Change of artist Blueberry (comics)

—wilson, 1984, on taking on young blueberry.


—charlier, 1985, in france-soir, reassuring blueberry fans.


—giraud, 1988, on getting protégé on way established blueberry artist.

after angel face completed in 1974, giraud took extended leave of absence blueberry, because wanted further explore , develop moebius alter ego, work produced such being published in métal hurlant magazine, in process revolutionizing franco-belgian world of bandes dessinées. having ended angel face on cliffhanger, giraud s return blueberry 5 years later broken nose became media event of considerable proportions , demand blueberry reached all-time high. creators decided revisit young blueberry adventures well, had ended run in super pocket pilote. however, giraud near able take on yet major series himself, still working on incal series moebius, besides having embarked on blueberry again.

there had been additional, more prosaic reason decision so. after giraud had finished la dernière carte he, having been invested throughout of adult life in new age beliefs , practices (which included use of mind-expanding substances), had left tahiti join commune of mystic jean-paul appel-guéry, latter had set there. after stay of 2 years, giraud moved united states in late 1984 , set shop firstly in santa monica, , subsequently in venice , woodland hills, california. in era work published marvel/epic market. publisher novedi feared, not entirely unjustified – release lag between 2 books had increased eighteen months 3 years – , endangered publication regularity of main series, , resurrecting, or more accurately, creating young blueberry series, back-up strategy had in mind. novedi had solid reasons so, new blueberry title in particular period of time enjoyed (all-language) european first print run of 500.000 copies – discounting later reprint run – , european standards respectable print run.

publisher , creators subsequently embarked on search suitable artist take on task. fate intervened when giraud, before departure tahiti, discovered work of still unknown ex-pat colin wilson new zealand, publishing science fiction comic series dans l ombre du soleil – wilson did both writing , art – french circus comic magazine, featured character raël (also first story title) shared stunning resemblance blueberry. wilson huge giraud fan himself , had modeled raël character after western hero had created new zealand fanzine strips, , in turn modeled after blueberry. ironically in hindsight, original black & white la jeunesse de blueberry shorts introduced wilson blueberry super pilote pocket issues had somehow found way new zealand, country without comic tradition speak of, according wilson. admiration franco-belgian bande dessinée artists, giraud in particular, became in 1980 driving force wilson try luck such in europe, aside fact native country did not afford opportunities become 1 professionally. drawings of giraud convinced me leave new zealand , wilson reiterated in 1986, if s european comics wanted part of . comic artist françois corteggiani brought wilson attention of giraud sending him few pages of raël comic, , in turn brought them attention of co-worker charlier (or vice-versa sources not in concordance each other).

unaware work brought attention of idol , co-worker, corteggiani arranged wilson s first face-to-face meeting them in september 1983 in paris. have discussion giraud, chance! , said delighted, non-french speaking wilson, s why said yes françois corteggiani . own surprise, wilson asked if interested take on new young blueberry series. after having accepted, developed close , warm working relationship charlier, , wilson/gale couple befriended both him , wife christine, household visits , forth. charlier couple not helped friends (neither of them french-speaking , staying on tourist visa in amsterdam @ time) settle firstly in brussels, belgium, , subsequently in provence, france, practical work details well, wilson later recalled, janet , tremendously lucky, charlier in many respects of kind uncle us. did not make fuss anything. stuck out neck me involving me, virtually unknown young artist, in success series. know tough nails publishers. fortunate though, negotiated on our behalf well, , profited deals struck. wilson signed 5 albums. corteggiani himself yet leave mark on la jeunesse de blueberry series later on. wilson became second, , last charlier artist, after giraud, whom author provided script pages in timely fashion, once receiving page overnighted kuwait author on documentary assignment, keep artist working.

after short apprenticeship (during produced blueberry study art) fine tune art style, close of giraud, in order have move closer of giraud, embarked fervor on project first outing les démons du missouri ( missouri demons ), became rationale young blueberry adventures become spin-off series onto own. working 7 days week ten twelve hours, wilson produced 5 6 pages month, using combination of pen , brush inks, idol had done jeunesse stories , had become inspiration wilson abandon rotring technical utensils had used in new-zealand.

as had in 1980 when giraud working on la longue marche assistant (see below), rumors abounded in tight-knit bande dessinée community giraud intended abandon blueberry. time around however, , unlike 1980, rumors found way outside world, causing anxiety in fan community. despite publisher s standing policy of releasing comics directly in album format, decided have les démons du missouri pre-published in newspaper france-soir, 1 of largest newspapers in france @ time, in effort counteract growing disquiet. first blueberry insofar daily newspapers concerned, black & white publication began @ start of 1985, wilson feeding newspaper half-pages went along. first half-page accompanied editorial charlier, in tried allay fears of fans (see quotebox). format measure repeated in 1987 wilson s second outing, terreur sur le kansas ( terror on kansas ), same newspaper, abandoned afterwards when wilson had become established blueberry artist himself. france-soir saw 2 half-pages (1b , 2a) terreur sur le kansas published not incorporated in album, released later year, print technical reasons (see blueberry biography in regard).

despite initial trepidations of fans, wilson s blueberrys favorably received, achieving print run numbers approximating of main series, seeing translations in many languages, english being glaring 1 of few exceptions of 2017. wilson has divulged novedi released first album in first french printing of 150.000 copies (novedi had taken on publication france well) , dutch first printing of 50.000 copies, huge step initial french 12.000 copy release raël album. french edition however, sold out in matter of weeks, , additional 20.000 copies followed suit in hurry. compared main series, first printing conservative french edition , ample dutch edition. had positive side-effect on science fiction series dans l ombre du soleil, saw german, dutch , danish translations after had embarked on blueberry. wilson though, had abandon series in 1989, having added 2 more titles, because blueberry demanded attention , energy, aside fact more successful 1 far, allowing couple move provence. not fans relieved, wilson had trepidations alleviated when met fans face-to-face first time @ several comic convention book signings after release of first album, grateful gracious reception , acceptance of blueberry, though of them concurrently , emphatically expressed relieve giraud continue artist main series.

while wilson working on terreur sur le kansas , asked giraud, had shortly returned europe, finish on le bout de la piste well, pressed time, preparing leave california had set shop. wilson did part of inking of le bout de la piste , while girlfriend janet gale, had followed him new zealand, took on coloring. giraud himself assigned task, being impressed work had done on fiancé s album. gale relative novice, started coloring on fiancé s dans l ombre du soleil series, having been unable find legitimate employment in europe due visa status. continue color future husband s blueberry books, several albums other artists released novedi. giraud himself moment wilson took on series no longer involved creatively, aside giving young colleague advise, did receive small inventor s fee per title, himself had coined it.

while several european countries (including outliers iceland , turkey) had, no post-original creators title – discounting newspaper serialization of first 2 wilson titles – has seen serialized comic magazine pre-publication in france/french-belgium itself, titles instead directly released books. time 1990 le raid infernal released however, virtually every other country had followed suit due demise of serialized magazine format.

like parent publisher dargaud, publisher novedi considered young blueberry books part of main series @ first until 1990, before instituted separate spin-off series, practical reason of wanting avoid further pollution of release numbering , chronology. dargaud s stance adhered in other european countries, among others in spain regular blueberry publisher grijalbo/ediciones junior released 1988-1996 las aventuras del teniente blueberry eight-volume integral collection, encompassing hitherto released blueberry albums, including of wilson. dargaud had previous les géants du l ouest collection, spanish had separately negotiate licenses koralle , novedi blueberry releases, unlike dargaud release, these publishers dutifully mentioned copyright holders in colophons of respective volumes. wilson s terreur sur le kansas became first album released separate la jeunesse series title in 1987, indicated on cover. therefore not dargaud took initiative move, rather novedi, due fact dargaud had lost publishing rights new blueberry titles, missing out on first five, successful, titles of new series explained. dargaud did adopt format, once these rights had returned them in late 1993.

catalan communications had planned publish missouri demons , terror on kansas , , beyond in english well, additions young blueberry series in comcat line 1991 onward (alongside hermann s comanche western incidentally, favorite of wilson), indicated on covers of 3 original ones published in 1989-1990. former had in effect received isbn number. publication came naught however, due near concurrent, otherwise coincidental, demises of both novedi , catalan communications in late 1989 , 1990 respectively.

jean-michel charlier , colin wilson

4: les démons du missouri (novedi, 1985/09, isbn 2803900262)—missouri demons (comcat comics, january 1991, isbn 0874161096; canceled)
5: terreur sur le kansas (novedi, 1987/10, isbn 2803900467)—terror on kansas (comcat comics, 1991, canceled)
6: le raid infernal (novedi, 1990/03, isbn 2803900645)




^ apeldoorn, ger (1984). colin wilson: de toekomst zal verschrikkelijk zijn . striprofiel (in dutch) (50). assen: uitgeverij de meulder. pp. 4–9. 
^ ratier, 2013, p. 285
^ sadoul, 1991, pp. 127 & 163
^ morales, thomas (february 22, 2015). la bd fait sa révolution / comics make revolution . causeur.fr (in french). archived original on may 9, 2017. retrieved may 27, 2017. 
^ sadoul, 1991; giraud has never been shy subject of mind-expanding substances, frankly admitting use in numerous interviews , discussing in-depth in sadoul s book.
^ jean giraud: bibliographie, photo, biographie archived 2008-09-25 @ wayback machine., bdparadiso.com (in french)
^ svane, 2003, p. 45
^ cite error: named reference novedi invoked never defined (see page).
^ wilbrink, felix (2 april 1982). tekenaar jean giraud leed onder zijn succes, maar.. . de telegraaf (in dutch). amsterdam: telegraaf media groep. ; in stated dutch first printing of la tribu fantôme numbered 30.000; @ time rule of thumb dutch-language first print runs numbered approximately 10%-20% of of french counterparts, reflecting extent relative sizes of french, , dutch speaking european populaces. furthermore, since dutch first print releases traditionally number in 5.000-15.000 range vast majority of comic titles – discounting few blockbuster staples such asterix – indicative of immense popularity main series blueberry enjoyed @ time.
^ ernst, 1987, pp. 8-11; svane, 2003, p. 49
^ collective, 1986, p. 31
^ ernst, 1987, p.12
^ svane, 2003, p. 46
^ van oudheusden, peter (august–september 2006). colin wilson: tekenaar tussen twee werelden . zozolala (in dutch) (149). nijmegen: stichting zet.el. pp. 4–6. 
^ lechat, jean-louis (1985). dossier wilson: la deuxième jeunesse de blueberry . tintin (in french) (23). brussels: le lombard. pp. 48–49. 
^ svane, 2003, p. 46
^ ernst, 1987, pp. 8, 18
^ les démons du missourri - terreur sur le kansas , jmcharlier.com (in french)
^ de jonge jaren van blueberry , stripinfo.be (in dutch); includes other language editions.
^ ernst, 1987, pp. 12, 18
^ in de schaduw van de zon , stripinfo.be (in dutch); includes other language editions.
^ ernst, 1987, p. 18
^ ernst, 1987, pp 13-15
^ janet gale , stripinfo.be (in dutch), includes other language editions.
^ sadoul, 1991, p. 163
^ neoblek magazine iceland, , tr:doğan kardeş magazine turkey, though neither country has seen book publications of 2017.
^ cite error: named reference croa invoked never defined (see page).
^ las aventuras del teniente blueberry , stripinfo.be (in dutch)
^ jordan, gil; thompson, kim (march 1989). europe love: interview catalan s outspoken bernd metz & approaching euro-comics: comprehensive guide brave new world of european graphic albums . amazing heroes (160). westlake village, california: fantagraphics books. pp. 22–52.