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Comics

Comics

Comics? What? Well, they’re books too. Some of them also tell really good stories. As a child, I also loved Donald Duck and the other Disney comics. Actually, I still like them. American comics are great, but I think I prefer the Belgian/French variety even more. Japanese comics are good too.

First I’d like to mention two of my other favorites: the Belgian comic TinTin and the French comic Valerian and Laureline, or as they’re called in Sweden: Linda and Valentin.

Hergé, who created TinTin, and a couple of other comics like Jo, Zette and Jocko (or whatever they’re called in English, in Swedish they were called Johan, Lotta och Jocko), has a way of spinning a nice adventure tale. All his stories are well researched to be as realistic as possible, at least the background.

I especially loved the trip to the moon. Wow. When TinTin, Snowy and the others drove out to the launch pad late at night, I got the chills. To me there could be no greater adventure. Of course, I loved most of the stories. Another album I loved was TinTin in Tibet. When I first read it, I suddenly realized Tibet was a real place. Later on I also found out why no one had heard of it. By now, I know a lot more about Tibet. I also happen to know that the Dalai Lama, Tibet’s highest religious leader, who lives in exile in India, knows about the album and appreciates the fact that so many young westerners, have learned about his country from the album.

The characters are funny, and really cool. I really love Snowy/Milou. Actually, he’s the reason I once got a West Highland White Terrier. It was a mistake, but that’s another story.

Valerian and Laureline was created by P Christin (stories) and J.Z. Mézière (illustrations). The stories are fascinating, set in space, a bit like Lexx, but nowhere near as dark, or as obsessed with sex.

Linda/Laureline is a tough space agent, and Valentin/Valerian is her goofy partner/lover. In these stories you’ll encounter space/time travel, and even time paradoxes. Not bad for a comic from back then. I was stunned to realize that these stories were created back in the 1960’s and -70’s. They didn’t feel that old…

Finally, I’d like to mention two other good comics, both written in French. Yoko Tsuno/Suno and Alix.

Yoko was created by a Belgian named Roger Leloup in the late 1960’s. The main character is a Japanese engineer who has moved to Europe to work as a reporter. She’s got two guys working on her team, Vic and Pol.

Alix is a young Roman, who has numerous adventures around the Roman world. He has a trusted companion, Enak, who is from Egypt. The creator of the series, Jacques Martin, is French. The stories are very good, and educational too. From what I can tell, the details are mostly historically correct.

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