I've been a passionate reader of French literature in the original for a while but never gave BD a chance, as I incorrectly assumed it to be the same as American comics (not my thing). Recently, a French friend introduced me to it, and I've fallen in love with this beautiful art form. I work as a translator (mostly French and German to English), and I'm interested in translating BD into English.

How would one go about this? Is it merely a matter of contacting publishers in France and Belgium to introduce myself and offer my CV? I couldn't find a lot of information on translators working on BD, and I thought members of this sub might have some good ideas.

Considering how much BD remains untranslated, it seemed worth looking into, but I also realize there might not be a huge market outside of Europe and, thus, fewer projects for translators.

Thanks in advance!

Just came across some of work online, and I like the visual style -- can anyone recommend any of his books in particular?

My quest to collect everything that Chaland ever drew leads me to this unfinished Spriou adventure/ Chaland biography.

This might not be a lot to go on, but figure I’ll give it a shot.

I read this comic in an anthology a few years back. There were a few different storylines, but the one I remember most clearly had this old decrepit man (might even have been a ghost or a mummy) riding in the back of a car, talking to the driver. He was having some sort of strange monologue, but I can’t remember exactly what he was talking about.

The art was black and white (or might have been grayscale, definitely not color). I believe it was a European comic that was translated. It might have been published by Fantagraphics or Drawn & Quarterly (or another indie comic book publisher).

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks in advance!

Edit: just adding that I read this about 11-12 years ago, so it’s at least that old.

Hello all, I am hoping that you will be able to help me as chatgpt is inventing comics that do not exist.

The first story relates to an employee clerk that see violent events happening and thinks a co-worker is causing them but >!is told that he is the one causing them which he does not believe but the stress causes him to unleash a new violent event, confirming what he has been told.!<

The second one that might be part of the same album but I am not sure talks about a person not being chosen and not knowing why (in a clear allegory of survivor's guilt after the Shoah).

If it helps, the style of drawing is not smooth but stark and grey.

Any idea of what those may be? They would have been published at least 20 years ago.

thank you in advance

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Welcome to the monthly r/bandedessinee community thread!

A place to share the European comics you have been reading. What do you think of them? Would you recommend them?

You can ask any and all questions relating to European comics: general or specific BD recommendations, questions about authors, genres, or comic history.

If you are looking for comic recommendations you will get better responses if you let us know what genres, authors, artists, and other comics you've enjoyed before.

Greetings! Next week I'm visiting a city with a comics shop that has a considerable BD selection. I've decided to treat myself to a new Valerian book. Already I have "Birds of the Master," and "Heroes of the Equinox," and I would like to hear your favourites. Like, what's the one story that I must read?

Hi,

I'm looking for a BD i read as a teen while living in Belgium.

It was 3 volumes (tomes). The story followed a space travel who crashed on a planet with primitive species. The first he met were red and green barbarians. He learned about an 'angel of death' who lived in an ancient city thay could get him off planet.

During his journey he meets many intelligent species.

Notably a giant blue gorilla species that lives in the snow.

He discovers that the planet is actually a giant genetic experiment run by a mega-corp and the Angel of Death is a near immortal scientist that created the species.

I DESPERATELY need to find the issues again. It was a story i read with my late father and i want to share with my son one day.

Wish I had more, but that's about it.

Edit: This was in French. This was complete story of 3 books. The artwork was realistic. The year.....between 2007 - 2012.

Hello everyone,

I'm captivated by a particular work inspired by 'Alice in Wonderland' that I had the opportunity to see back in the 80s or 90s. What struck me was the style of the illustration, which immediately made me think of the work of Milo Manara for its eroticism and finesse, but also of Georges Pichard and perhaps François Schuiten for their attention to detail and their ability to create unique atmospheres. The scene in question depicted Alice, or a similar character, stuck in a house at the beginning of the story, a very iconic image from the tale.

I believe I spotted this work in a French adult (but not necessarily erotic) comic magazine, possibly 'L'Écho des Savanes' or a similar publication, known for its adult and humorous content. My search for this illustration has led me to explore the works of these artists, but I have yet to successfully identify the author or the specific title of this Alice interpretation.

If this description rings a bell for anyone here, or if you have suggestions on where I might continue to look, I would be extremely grateful. Any help in finding this work or advice on other artists who might have created such an illustration would be highly appreciated.

Thank you very much for your time and help.

Case in point I visited Paris and Germany back during Christmas break and while its a no-brainer seeing arts of the comic characters across France like on billboards and t-shirts, I was so surprised how many people in Germany I saw wearing Asterix t-shirts and and how in a place as conservative as old town Wiesbaden I manage to see a few posters in some stores. I already knew Asterix the Gaul was a popular imported piece of entertainment into Germany but I didn't expect to see it this frequent.

Now I'll be revisiting Germany everywhere for the rest of the 2020s and be taking side trips in other countries along the way. Already in preparation of visiting Rome this year I encountered a lot of Italian fans online and going by the how the movies were dubbed in Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, Greece, Poland, Czechslovakia, Portugal, and other countries on my bucket list I'm wondering why Asterix got intercontinental appeal throughout Europe? At times even beating popular English authors like Alan Moore's recent published stuff? Even in UK with its own insular market it had enough fans for the 90s games to get localized!

I’m looking for this weird French BD I read as a kid. It was full of flashy colors and had a distinctive 70s/80s style. Everything was set in this sort of dreamlike plane, and none of the characters were human, just sort of cartoon characters. It was a series, and every book tackled a new story. The closest thing I could compare it to was the Smurfs.

I am looking from which BD comes the following scene: a baby was hidden in a cheese wheel, which had been hollowed out for the baby to hide in and pierced with small holes. The cheese wheel (with the baby inside) has been then placed in a pram :)

Apparently, the drawing line resembles that of Hergé. Any suggestion?

Bonjour,

I’m a writer and I’ve notice that unlike what most people out there on Reddit are saying that manga and comics are the virtually indistinguible art mediums. I don’t agree at all. I’ve been getting deeper into for instance in producing a one shot on both mediums. It seems to me in comics what matters is the the whole team works together(including a letterer ) to produce a high production value 24 page issue periodical. For some comic buyers lettering can make or break a book.

Meanwhile, in manga it’s just the mangaka focused on telling “cinematic style” story and his assistants help him with the backgrounds. Even something like Kamen Rider there’s tons of focus on the “wandering eye”( Scott Mccloud’s term) and pages where you get more visual details like the cars tires. What’s your take?

Not sure how is it with BD’s but I’d like to hear your take as well. I heard something like B&W 40 something pages.

Read this story from Akim MacEna on Medium: https://medium.com/@nanashiwalker/a-nietzschean-interpretation-of-siegfried-by-alex-alice-52b548b9a44c

I'm trying to find recent non-fiction BD that's been published/translated into English. I'm specifically looking for things other than memoir—biographies, histories/historical fiction, etc. An example would be something like Léonie Bischoff's recent biography of writer Anaïs Nin, Anaïs Nin: A Sea of Lies/Anaïs Nin: sur la mer des mensonges, which was originally in French but has been translated and published in North America by Fantagraphics.

Any suggestions?

Welcome to the monthly r/bandedessinee community thread!

A place to share the European comics you have been reading. What do you think of them? Would you recommend them?

You can ask any and all questions relating to European comics: general or specific BD recommendations, questions about authors, genres, or comic history.

If you are looking for comic recommendations you will get better responses if you let us know what genres, authors, artists, and other comics you've enjoyed before.

Does anyone have any information about whether L'Enfer de Dante by the Brizzi brothers will be published in hardback (relié)? I've been to the publisher Daniel Maghen's website, and can't seem to find any information about the binding for any of their BD. I don't know if they publish in hardback at all.

L'Enfer is so beautifully illustrated, I'd like to buy it in an edition that will last.

Bonjour mes amis,

I’m not saying that manga can’t have great art or that comics can’t have great story. However, I’m talking from how they are produced.

It seems people who become mangakas tend to be college students or even recent grads, there’s even people who never went to college and who instead went to a technical institute and worked for animation.

It seems to be guys who have a “interesting idea” and could produce a story that will keep readers entertained week after week. The readers are buying it for the story. That’s why the page count tends to be longer.

Meanwhile with Comics, even creator owned. It seems that the people producing them are “professionals” at their specific skill. For instance, a profesional letter who can do the panels. Or professional colorists.

I talked with comic book readers who said that if the lettering is not nice or sophisticated they aren’t as interested in a book.

It seems that the comics community is not buying the comic solely because the story is interesting.

Also many of the comic pages tend to have a high production value and could take months to produce. Hence why the page count tends to be lower since it would take too long and too expensive to produce.

What do you guys think? Not sure how it works with Bandee Dessinee’s if they follow a Japanese or American model.

Bonjour mes amis,

I am looking for a book about manga and bandee dessinee on page layouts, storyboarding, panel composition.

Je peux lier en francais aussi. So feel free to recommend them if they are only available in French.