''Les Aventures de Tanguy et Laverdure'' is a Franco-Belgian comics (''bande dessinée'') series created by

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). ...

and

Albert Uderzo Alberto Aleandro Uderzo (; ; 25 April 1927 – 24 March 2020), better known as Albert Uderzo, was a French comic book artist and scriptwriter. He is best known as the co-creator and illustrator of the ''Astérix'' series in collaboration with Re ...

, about the two pilots Michel Tanguy and Ernest Laverdure, and their adventures in the

French Air Force The French Air and Space Force (AAE) (french: Armée de l'air et de l'espace, ) is the air and space force of the French Armed Forces. It was the first military aviation force in history, formed in 1909 as the , a service arm of the French Army; ...

Publication history

Initially titled ''Michel Tanguy'', it made its debut in the first issue of the Franco-Belgian comics magazine ''

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'', '' ...

'' on October 29, 1959. The series provided ''Pilote'' with a competitor to the older, but similar series ''

Buck Danny ''Buck Danny'' is a Franco-Belgian comics series about a military flying ace and his two sidekicks serving (depending on the plots) in the United States Navy or the United States Air Force. The series is noted for its realism both in the drawings ...

'' serialised in '' Spirou'' magazine (actually also co-created by Charlier as his first major ''bande dessinée'' series, incidentally), and '' Dan Cooper'', which appeared in ''

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. Started in October 1959, the series was continuously published by Pilote until June 1971. Then its publication went on in ''Tintin'' (1973), ''Super As'' (1979/1980), the Catholic magazine '' Le Pélerin'' (around 1981/1984), ''Moustique Junior'' (Belgium; 1988). In 2002, the series resumed by two new authors, after a long break caused by Charlier's death. ''Tanguy et Laverdure'' has been translated into languages such as Italian, German, Dutch, Danish, Indonesian, English, Spanish, Portuguese and Serbocroatian. It was adapted into a televised series, '' Les Chevaliers du Ciel'', initially broadcast 1967–69, and 1988–91, adapted into a 2005 film, '' Les Chevaliers du Ciel''.

English publications

The comic has been published in English in the British comic magazine ''

Lion The lion (''Panthera leo'') is a large Felidae, cat of the genus ''Panthera'' native to Africa and India. It has a muscular, broad-chested body; short, rounded head; round ears; and a hairy tuft at the end of its tail. It is sexually dimorphi ...

'' between April and September 1966 under the title ''The Flying Furies''. The main characters were renamed with English names, Tanguy became ''Jim 'Jet' Power'' and Laverdure ''Terry Madden''. "Flying Furies" was the translation of the first ''Tanguy et Laverdure'' adventure "L'Ecole des Aigles". There also was a hardcover annual published in 1972 with the title ''The Aeronauts'', the same title as the TV series received in Britain. This annual was a slightly edited compilation of two original albums, 11. ''Destination Pacifique'' and 12. ''Menace sur Mururoa'', and used the characters' French names.

Story

Tanguy and Laverdure are two friends from the flying school with opposite personalities. While Tanguy is serious, honest and obedient, Laverdure is eccentric, blundering and awkward, as well as an irredeemable skirt-chaser. However, Laverdure is a strong teammate for Tanguy in difficult situations. Dangerous missions and spying are everyday tasks for the two pilots, who are flying aces and efficient defenders of their homeland. Leaving the

Salon-de-Provence Salon-de-Provence (, ; oc, label= Provençal Occitan, Selon de Provença/Seloun de Provènço, ), commonly known as Salon, is a commune located about northwest of Marseille in the Bouches-du-Rhône department, region of Provence-Alpes-Côte d' ...

Air School, they are sent to the

Meknès Meknes ( ar, مكناس, maknās, ; ber, ⴰⵎⴽⵏⴰⵙ, amknas; french: Meknès) is one of the four Imperial cities of Morocco, located in northern central Morocco and the sixth largest city by population in the kingdom. Founded in the 11th ...

Air School to improve their knowledge. Just arrived, they search through the snowy

Anti-Atlas The Anti-Atlas ( ar, الأطلس الصغير, shi, Aṭlas Mẓẓiyn), also known as Lesser Atlas or Little Atlas is a mountain range in Morocco, a part of the Atlas Mountains in the northwest of Africa. The Anti-Atlas extends from the Atlanti ...

to retrieve a lost warhead with confidential information. Later, Michel Tanguy and Ernest Laverdure join the Cigognes squadron, (which once included such flying aces as

Georges Guynemer Georges Guynemer (, 24 December 1894 – 11 September 1917 MIA) was the second highest-scoring French fighter ace with 54 victories during World War I, and a French national hero at the time of his death. Guynemer's death was a profound s ...

) where they pilot the

Mirage III The Dassault Mirage III () is a family of single/dual-seat, single-engine, fighter aircraft developed and manufactured by French aircraft company Dassault Aviation. It was the first Western European combat aircraft to exceed Mach 2 in horizonta ...

plane. Their adventures lead them to

Dijon air base Dijon-Longvic Air Base (french: Base aérienne 102 Dijon, ) was a French Air Force (french: Armée de l'Air) air base. The airfield is located approximately east-southeast of Longvic; about southeast of Paris. Operating as a joint civilian base ...

, Tel Aviv and Greenland.

Bibliography

By Jean-Michel Charlier and Albert Uderzo *1. ''L'École des Aigles'' (

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. ...

, 1961) - Aircraft:

T-33 The Lockheed T-33 Shooting Star (or T-Bird) is an American subsonic jet trainer. It was produced by Lockheed and made its first flight in 1948. The T-33 was developed from the Lockheed P-80/F-80 starting as TP-80C/TF-80C in development, then d ...

*2. ''Pour l'Honneur des Cocardes'' (Dargaud, 1962) - Aircraft: T-33 *3. ''Danger dans le Ciel'' (Dargaud, 1963) – Aircraft: Super Mystere B-2 *4. ''Escadrille des Cigognes'' (Dargaud, 1964) *5. ''Mirage sur l'Orient'' (Dargaud, 1965) *6. ''Canon Bleu ne répond plus'' (Dargaud, 1966) – Aircraft: Mirage IIIE *7. ''Cap Zéro'' (Dargaud, 1967) *8. ''Pirates du Ciel'' (Dargaud, 1967, with

Jean Giraud Jean Henri Gaston Giraud (; 8 May 1938 – 10 March 2012) was a French artist, cartoonist, and writer who worked in the Bandes dessinées, Franco-Belgian ''bandes dessinées'' (BD) tradition. Giraud garnered worldwide acclaim under the pseu ...

and Marcel Uderzo) – Aircraft: Mirage IIIC /

Spitfire The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft used by the Royal Air Force and other Allied countries before, during, and after World War II. Many variants of the Spitfire were built, from the Mk 1 to the Rolls-Royce Griff ...

By Jean-Michel Charlier and

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 ...

*9. ''Les Anges Noirs'' (Dargaud, 1968) – Aircraft: Saab 35 Draken *10. ''Mission Spéciale'' (Dargaud, 1968 with Albert Uderzo p. 1-16) *11. ''Destination Pacifique'' (Dargaud, 1969) *12. ''Menace sur Mururoa'' (Dargaud, 1969) *13. ''Lieutenant Double Bang'' (Dargaud, 1970) *14. ''Baroud sur le Désert'' (Dargaud, 1970) *15. ''Les Vampires attaquent la Nuit'' (Dargaud, 1971) *16. ''La Terreur vient du Ciel'' (Dargaud, 1971) *Special: ''L'Avion qui tuait ses Pilotes'' (

Hachette Hachette may refer to: * Hachette (surname) * Hachette (publisher), a French publisher, the imprint of Lagardère Publishing ** Hachette Book Group, the American subsidiary ** Hachette Distribution Services, the distribution arm See also * Hachett ...

, 1971) – illustrated novelisation, not a comic *17. ''Mission "Dernière chance"'' (Dargaud, 1972) *18. ''Un DC.8 a disparu'' (Dargaud, 1973, with Patrice Serres) *19. ''La Mystérieuse Escadre Delta'' (

Fleurus Fleurus (; wa, Fleuru) is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium. It has been the site of four major battles. The municipality consists of the following districts: Brye, Heppignies, Fleurus, Lambusart, ...

, 1979) *21. ''Premières missions'' (Hachette, 1981, with Daniel Chauvin) *22. ''Station Brouillard'' (Hachette, 1982, with Daniel Chauvin) By Jean-Michel Charlier and Patrice Serres *20. ''Opération Tonnerre'' (Novedi, 1981, with Jijé) *23. ''Plan de Vol pour l'Enfer'' (Novedi, 1982) *24. ''Espion venu du Ciel'' (Novedi, 1984) By Jean-Michel Charlier and Al Coutelis *25. ''Survol interdit'' (Novedi, 1988) By Jean-Claude Laidin and Yvan Fernandez *26. ''Prisonniers des Serbes'' (Dargaud, 2002) *28. ''Le Vol 501'' (Dargaud, 2012) By Jean-Claude Laidin and Renaud Garreta *27. ''Opération Opium'' (Dargaud, 2005)

2016 Spin-off

Since 2016, a new series of ''Tanguy et Laverdure'' adventures has been published, with the full title ''Une aventure "Classic" de Tanguy et Laverdure''. Similar to 'Buck Danny Classic', it traces the adventure of the two heroes in the past, depicting the roots of their success.

Matthieu Durand, Patrice Buendia and Jean-Michel Charlier

Matthieu Durand, Hubert Cunin, Patrice Buendia and Ketty Formaggio

''Buck Danny'' crossovers

Tanguy et Laverdure crosses over several times with ''

''. Buck is first shown on his own in the adventure ''Escadrille des Cigognes'', talking with two Australian pilots in the canteen of a USAF base in Europe. Buck and his sidekicks also appear in some of the illustrations for the adventure ''Canon Bleu Ne Rèpond'' ''Plus''. In this story the two French pilots meet Buck Danny and his US Navy squadron of F-8 Crusaders in the US base of

Thule Thule ( grc-gre, Θούλη, Thoúlē; la, Thūlē) is the most northerly location mentioned in ancient Greek literature, ancient Greek and Latin literature, Roman literature and cartography. Modern interpretations have included Orkney, Shet ...

. Another tribute is also present at the end of ''Prisonniers Des Serbes'' where Erneste Laverdure is reading the Buck Danny album ''Les Agresseurs''. In the album ''Opération Opium'', Laverdure is shown getting help from and greeting an American pilot clearly implied to be Buck Danny. Buck, Tumbler and especially Tuckson play an important role in the album ''Rencontre De Trois Types''. This adventure is placed at

Nellis AFB Nellis Air Force Base ("Nellis" colloq.) is a United States Air Force installation in southern Nevada. Nellis hosts air combat exercises such as Exercise Red Flag and close air support exercises such as Green Flag-West flown in " Military Op ...

during one of the periodical "Red Flag" exercises on which the Rafale and Mirage 2000 of French Air Force are involved. Buck Danny and his friends help the French aviators to bring a dangerous group of saboteurs to justice who are carrying out attacks against French Rafale fighters, helped by an accomplice journalist, to disqualify the aircraft in the aviation newspapers. In this adventure Lady X also appears, involved in the plot against the French aircraft. In 2016 a special box set was published by

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 ...

, and Zephyr, dedicated to Buck Danny and Tanguy et Laverdure. The box included the 'Buck Danny Classic' adventure ''Les Fantomes Du Soleil Levant'', the 'Tanguy et Laverdure Classic' adventure ''Menace Sur Mirage F1'' and a short black and white crossover (''La Rencontre'') between the two series placed in 1965, written and drawn by Zumbiehl, Buendia and Philippe.

Notes

References

''Tanguy et Laverdure'' publications in ''Pilote''
BDoubliées

Bedetheque

External links

Official website

''Tanguy et Laverdure''
on Jean-Michel Charlier's website

{{in lang, fr French comic strips Belgian comic strips French comics characters Belgian comics characters 1959 comics debuts Comics by Albert Uderzo Drama comics Aviation comics Fictional aviators Comic strip duos Comics characters introduced in 1959 Dargaud titles Pilote titles Fictional French people Belgian comics adapted into films French comics adapted into films Comics adapted into television series