Cubitus

Cubitus
Publication information
Publisher	Le Lombard
First appearance	Tintin magazine April 16, 1968.
Created by	Dupa

Cubitus is a Franco-Belgian comics series, and the basis for the Wowser cartoon series appearing in the United States. Cubitus was created by the cartoonist Dupa, and features Cubitus, a large anthropomorphic dog, who lives with his owner Semaphore. Cubitus is known as Dommel in Flanders and the Netherlands, Muppelo or Pom Pom in Finland, Teodoro in Italy and Доммель in Russia. His name derives from the old anatomical name of the ulna bone, supposedly derived from the greek kybiton (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 single gags albums or short stories ones 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 from Tintin magazine or Les enquêtes de l'inspecteur Cubitus where 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. In longer stories he may be Cubitus' ally.
• Ventenpoupe: an old friend of Semaphore, and a swindler.

Every now and them appears:

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

Publication history

Cubitus first appeared in the Franco-Belgian comics magazine Tintin on April 16, 1968.^[1] The series gained immediate popularity, and began album publication in 1972.^[2] After several years of gags and album publications, it became the title strip for a magazine of its own.^[3] The first publication of Cubitus was published by Le Lombard in December 1989, though it proved short-lived, lasting only six issues.^[4]

In 2005, the series was relaunched by Pierre Aucaigne (scenarist), and Michel Rodrigue (artist) under the title Les nouvelles aventures de Cubitus.

Bibliography

Dupa albums

German edition of Tu le fais exprès ou quoi? (1983)

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

Les Nouvelles Aventures de Cubitus

1. En avant toute !!
2. Un chien peut en cacher un autre
3. En haut de la vague !
4. Tous des héros !
5. La Truffe dans le Guidon!

Anime

In 1988, the strip was adapted into a Japanese cartoon series named Don Don Domeru to Ron, which was re-titled as Wowser for American audiences. Dubbed by Saban Entertainment, it is the only part of Cubitus that has been translated into English.

Impact

• Cubitus and Sénéchal appear on ten self-adhesive stamps launched by the French Poste in September 2006.^[5]
• A statute of Cubitus, by Yves Cauwenberghs, was erected on 3 October 2002 at Limal, where Dupa passed the last 30 years of his life.^[6]
• A wall painting of Cubitus can be seen in Brussels.^[7]

Sources

Footnotes

External links

• Cubitus on Le Lombard (French)
• Cubitus fan site (German)