Boule et Bill

Boule et Bill
Boule and Bill with the logo of the series
Publication information
Publisher	Dupuis,Dargaud(in French) Cinebook Ltd(in English)
Format	Bande dessinée
Publication date	1959–present
Main character(s)	Boule, Bill
Creative team
Created by	Jean Roba,Maurice Rosy
Written by	Jean Roba(until 2003)
Artist(s)	Jean Roba

Boule et Bill(known in English asBilly & Buddy) is a popularcomic,created in 1959 byBelgianwriter-artistJean Robain collaboration withMaurice Rosy.In 2003, the artistic responsibility of the series was passed on to Roba's former assistant Laurent Verron. The stories center on a typical family: a man and his wife, their young son Boule and Bill thecocker spaniel.

History

Boule et Billfirst appeared in theBelgian comicsmagazineSpirouon December 24, 1959.The ambition was to make a sort of EuropeanPeanuts.The debut was made in a so-calledmini-récit(mini-story), a story in 32 very small pages, printed on the inner spread of the magazine. Roba had until then mainly made illustrations for the magazine and had helped some other authors (includingAndré Franquin), and now started with his own series. A few months later, a four-page comic with the same heroes appeared, and shortly thereafter Roba created a weekly one page comic. For the next twenty-five years,Boule et Billwas one of the most popular series of the magazine, and appeared mostly on the back cover. From 1961 to 1965, the strip appeared in British comicValiant,renamedIt's A Dog's Life.Boule's name was changed to Pete and Bill's was changed to Larry. Apart from those changes this strip was mostly the same. 21 Albums were edited byDupuisuntil 1985, containing one long story and some 800 gags. Thereafter, Roba changed from editor, moving toDargaud.In 2006, Jean Roba died, but he had announced that he wanted the series to be continued, and had appointed Verron as his successor.

Story

Boule et Billrelates the homely adventures of seven-year-old boy Boule and his dog Bill, aCocker Spaniel,as well as that of Boule's mother and father and Caroline theturtle.Bill, while slightlyanthropomorphized,basically acts as a normal dog, and the whole series places comical adventures in therealistic setting of a normal family in a normal town, with normal lives.Most of the gags happen in or around the house, but also include an almost yearly holiday setting with the family travelling away from home, usually at the beach.

Characters

• Bouleis a young boy, always dressed in a blue overalls and a yellow T-shirt. He is an ordinary boy who goes to school and has friends with whom he plays a lot.
• Billis aCocker Spaniel.He can't speak but resorts to many tricks to make himself understood. He can communicate with other animals, such as his best friend, Caroline. He is very resourceful and cunning to find food, likes sleeping on sofas but dislikes bathing. Some of the most recurring gags revolve around Boule and his dad tricking Bill into a bathtub for a reluctant wash. His long ears provide him with many abilities.
• Boule's motherstays at home and complies with domestic tasks. Her concerns are to keep the house clean and to prevent disasters from Boule and Bill's ideas.
• Boule's fathertries to educate his son properly by taking advantage of his questions and blunders. However, he fails most of the time, even if he is quite proud of his personal knowledge. He works for an advertising company, likes gardening and sleeping on the sofa, which is also appreciated by Bill, which provides some recurring gags.
• Carolineis a green tortoise who belongs to Boule's family. She lives in the garden. When Bill first met her, he feared she could eat his bones, but was then reassured, for she eats only lettuce. Caroline isinsomniac.
• Madame Stickis the neighbour of Boule's family. The widow of a colonel, she is very strict and severe. She is the owner of Corporal, a cat who is Bill's arch enemy.
• Gérardis a young snobbish boy and owns a dog similar to him. He tries to dwarf Boule and Bill but ends up being overcome by their inventiveness.
• Monsieur Coupon-Duboisis the Boss of Boule's father. A very respectable man, Boule's father sometimes invites him to his home or is being trusted with precious objects, and finds it difficult to prevent Bill's blunders.
• Poufis Boule's best friend, but is also a rival for Bill, who often teases him. He wears long hair which covers most of his head and a cap.
• Hildegardeis Pouf's cousin who lives in the country. She appeared a few times in the series.
• Boule's teacher

Original albums

Boule et Bill were first published byDupuisin 1959, then from 1988 byDargaud.

1. Tel Boule, tel Bill
2. Boule et Bill déboulent
3. Les Copains d'abord
4. Système Bill
5. Bulle et Bill
6. Tu te rappelles, Bill?
7. Bill ou Face
8. Souvenirs de famille
9. Le fauve est lâché
10. Bill, chien modèle
11. Bill de match
12. Sieste sur ordonnance
13. Papa, Maman, Boule et... moi,1972
14. Une vie de chien,1973
15. Attention chien marrant!,1974
16. Jeux de Bill,1975
17. Ce coquin cocker,1976
18. Carnet de Bill,1976
19. Ras le Bill,1977
20. Bill, nom d'un chien!,1978
21. Bill est maboul,1980
22. Globe-trotters,1982
23. Strip-Cocker,1984
24. Billets de Bill,1987
25. Les V'là!, 1999
26. Faut rigoler!, 1999
27. Bwouf allo Bill?, 1999
28. Les Quatre Saisons, 2001
29. Quel cirque!, 2003
30. La Bande à Bill, 2005
31. Graine de cocker, 2007
32. Mon meilleur ami, 2009
33. À l'abordage!!, 2011
34. Un amour de cocker, 2013
35. Roule ma poule!, 2014
36. Flair de cocker, 2015
37. Bill est un gros rapporteur!, 2016
38. Symphonie en Bill majeur, 2017
39. Y a d'la promenade dans l'air, 2018
40. Bill à facettes, 2019
41. Bill se tient à Caro, 2020
42. Royal taquin, 2021
43. L'échappée Bill, 2022
44. Te fais pas d’Bill, 2023

Other publications

• In 1999, the Boule et Bill series was entirely reedited by Dupuis, in albums of 48 strips, whereas the former albums were composed of either 64, 56 or 48 pages. This series consists of 24 albums published by Dupuis plus three albums originally published by Dargaud and reedited. The nine first albums of the original collection were replaced by 14 albums with different names. The other albums kept their original names, apart from the former 22nd album which was renamedLes v'la!.This new series went on after Roba's death with three new albums drawn by Verron:Quel Cirque!(2003),La bande à Bill(2005),Graine de cocker(2007).
• In 1979Une extraordinaire aventure de Boule et Bill: Bill a disparu!was published inSpirou;written byAndré-Paul Duchateau,Bill goes missing and the various characters fromSpiroumagazine search for him.
• In 1987L'album de famille de Boule et Billwas published by Dargaud.
• In 1997Boule et Bill en famillewas published.
• In 1999Boule et Bill font la fêtewas published in commemoration of Boule et Bill's 40th anniversary.
• FourBest of Boule et Billalbums composed of previously published strips were published in 2003 and 2004:Plumes poils et compagnie,En vadrouille,Jeux d'hiver,andHome sweet home.
• A series of books for children was published in pocket format, illustrated by Roba and written byFanny Joly,published by Mango as part of theBibliomangoline.
• An album,A l'école... vite!,was published in 1999 byAtlas.
• Various special advertising albums were published.

Translations

Cinebookhas been publishing the books in English, withBoule and BillrenamedBilly and Buddy,respectively.

1. Remember this, Buddy? – Jun 2009 –ISBN978-1-905460-91-5
2. Bored Silly with Billy – Sep 2010 –ISBN978-1-84918-049-8
3. Friends First – Jun 2012 –ISBN978-1-84918-124-2
4. It's a Dog's Life - Sep 2013 -ISBN978-1-84918-171-6
5. Clowning Around - Jun 2014 -ISBN978-1-84918-200-3
6. Buddy's Gang - Oct 2016 -ISBN978-1-84918-314-7
7. Beware of (Funny) Dog! - Jul 2019 -ISBN978-1-84918-457-1
8. Fetch and Carry On - Aug 2022 -ISBN978-1-80044-070-8

The series is translated in about 15 other languages, in which the characters names also vary:

• Breton:Boulig ha Billig
• Catalan:Bola i Bill
• Finnish:Vili & Bill
• German:Schnieff und Schnuff
• Icelandic:Boule og Bill
• Italian:Bill e Bull
• Polish:Ptyś i Bill
• Spanish:Bill y Bolita
• Swedish:Bullen

Impact

Boule et Billis among the best-selling French-language comics, with 300,000 copies for the new album by Verron in 2009.

Film adaptations

Boule & Bill (2013) movie poster

In 2013, a Belgian-French-Luxembourgian film was released, "Boule et Bill (fr)",based on the comics. It starsFranck Duboscas the father,Marina Foïsas the mother, and Charles Crombez as Bill. It was dubbed in different languages. The movie received bad reviews,but was commercially successful enough to warrant a sequel "Boule et Bill 2", released in 2017.

Television adaptations

Four animated television series based onBoule and Billwere produced:

• Boule et Bill (1960 TV series)broadcast onRTF
• Boule et Bill (1975 TV series)broadcast on TVA Dupuis
• Boule et Bill (2000 TV series)broadcast onTF1
• Boule et Bill (2004 TV series)broadcast onUnis (TV channel)with 104 episodes
• Boule et Bill (2006 TV series)broadcast onTOU.TVwith 104 episodesappears to be a re-dubbing of the 2004 series with the stories in a different order
• Boule et Bill (2015 TV series)broadcast onFrance 3and directed byPhilippe Vidal.It includes two seasons comprising 26 10-minute episodes.

Video game adaptations

ANintendo DSvideo game based on the comic was launched in 2008 byAtariandAnuman Interactive.

Tributes

The Citroen 2CV of Boule and Bill, permanent in theBelgian Centre for Comic Strip Artin Brussels.

In theBelgian Comic Strip CenterinBrusselsthe permanent exhibition brings homage to the pioneers ofBelgian comics,among them Jean Roba and his seriesBoule et Bill.

Boule et Bill is among the many Belgian comics characters to jokingly have a Brussels street named after them. The Rue au Beurre/ Boterstraat has acommemorative plaquewith the nameRue Boule et Bill / Bollie en Billie straatplaced under the actual street sign.

In 1992 a wall painting representingBoule and Billwas painted in the Rue du Chevreuil inBrussels.It was designed by G. Oregopoulos and D. Vandegeerde.

In 2000a statue of Boule and Bill was erected inJette,Belgium,next to where Roba lived. It was sculpted by Tom Frantzen.In 2014 the statue was subject of vandalism.

In 2002La Poste,France'spost officesystem, issued twopostage stampsillustrating Boule and Bill. Three out of eight weresemi-postalstamps benefiting theFrench Red Cross.

See also

• Marcinelle school

Sources

• Boule et Billpublications inSpirouArchived2007-04-08 at theWayback MachineBDoubliées(in French)
• Boule et BillalbumsBedetheque(in French)

External links

• Toute la Para-BD Boule et BillNon official site(in French)
• On Dupuis website(in English)
• Le site internet du dessinateur Laurent VERRON