''Zig et Puce'' is a Franco-Belgian comics series created by

Alain Saint-Ogan Alain Saint-Ogan (; August 7, 1895 – June 22, 1974) was a French comics author and artist. Biography In 1925, he created the well-known comic strip ''Zig et Puce'' (''Zig and Flea''), which initially appeared in the ''Dimanche Illustré'' ...

in 1925 that became popular and influential over a long period. After ending production, it was revived by

Greg Greg is a masculine given name, and often a shortened form of the given name Gregory. Greg (more commonly spelled " Gregg") is also a surname. People with the name *Greg Abbott (disambiguation), multiple people *Greg Abel (born 1961/1962), Canadi ...

for a second successful publication run.

Synopsis

Zig and Puce, the thin and the chubby one, respectively, are two teenagers who frequently experience adventures. On an expedition to the

North Pole The North Pole, also known as the Geographic North Pole or Terrestrial North Pole, is the point in the Northern Hemisphere where the Earth's rotation, Earth's axis of rotation meets its surface. It is called the True North Pole to distingu ...

they meet their pet

auk An auk or alcid is a bird of the family Alcidae in the order Charadriiformes. The alcid family includes the murres, guillemots, auklets, puffins, and murrelets. The word "auk" is derived from Icelandic ''álka'', from Old Norse ''alka'' (a ...

, Alfred. Their adventures are often exotic, and occasionally

fantastic The fantastic (french: le fantastique) is a subgenre of literary works characterized by the ambiguous presentation of seemingly supernatural forces. Bulgarian-French structuralist literary critic Tzvetan Todorov originated the concept, charac ...

in nature, leading to destinations such as

Venus Venus is the second planet from the Sun. It is sometimes called Earth's "sister" or "twin" planet as it is almost as large and has a similar composition. As an interior planet to Earth, Venus (like Mercury) appears in Earth's sky never f ...

or the future.

Publication history

''Zig et Puce'' first appeared in the ''Dimanche Illustré'', weekly supplement of the French newspaper ''l'Excelsior'', on 3 May 1925. The third major character, Alfred, made his first appearance on 25 December 1925. The series' style was influenced by the

Art-Deco Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the United ...

design of the period, and its engaging stories are suggested to be the main reason for its wide appeal among both adults and youth, and the subsequent success of the series. It is also considered the earliest French comic strip to employ

speech bubbles Speech balloons (also speech bubbles, dialogue balloons, or word balloons) are a graphic convention used most commonly in comic books, comics, and cartoons to allow words (and much less often, pictures) to be understood as representing a char ...

, the device which was popularized by ''

The Yellow Kid The Yellow Kid (Mickey Dugan) is an American comic strip character that appeared from 1895 to 1898 in Joseph Pulitzer's ''New York World'', and later William Randolph Hearst's ''New York Journal''. Created and drawn by Richard F. Outcault in t ...

''. After a long run of serial and album publications, Saint-Ogan ceased to produce the series in 1954. The series was later revived by

who, with the consent of Saint-Ogan, resumed production in the Franco-Belgian comics magazine ''

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, ...

''. It was first published on 26 March 1963 and continued serial publication until 1969.

Influences

As a seminal comic strip in the

bande dessinée (singular ; literally 'drawn strips'), abbreviated BDs and also referred to as Franco-Belgian comics (), are comics that are usually originally in French and created for readership in France and Belgium. These countries have a long tradition ...

culture, although appearing several years after '' Les Pieds Nickelés'', ''Zig et Puce'' made an influential impact a few years before the debut of

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'', ...

and ''

The Adventures of Tintin ''The Adventures of Tintin'' (french: Les Aventures de Tintin ) is a series of 24 ''bande dessinée'' albums created by Belgian cartoonist Georges Remi, who wrote under the pen name Hergé. The series was one of the most popular European comi ...

''. The character of Alfred is also considered a pioneering central animal character, in the tradition of Franco-Belgian comics animals such as Milou (Snowy),

Spip SPIP (''Système de Publication pour l'Internet'') is a free software content management system designed for web site publishing, oriented towards online collaborative editing. The software is designed for easy setup, use and maintenance, and is ...

, Jocko,

Jolly Jumper Jolly Jumper is a horse character in the Franco-Belgian comics series ''Lucky Luke'', created by Belgian artist Morris. Described as "the smartest horse in the west" and able to perform tasks such as chess-playing and tightrope walking, Jolly Ju ...

Marsupilami ''Marsupilami'' is a comic book character and fictional animal species created by André Franquin. Its first appearance was in the 31 January 1952 issue of the Franco-Belgian comics magazine '' Spirou''. Since then it appeared regularly in th ...

and

Idéfix Dogmatix () is a fictional white terrier dog who is a companion to Obelix in the ''Asterix'' comics. Dogmatix is a pun on the words dog and dogmatic. In the original French, his name is ''Idéfix'', itself a pun on the French expression '' idée ...

(Dogmatix). Alfred the auk was chosen as mascot by

Charles Lindbergh Charles Augustus Lindbergh (February 4, 1902 – August 26, 1974) was an American aviator, military officer, author, inventor, and activist. On May 20–21, 1927, Lindbergh made the first nonstop flight from New York City to Paris, a distance o ...

when he landed in Paris on board the ''

Spirit of St. Louis The ''Spirit of St. Louis'' (formally the Ryan NYP, registration: N-X-211) is the custom-built, single-engine, single-seat, high-wing monoplane that was flown by Charles Lindbergh on May 20–21, 1927, on the first solo nonstop transatlant ...

'' on the arrival of his first

transatlantic flight A transatlantic flight is the flight of an aircraft across the Atlantic Ocean from Europe, Africa, South Asia, or the Middle East to North America, Central America, or South America, or ''vice versa''. Such flights have been made by fixed-wing air ...

in May 1927. There, an American lady gave him a plush effigy of Alfred, which Lindergh took with him in his flight from Paris to Brussels. The character Alfred was chosen as the mascot of the 1974 Angoulême Comics Festival, and the name given to an

award An award, sometimes called a distinction, is something given to a recipient as a token of recognition of excellence in a certain field. When the token is a medal, ribbon or other item designed for wearing, it is known as a decoration. An awar ...

. The term ''Alfred'' was used until 1989 when it was renamed ''Alph'art'' (in honor of the last ''

Adventures of Tintin ''The Adventures of Tintin'' (french: Les Aventures de Tintin ) is a series of 24 bande dessinée#Formats, ''bande dessinée'' albums created by Belgians, Belgian cartoonist Georges Remi, who wrote under the pen name Hergé. The series was one ...

'' comic

Tintin and Alph-Art ''Tintin and Alph-Art'' (french: link=no, Tintin et l'alph-art) is the unfinished twenty-fourth and final volume of ''The Adventures of Tintin'', the comics series by Belgian cartoonist Hergé. Left incomplete on Hergé's death, the manuscript ...

Albums

Alain Saint-Ogan

''Lists French album titles, titles translated into English, the first year of publication in album format, and the date of republication by Glénat. At least for the first nine albums, the republished Glénat versions have between 1 and 24 pages not included in the originals.'' *1. ''Zig et Puce'' (''Zig and Puce''), 1927, Glénat 1995. *2. ''Zig et Puce millionnaires'' (''Zig and Puce, Millionnaires''), 1928, Glénat 1995. *3. ''Zig, Puce et Alfred'' (''Zig, Puce and Alfred''), 1929, Glénat 1995. *4. ''Zig et Puce à New-York'' (''Zig and Puce in New York''), 1930, Glénat 1995. *5. ''Zig et Puce cherchent Dolly'' (''Zig and Puce look for Dolly''), 1931, Glénat 1995. *6. ''Zig et Puce aux Indes'' (''Zig and Puce in South Asia''), 1932, Glénat 1995. *7. ''Zig, Puce et Furette'' (''Zig, Puce and Furette''), 1933, Glénat 1996. *8. ''Zig, Puce et la petite princesse'' (''Zig, Puce and the Little Princess''), 1933, Glénat 1996. *9. ''Zig et Puce au XXIè siècle'' (''Zig and Puce in the 21st Century''), 1935, Glénat 1997. *10. ''Zig et Puce Ministres'' (''Ministers Zig and Puce''), unknown, Glénat 1997. *11. ''Zig et Puce and le Professeur Médor'' followed by ''Revoilà Zig et Puce'' (''Zig and Puce and Professor Médor '') and (''Zig and Puce Again''), unknown, Glénat 1997, only the first story. The second was republished in a separate album, Glénat 1998. *12. ''Zig et Puce et l'homme invisible'' (''Zig and Puce and the Invisible Man''), 1949, Glénat 1998. *13. ''Zig et Puce et le complot'' (''Zig and Puce and the Conspiracy''), 1950, Glénat 1999. *14. ''Zig et Puce et le cirque'' (''Zig and Puce and the Circus''), 1951, Glénat 1999. *15. ''Zig et Puce en Éthiopie'' (''Zig and Puce in Ethiopia''), 1952, Glénat 1999. *16. ''Zig et Puce sur Venus'' (''Zig and Puce on Venus''), unknown, Glénat 2000. *17. ''Zig, Puce, Nénette et la baronne Truffe'' (''Zig, Puce, Nénette and Baroness Truffe'') unknown, Glénat 2001. Multiple stories, printed under slightly different titles. *

Greg

''Lists French titles, titles translated into English, and the first year of publication in album format.'' *1. ''Le voleur fantôme'' (''The Phantom Robber''), 1965. *2. ''S.O.S. 'Sheila (''S.O.S. 'Sheila' ''), 1966. *3. ''Le prototype Zèro-Zèro'' (''The Zero-Zero Prototype''), 1967. *4. ''La pierre qui vole'' (''The Flying Rock''), 1968. *5. ''Les frais de la princesse'' (''The Princess' Expenses''), 1970. *6. ''Zig et Puce contre le légume boulimique'' (''Zig and Puce versus the Bulimic Vegetable''), after 1966.

Footnotes

Sources

''Zig, Puce et Alfred'' publications in Belgian ''Tintin''
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BDoubliées

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Bedetheque {{refend

External links

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