Quebec comics

Quebec comics (french: bande dessinée québécoise, or BDQ) are French language comics produced primarily in the Canadian province of Quebec, and read both within and outside Canada, particularly in French-speaking Europe.

In contrast to English language comics in Canada, which largely follow the American model, Quebec comics are mostly influenced by the trends in Franco-Belgian comics. There is little crossover between the French and English comics worlds in Canada.

Overview

The majority language of Quebec is French, and Quebec comics refers to those comics published in French—English-language comics are considered to be part of the English-language part of Canadian comics history. The two traditions have little crossover, with the English tradition following mainly American trends, and the French tradition following mainly European ones, especially the French language Franco-Belgian trends, although newspaper comic strips have tended to be French translations of syndicated American strips.

In the early 2000s, most comics consumed within Quebec were of European or American origin, with local comics only making up 5% of the total market, which had been true since the early 1970s. However, a number of comics of Québécois origin have found success overseas, like Michel Rabagliati's ''Paul'' series and Maryse Dubuc's '' Les Nombrils'' (''The Bellybuttons''), some of these cartoonists have had success with English translations, as when Montreal-based English publisher Drawn & Quarterly picked up Julie Doucet's ''Dirty Plotte'', which won acclaim and awards in the English-speaking comics world.

History

Native Quebec comics have had a long up-and-down history, alternating between periods of flourishing and periods languishing under the deluge of foreign comics.

19th Century

Caricatures have appeared in newspapers in Quebec since at least the 18th Century. A political poster using speech balloons from 1792 has been attested. Most were anonymous, but one, titled ''"La Ménagerie annexionniste"'', by William Augustus Leggo was another early francophone use of speech balloons. Speech balloons thereafter became more common in caricatures and advertising, and humorous and satirical publications also proliferated.

By the end of the century, one could buy compilations of these cartoons and illustrations—the roots of comic albums in Quebec. Between 1878 and 1884, Henri Julien published two books of political caricatures, ''L’album drolatique du journal Le Farceur''. In 1900, Morissette published ''Petit chien sauvage et savant'', and in 1901 Raoul Barré put out ''En roulant ma boule''. Following this, the number of cartoonists increased in newspapers in Quebec City and Montreal.

What has been called the first comic strip in Quebec appeared in 1866. The woodcut serial strip was called ''Baptiste Pacôt'' and has been attributed to the sculptor Jean-Baptiste Côté. A number of other pantomime or captioned strips appeared throughout the rest of the century. In 1902, Raoul Barré drew the captioned eight-panel strip, "Pour un dîner de Noël", which was the first known strip to appear in a daily Quebec newspaper. Barré created a strip called ''Noah's Ark'' in 1912 for the New York-based McClure Syndicate, which he brought to '' La Patrie'' the next year in French. Soon after he moved into animation, becoming an innovative pioneer in the field.

Hector Berthelot was a cartoonist and the publisher of ''Le Canard'', where Berthelot started running satirical material signed Père Ladébauche ("Father Debauchery") starting in 1878. Berthelot would bring Ladébauche with him from newspaper to newspaper, and in 1904, Joseph Charlebois's comic strip version of '' Le Père Ladébauche'' debuted in '' La Presse'', a popular strip that would last until 1957. ''Le Canard'' published the works of a number of other notable cartoonists, such as Henri Julien, and it was there that the oldest known comic strip using a speech balloon appeared, an unsigned strip printed on 22 September 1883.

Early 20th Century comic strips

The popular press began to flourish at the turn of the century, and, as photographic reproduction was still in its infancy, the papers hired cartoonists and illustrators to liven up their pages, with the ''Montreal Star'' employing up to eight artists. '' La Patrie'' had convinced Albéric Bourgeois to give up his job at the ''Boston Globe'' and create comic strips for them back in Quebec. 1904 saw, in ''La Patrie'', the publication of his '' Les Aventures de Timothée'' (''The Adventures of Timothée''), said to be the first French-language comic to feature speech balloons consistently. This began what historian Michel Viau calls "The Golden Age of the BDQ".

''La Presse'', in response to ''La Patries success with ''Timothée'', added a weekly children's section, "''La Ruche enfantine''", which included comic strips. Charlebois's '' Père Ladébauche'' had begun, and after 43 instalments was taken over by Bourgeois, who continued to create other strips as well for ''La Presse'', to which he soon moved and stayed with until his 1955 retirement. Théophile Busnel took over ''Timothée'' and continued it until his sudden death in 1908. It was replaced with a translation of American Richard F. Outcault's '' Buster Brown''. Soon, other native strips were being replaced with translations of popular American strips, and by 1909, the "Golden Age" that had started in 1904 had come to an end. Native strips didn't disappear entirely, but those that remained lost the distinct flavour of contemporary life in Quebec, and began to imitate the silent films and vaudeville that were inundating popular culture in the province.

Québécois cartoonists would unsuccessfully propose a number of strips to compete with the American strips that dominated the Sundays and dailies. The native Quebec presence on those pages would become more dominant after 1940, however, with the introduction of the War Exchange Conservation Act, which restricted the import of foreign strips. Comic strips disappeared more-or-less from the dailies during World War I, and didn't really return until Arthur Lemay revived ''Timothée'' for a number of years starting in 1920. Weekend supplements grew, some to as many as 40 pages, but were filled with translations of American strips, which were well-distributed by the growing syndicates, as well as some strips from France. Some native strips continued to appear, however, and in 1935 Albert Chartier made his cartooning debut with a strip called ''Bouboule''. In 1943, he created the comical character '' Onésime'', a strip that would have the longest run of any in Quebec, and which replaced ''The Captain and the Kids

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