerox.
Life and work
Born in Quadri (province of Chieti), Liberatore went to high s ...
and
Art Spiegelman
Art Spiegelman (; born Itzhak Avraham ben Zeev Spiegelman on February 15, 1948) is an American cartoonist, editor, and comics advocate best known for his graphic novel ''Maus''. His work as co-editor on the comics magazines ''Arcade (comics maga ...
.
1982-2006
Purchased by publisher
Albin Michel Albin may refer to:
Places
* Albin, Wyoming, US
* Albin Township, Brown County, Minnesota, US
* Albin, Virginia, US
People
* Albin (given name), origin of the name and people with the first name "Albin"
* Albin (surname)
;Mononyms
* Albin of ...
, ''L'Écho'' relaunched June 1 after a five-month pause, making alterations to the image of the magazine. Among the new contributors were
Baru
''Baru'' is an extinct genus of Australian mekosuchine crocodilian. It was semi-aquatic, around 4 m (13 ft) in length. Being semi-aquatic its habitat was around fresh pools of water in wet forests, ambushing their prey, much like mode ...
,
Will Eisner
William Erwin Eisner (March 6, 1917 – January 3, 2005) was an American cartoonist, writer, and entrepreneur. He was one of the earliest cartoonists to work in the American comic book industry, and his series ''The Spirit'' (1940–1952) was no ...
,
Milo Manara
Maurilio Manara (; born 12 September 1945), known professionally as Milo Manara, is an Italian comic book writer and artist.
Career
After architecture and painting studies, he made his comics debut in 1969 drawing for ''Genius'', a Fumetti neri s ...
,
Frank Miller
Frank Miller (born January 27, 1957) is an American comic book writer, penciller and inker, novelist, screenwriter, film director, and producer known for his comic book stories and graphic novels such as his run on ''Daredevil'' and subsequen ...
,
Jean-Marc Reiser
Jean-Marc Reiser (; 13 April 1941 – 5 November 1983) was a French comics creator.
Biography
A prolific cartoon artist from 1959 until his death, Reiser made his debut in the publication ''La Gazette de Nectar'' for the Nicolas winery. His ...
,
Alex Toth
Alexander Toth (June 25, 1928 – May 27, 2006) was an American cartoonist active from the 1940s through the 1980s. Toth's work began in the American comic book industry, but he is also known for his animation designs for Hanna-Barbera throughout ...
Alex Varenne
Alex Varenne (29 August 1939 – 19 October 2020) was a French comic book artist and writer, known by his erotic works. He worked often in collaboration with his brother Daniel Varenne.
Life and work
Varenne was born in Saint-Germain-au-Mon ...
. In addition to "adult" comic strips, issues contained articles featuring photographs of semi-naked women (imagery echoed on the covers).
A weekly version, initially named ''L’Hebdo Écho des Savanes'', and later ''L’Ebdo'' was launched in 1984 in place of the monthly magazine for a few months.
The December 2006 issue was to be the final release of ''L'Écho'', after a decision by Lagardère Active Media to cease publication.
2008
Glénat publisher restarted the publication from March 28, 2008, with issue number 267.