''Le Lombard'', known as ''Les Éditions du Lombard'' until 1989, is a

Belgian Belgian may refer to: * Something of, or related to, Belgium * Belgians, people from Belgium or of Belgian descent * Languages of Belgium, languages spoken in Belgium, such as Dutch, French, and German *Ancient Belgian language, an extinct languag ...

comic book A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...

publisher established in 1946 when ''

Tintin Tintin or Tin Tin may refer to: ''The Adventures of Tintin'' * ''The Adventures of Tintin'', a comics series by Belgian cartoonist Hergé ** Tintin (character), a fictional character in the series ** ''The Adventures of Tintin'' (film), 2011, ...

'' magazine was launched. Le Lombard is now part of

Média-Participations Média-Participations is a French media concern, controlled by a Belgian holding concern, specialized in Franco-Belgian comics. It has some forty publishers in its portfolio, including Dupuis, Dargaud, Le Lombard, Fleurus, La Martinière, and ...

, alongside publishers

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. ...

and

Dupuis Éditions Dupuis S.A. () is a Belgium, 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 comics album, albums and magazines. It is ...

, with each entity maintaining its editorial independence.

History

Les Éditions du Lombard was established by

Raymond Leblanc Raymond Leblanc (born 22 May 1915 – 21 March 2008) was a Belgian comic book publisher, film director and film producer, best known for publishing works such as ''The Adventures of Tintin'' by Hergé and '' Blake and Mortimer'' by Edgar P. Ja ...

and his partners in 1946. Wanting to create an illustrated youth magazine, they decided that the already well-known ''

'' would be the perfect hero. Business partner André Sinave went to see Tintin creator

Hergé Georges Prosper Remi (; 22 May 1907 – 3 March 1983), known by the pen name Hergé (; ), from the French pronunciation of his reversed initials ''RG'', was a Belgian cartoonist. He is best known for creating ''The Adventures of Tintin'', ...

to propose creating the magazine. Hergé, who had worked for ''

Le Soir ''Le Soir'' (, "The Evening") is a French-language Belgian daily newspaper. Founded in 1887 by Emile Rossel, it was intended as a politically independent source of news. It is one of the most popular Francophone newspapers in Belgium, competing ...

'' during the war, was being prosecuted for having collaborated with the Germans and did not have a publisher at the time. After consulting with his friend Edgar Pierre Jacobs, Hergé agreed. The first issue of ''

'' magazine was published on 26 September 1946. Simultaneously, a Dutch version was also published, entitled '' Kuifje'' (Kuifje being the name of Tintin in Dutch). 40,000 copies were printed in French, and 20,000 in Dutch. In 1986, Le Lombard was acquired by

, and today publishes around one hundred titles annually. More recently, in 2015, Le Lombard joined with twelve other European comics publishing actors to create

Europe Comics 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 Programme, and launche ...

, a digital initiative co-funded by 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 ...

program.

Notable titles

*''

Alpha Alpha (uppercase , lowercase ; grc, ἄλφα, ''álpha'', or ell, άλφα, álfa) is the first letter of the Greek alphabet. In the system of Greek numerals, it has a value of one. Alpha is derived from the Phoenician letter aleph , whic ...

'' *''

Angry Birds Stella ''Angry Birds Stella'', also known as ''Angry Birds Slingshot Stella'', is a puzzle video game and the second spin-off from the ''Angry Birds'' series, developed by Rovio Entertainment. The game was marketed to females by using characters that h ...

'' *''

Benoît Brisefer ''Benoît Brisefer'' (French language, French for "Benedict Ironbreaker", published as "Benny Breakiron" in English, Dutch language, Dutch: ''Steven Sterk'') is a Franco-Belgian comics, Belgian comic strip created in 1960 by Peyo (best known for ...

'' *''

Bob Morane ''Bob Morane'' is a series of adventure books in French, featuring an eponymous protagonist, created by French-speaking Belgian novelist Henri Vernes, the pseudonym of Charles-Henri Dewisme. More than 200 novels have been written since his in ...

'' *''

Buddy Longway Buddy Longway is a Western (genre), western comic book written by the Swiss people, Swiss comic book writer Derib. It is published under the Le Lombard publishing house. The first issue came out in 1972, and 16 issues were published until 1987. Der ...

'' *''

Chlorophylle Chlorophylle was a Belgian comics series and Raymond Macherot's best known work, alongside '' Sibylline''. It is a fantasy comic about anthropomorphic forest animals, including the title character Chlorophylle, who is a dormouse. Description C ...

'' *''

Chick Bill ''Chick Bill'' is a Belgian humorous Western comic book series created by Tibet. It was first published in 1953 in the magazine ''Chez Nous Junior'', and its Dutch language counterpart '' Ons Volkske'', and began serial publication on October 19, 1 ...

'' *''

Clifton Clifton may refer to: People *Clifton (surname) *Clifton (given name) Places Australia * Clifton, Queensland, a town **Shire of Clifton *Clifton, New South Wales, a suburb of Wollongong *Clifton, Western Australia Canada *Clifton, Nova Scotia ...

'' *''

Crusade The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and sometimes directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The best known of these Crusades are those to the Holy Land in the period between 1095 and 1291 that were i ...

'' by writer

Jean Dufaux Jean Dufaux (; born 7 June 1949) is a Belgian comic book writer. Beginning his professional career as a journalist for "CINÉ-PRESSE", Dufaux started writing comic books in the 1980s. Perhaps his most well-known, and certainly his most long-runn ...

and artist Philippe Xavier. Published in Britain by Cinebook *''

Cubitus ''Cubitus'' is a Franco-Belgian comics series, and the basis for the ''Wowser'' cartoon series appearing in the United States. ''Cubitus'' was created by the Belgian cartoonist Dupa, and features Cubitus, a large anthropomorphic dog, who lives ...

'' *'' l'Élève Ducobu'' *'' I.R.$.'' *'' Lait entier'' *'' Léonard'' *'' Odilon Verjus'' *''

Ric Hochet ''Ric Hochet'' is a Franco-Belgian comics series created by Tibet (drawings) and André-Paul Duchâteau (scripts). It first appeared on March 30, 1955, in the Franco-Belgian comics magazine ''Tintin''. Synopsis The series features the adventure ...

'' *''

The Smurfs ''The Smurfs'' (french: Les Schtroumpfs; nl, De Smurfen) is a Belgian comic franchise centered on a fictional colony of small, blue, humanoid creatures who live in mushroom-shaped houses in the forest. ''The Smurfs'' was first created and in ...

'' *''

Thorgal ''Thorgal'' is a fantasy adventure Franco-Belgian comics series by Belgian writer Jean Van Hamme and Polish graphic artist Grzegorz Rosiński. Debuting in 1977, it has incorporated elements of Norse mythology, the legend of Atlantis as well as ...

'' * ''

'' magazine *''

Yakari ''Yakari'' is a Franco-Belgian comic book series, aimed at a younger audience, originally written by Job, and illustrated by Derib, both from Switzerland. The series is now written by Frenchman Joris Chamblain. ''Yakari'' is one of the best-kno ...

References

External links

Le Lombard
Company website in English, French, and

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

. {{DEFAULTSORT:Lombard, Le Belgian brands Comic book publishing companies of Belgium Publishing companies established in 1946 1946 establishments in Belgium