Wikipedia

Dupuis

For other uses, seeDupuis (surname).

Éditions Dupuis S.A.(French:[dypɥi]) is aBelgianpublisher ofcomic albumsand magazines.

Dupuis
Parent companyMédia-Participations(2004–present)
Founded1922;102 years ago(1922)
FounderJean Dupuis
Country of originBelgium
Headquarters locationMarcinelle,Hainaut,Belgium
DistributionFrance,Switzerland,Belgium,Netherlands,Canada
Key peopleClaude de Saint Vincent
Fiction genresComic albumsand magazines
Official websitewww.dupuis

Based inMarcinellenearCharleroi,Dupuis is mostly famous for its comicalbumsand magazines. Initially a French language publisher, it now publishes numerous editions in both theFrench languageandDutch.Other language editions are mostly licensed to other publishers.

History

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Early years

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Dupuis was founded in 1922 byJean Dupuis(1875–1952).

The growth of Dupuis towards becoming the leading comic book editor of Belgium started in 1938, when Dupuis added to its portfolio a men's magazine (Le moustique[the mosquito] in French,Humoradioin Dutch), a women's magazine (Bonnes Soirées[good evenings] in French,De Haardvriend[the hearth's friend] in Dutch) and the children's comics magazineSpirou.[1]The latter was originally only in French, and contained a mixture of American comics (e.g.Superman,Brick Bradford,andRed Ryder) and new creations (Spirou et FantasioandTif et Tondu). A few months later, a Dutch edition calledRobbedoesfollowed.[2]

Growth after WWII

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After some difficulties during the war (mainly because of the scarcity of paper towards the end of it, but also because American comics weren't allowed to be published anymore), Dupuis started to grow quickly.Le moustiquebecame one of the leading magazines with information on radio and (later) television programs in Belgium, andSpirouwas one of the two leadingFranco-Belgian comicsmagazines (together withTintinmagazine).[3]

Dupuis started publishing some books as well, but had real success by republishing the comics that had appeared as serials in the magazine, collected asalbumsafterwards. Sometimes these wereone shots,but mainly they came in series. Dupuis has some of the best-selling European comic series, includingLucky Luke,The Smurfs,Gaston LagaffeandLargo Winch.[4]Many of these comic albums have been reprinted constantly for thirty or forty years, thereby generating constant revenue for the editor.

Stabilization and diversification

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In the early sixties, Dupuis started with other activities, including the merchandising of its comic series (puppets, posters, etc.), and the making of animated movies. Most of these weren't very successful but further raised the visibility of their comics. Still, towards the end of the 1960s, the golden age of Dupuis seemed to be over. Some of the magazines were struggling, the merchandising activities were vastly reduced, and the movie studio did not seem to be producing any successful movies. But the core business, the comics and the main magazines, continued to be hugely successful, with a comics catalogue of more than 2000 titles available in French. Many of the series were turned into animated movies in the 1990s, includingPapyrusandSpirou et Fantasio,and are being sold as movies and comics throughout Europe. Dupuis has also started producing computer games.

In June 2004, Dupuis was bought byMédia-Participations,which now owns almost all major European comic book publishers, includingDargaudandLe Lombard,[5]More recently, in 2015, Dupuis joined with twelve other European comics publishing actors to createEurope Comics,a digital initiative co-funded by the European Commission'sCreative Europeprogram.[6]

Main publications

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This is a selection of magazines and comics series originally or mainly published by Dupuis. Some titles later changed to a different publisher.

Magazines

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  • Moustique(created as "Moustique" in 1924, named "Télémoustique" between the 1960s and 2011) and its Flemish counterpartHUMO(since 1936, originally called "Humoradio" ). Both versions have been sold to other publishers.
  • Spirou,since 1938: between 1938 and 2005 also a Flemish version, "Robbedoes".

Comics series

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This is a selected list of comics series, ordered by year of first publication by Dupuis, with main authors given. Many series were also continued or temporarily taken over by other artists and writers. Some of the series have been taken over by other publishers.

References

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  1. ^Curtis, Sarah Ann (2011).L'autre visage de la mission: les femmes(in French). Karthala. p. 187.ISBN9782811104863.Retrieved15 October2012.
  2. ^Dierick, Charles (2000).Le Centre belge de la bande dessinée(in French). Renaissance du livre. p. 223.ISBN9782804603854.Retrieved15 October2012.
  3. ^Sabin, Roger (1993).Adult Comics: An Introduction.Taylor & Francis. p. 321.ISBN9780415044196.Retrieved15 October2012.SpirouandTintindominated European comics into the 1950s and beyond
  4. ^Grove, Laurence (2010).Comics in French: The European Bande Dessinée in Context.Berghahn Books. p. 346.ISBN9781845455880.Retrieved15 October2012.
  5. ^Miller, Ann(2008).Reading Bande Dessinee: Critical Approaches to French-language Comic Strip.Intellect Books. p. 364.ISBN9781841501772.Retrieved15 October2012.
  6. ^"Creative Europe Project Results: Europe Comics".Creative Europe.Retrieved3 March2017.
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