Spirou (magazine)

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Le Journal de Spirou issue #1
April 21, 1938

Spirou magazine is a Belgian comics magazine. First published April 21, 1938 as Le Journal de Spirou, it was an eight page weekly comics magazine composed a mixture of short stories and gags, serial comics, and a handful of American comics.^[1]

1 History
2 Format
3 References
4 External links

[edit] History

In 1936, the experienced publisher Jean Dupuis put his sons Paul and the 19 year old Charles in charge of a new magazine aimed at the juvenile market.^[1]^[2] The intent was to compete with the Francophone Disney magazine Le journal de Mickey which had been on the market since 1934.^[3]^[4] In the beginning, it was a large format magazine, available only in French and only in Wallonia. It introduced two new comics, the eponymous Spirou drawn by the young Frenchman Rob-Vel, and Les Aventures de Tif (later to become Tif et Tondu) drawn by Fernand Dineur, and printed American comics such as Superman, Red Ryder and Brick Bradford.^[1] Few months later, the Flemish language edition named Robbedoes appeared as well, on October 27, 1938.^[5] Gradually, the American comics and reprints were replaced by new, European productions, and by the 50s, nearly all the content was made especially for the magazine. Charles Dupuis remained editor-in-chief of the magazine until 1955 when he appointed Yvan Delporte to that position, so he could himself focus on his increasing interest in the publication of the magazine's series' albums.^[3] The Dupuis family eventually sold its publishing interests in 1985.

Since the magazine's beginning, several noted European comics creators have been involved, namely Jijé, André Franquin, Morris, Will (the founding members of the "Marcinelle school"), Peyo, Eddy Paape, Maurice Tillieux, Roba, Derib, Raoul Cauvin, and many others.^[1]

[edit] Format

The target audience is between 9 and 16 years, although the magazine appeals to many adults as well. Over the years, Spirou has undergone a few format changes and gradually became thicker, eventually averaging 68 pages. It was distributed in most French and Dutch speaking countries, and for some years, editions in other languages appeared as well (notably in Spain and Portugal). Magazines are also reissued as quarterly books, gathering thirteen consecutive magazines in one binding. 288 of those have been published as of September 2006.

A few pages, apart from the comics and the advertising, are always put aside for text contents and interaction with the readers (games, letters, jokes, etc.). Often a general theme is used to give the magazine some unity instead of being just a collection of unrelated comics, and this also gets reflected in the layout.

Along with Tintin magazine (founded in 1946), it was considered the home of the Franco-Belgian comics school until the seventies, when its importance declined. Still in publication, Spirou sells some 100,000 copies every week. Robbedoes was eventually shelved in September 2005, after more than 3500 weekly publications.