Cubitus

This article is about the comics series and its fictional dog character. For the forelimb joint, seeElbow.For the medial forearm bone, seeUlna.For the insect wing veins, seeComstock-Needham system.

Cubitus
Cubitus
Author(s)	Dupa,Michel Rodrigue, Pierre Aucaigne
Illustrator(s)	Dupa,Michel Rodrigue
Current status/schedule	Running
Launch date	April 16, 1968 inTintin magazine
Publisher(s)	Le Lombard
Genre(s)	Humor comics,Gag cartoon

Statue of Cubitus inWavre

Cubitusis aFranco-Belgian comicsseries, and the basis for theWowsercartoon series appearing in the United States.Cubituswas created by the BelgiancartoonistDupa,and features Cubitus, a largeanthropomorphicdog, who lives with his owner Semaphore. Cubitus is known asDommelinFlandersand theNetherlands,MuppeloorPom PominFinland,TeodoroinItaly,ZıpırinTurkeyand Доммель inRussia.His name derives from the old anatomical name of theulnabone, supposedly derived from the Greekkybiton(elbow).

Synopsis

The series tells the story of Cubitus, a good-natured large, white dog endowed with speech. He lives in a house in the suburbs with his master, Sémaphore, a retired sailor, next door to Sénéchal, the black and white cat who is Cubitus' nemesis.

A vast majority of the album publications collect single page gags, but a few gather collections of shorter stories or, in rare cases, one long story throughout the entire album. Some of the single gag albums or short story compilations are thematic, with for instance in "Cubitus illustre ses ancêtres"revisiting history of humankind,"L'ami ne fait pas le moine"being pastiches of fellow authors fromTintinmagazine orLes enquêtes de l'inspecteur Cubituswhere he is a fictional police inspector.

Characters

• Cubitus:Hero of the series, he is a white dog with a large belly, a black snout and yellow tail. Initially a dog with hair covering the eyes, Cubitus ended up becoming still more anthropomorphic. Nearly entirely human in behaviour, he walks on two legs, has hands instead of paws, and is able to perform any human action, although he retains his canine love of bones.
• Sémaphore:A retired sailor who is the "Master" of Cubitus, even if sometimes the relationship of master and dog can be reversed. In the series, Semaphore's role is mainly to create inventions that are intended to be functional and aid his friends, but in the end lead to trouble.
• Sénéchal:A black and white cat, close neighbour and Cubitus' worst natural enemy, with whom he has an ongoing rivalry. In longer stories he may be Cubitus' ally.
• Ventenpoupe:an old friend of Semaphore, and a swindler.

Side characters

• Manuel de Cotalos Y Mucho Gusto,the ghost of Semaphore's improbable Sidecar outfit' pannier.

Publication history

Cubitusfirst appeared in theFranco-Belgian comicsmagazineTintinon April 16, 1968.The series gained immediate popularity, and began album publication in 1972.After several years of gags and album publications, it became the title strip for a magazine of its own.The first publication ofCubituswas published byLe Lombardin December 1989, though it proved short-lived, lasting only six issues.

In 2005, the series was relaunched byPierre Aucaigne(scenarist), andMichel Rodrigue(artist) under the titleLes nouvelles aventures de Cubitus.

Bibliography

Dupa albums

German edition ofTu le fais exprès ou quoi?(1983)

1. Du meilleur tonneau(1972)
2. Un oscar pour Cubitus(1973)
3. 3e service(1974)
4. Tout en caressant Cubitus(1975)
5. Chien sans souci(1976)
6. Alerte au pédalosaure(1977)
7. Cubitus illustre ses ancêtres(1977)
8. La corrida des hippopotames casqués(1979)
9. Pour les intimes(1980)
10. Heureux qui, comme Cubitus(1981)
11. Raconte-moi, Cubitus(1982)
12. Tu le fais exprès ou quoi?(1983)
13. L'ami ne fait pas le moine(1984)
14. Cubitus et la boîte qui parle(1984)
15. Cubitus, tu nous fais marcher(1985)
16. Cubitus, chien fidèle(1986)
17. Cubitus, pas de salades(1986)
18. Cubitus, est-ce bien sérieux?(1987)
19. Cubitus, quand tu nous tiens!...(1988)
20. Cubitus, remets-nous ça(1989)
21. Toujours avec deux sucres(1989)
22. L'esprit égaré(1989)
23. Les enquêtes de l'inspecteur Cubitus(1990)
24. Cubitus, donne la belle papatte(1990)
25. Tout ça c'est des histoires(1991)
26. Cubitus, chien sans accroc(1991)
27. Cubitus se met au vert(1992)
28. Chat, ch'est du chien!(1992)
29. Copain toutes catégories(1993)
30. Cubitus fait toujours le beau(1993)
31. Cubitus, au poil près(1994)
32. Cubitus et les cumulus de Romulus(1994)
33. Cubitus mon chien quotidien(1995)
34. Un bouquet garni pour Cubitus(1996)
35. Chien indispensable(1997)
36. L'héritage du Pastaga(1998)
37. Cubitus ne mord jamais(1999)
38. Si tous les gags du monde...(2000)
39. Cubitus, ça n'arrive qu'à toi!...(2001)
40. Tu te la coules douce...(2002)

Les Nouvelles Aventures de Cubitus

1. En avant toute!!(2005)
2. Un chien peut en cacher un autre(2006)
3. En haut de la vague!(2007)
4. Tous des héros!(2008)
5. La Truffe dans le Guidon!(2009)
6. Mon chien à moi!(2010)
7. Le chat du radin(2012)
8. La guerre des boulons(2013)
9. L'école des chiens(2014)
10. Cubitus a tout inventé!(2015)
11. Super-héros!(2016)
12. Vu à la télé(2017)

Short films

In 1977, the strip was adapted into aanimated short filmpilotby the Belgian studioBelvision,featuring the voices of André Gevrey, Georges Pradez and Guy Pion. It was released onVHSby Regie Cassette Video in the 1980s as a part ofLes héros du journal de Tintin( "The Heroes of Tintin" ), a compilation of animated short pilots adapted from comics from theTintinmagazine by Belvision,and broadcast onRadio-Québec's Ciné-cadeau on December 29, 1984 and January 1, 1986, andTélétoonin 2000.

On November 28, 1984, the strip was adapted into three animated sequences onLa bande à Bédé.

Anime

Further information:Wowser (TV series)

In 1988, the strip was adapted into aJapanese cartoon seriesnamedDon Don: Domeru to Ron,which was re-titled asWowserfor US audiences. Dubbed bySaban Entertainment,it is the only part ofCubitusthat has been translated intoEnglish.

In 2011, there were plans to adapt the strip into a new3Dcomputer animatedseries. The series was produced byEllipsanimeand Storimages.

Impact

• Cubitus and Sénéchal appear on ten self-adhesive stamps launched by the French Poste in September 2006.
• A statue of Cubitus, by Yves Cauwenberghs, was erected on 3 October 2002 atLimal,where Dupa spent the last 30 years of his life.
• A mural painting of Cubitus can be seen in Brussels.

Sources

• Cubituspublications in BelgianTintinandFrenchTintinBDoubliées(in French)
• List of albums on Bedetheque.comArchived2012-02-15 at theWayback Machine(in French)
• Cubitus profileon Hyphen comics
• https://web.archive.org/web/20080628212141/http://www.bdparadisio.com/scripts/detail.cfm?Id=290

(in English)

See also

•Marcinelle school

External links

• Cubituson Le Lombard(in French)
• Cubitusfan site(in German)