# Quebec comics

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{{Short description|French language comic produced in Quebec}}
{{for|Québécois comedians|List of comedians from Quebec}}
{{Infobox comics nationality <!--Wikipedia:WikiProject Comics-->
|bodyclass  = hlist
|image      = Canadian speech balloon.svg
|imagesize  = <!-- default 250 -->
|caption    = 
|alt        = 
|date       = 19th century
|notable publishers =
*[Éditions Mille-Îles](/source/%C3%89ditions_Mille-%C3%8Eles)
*[La Pastèque](/source/La_Past%C3%A8que)
*[Mécanique Générale](/source/M%C3%A9canique_G%C3%A9n%C3%A9rale)
*[Les 400 coups](/source/Les_400_coups_(publisher))
*[Glénat Québec](/source/Gl%C3%A9nat_(publisher))
|notable titles =
*''[Croc](/source/Croc_(magazine))''
*''[Safarir](/source/Safarir)''
|title1     = 
|title2     = 
|title3     = 
|title4     = 
|notable people =
*[Albert Chartier](/source/Albert_Chartier)
*[Julie Doucet](/source/Julie_Doucet)
*[Michel Rabagliati](/source/Michel_Rabagliati)
|person1    = 
|person2    = 
|person3    = 
|person4    = 
|person5    = 
|notable series =
*''[Onésime](/source/On%C3%A9sime)''
*''[Les Nombrils](/source/The_Bellybuttons)''
|series3    = 
|series4    = 
|series5    = 
|notable characters =
*[Baptiste Ladébauche](/source/Baptiste_Lad%C3%A9bauche)
|primary languages = [French](/source/Canadian_French)
|related articles =
*[Canadian comics](/source/Canadian_comics)
*[Franco-Belgian comics](/source/Franco-Belgian_comics)
}}
'''Quebec comics''' ({{langx|fr|[bande dessinée](/source/bande_dessin%C3%A9e) québécoise}} {{IPA|fr|bɑ̃d dɛ.si.ne ke.be.kwaz|}} or '''BDQ''') are [French language](/source/French_language) [comics](/source/comics) produced primarily in the [Canadian province](/source/Provinces_and_territories_of_Canada) of [Quebec](/source/Quebec), and read both within and outside Canada, particularly in French-speaking Europe.

In contrast to [English language](/source/English_language) comics in Canada, which largely follow the American model, Quebec comics are influenced mainly by the trends in [Franco-Belgian comics](/source/Franco-Belgian_comics).  There is little crossover between the French and English comics worlds in Canada.

==Overview==
The majority language of Quebec is [French](/source/Quebec_French), and Quebec comics refers to those comics published in French—English-language comics are considered part of the [English](/source/Canadian_English)-language part of [Canadian comics](/source/Canadian_comics) history.  The two traditions have little crossover, with the English tradition following mainly American trends, and the French tradition following mainly European ones, especially the [French language](/source/French_language) [Franco-Belgian](/source/Franco-Belgian_comics) trends. However, newspaper [comic strip](/source/comic_strip)s have tended to be French translations of [syndicated](/source/Print_syndication) American strips.

In the early 2000s, most comics consumed within Quebec were of European or American origin, with local comics only making up 5% of the total market,<ref name="BTF-QC-PublishingComics" /> which had been true since the early 1970s.<ref name="CJC-Spalding" />  However, several comics of Québécois origin have found success overseas, like [Michel Rabagliati](/source/Michel_Rabagliati)'s ''Paul'' series and [Maryse Dubuc](/source/Maryse_Dubuc)'s ''[Les Nombrils](/source/The_Bellybuttons)'' (''The Bellybuttons''), some of these cartoonists have had success with English translations, as when [Montreal](/source/Montreal)-based English publisher [Drawn & Quarterly](/source/Drawn_%26_Quarterly) picked up [Julie Doucet](/source/Julie_Doucet)'s ''[Dirty Plotte](/source/Dirty_Plotte)'', which won acclaim and awards in the English-speaking comics world.<ref name="BTF-QC-PublishingComics" />

==History==
Native Quebec comics have had a long up-and-down history, alternating between periods of flourishing and periods languishing under the deluge of foreign comics.

===19th century===
[[File:Jattends! in Le Canard 1883-09-22.jpg|thumb|"J'attends!" (anonymous, 1883), the oldest known [comic strip](/source/comic_strip) using a [speech balloon](/source/speech_balloon) ]]
[[File:Raoul Barré - Pour un diner de Noel.jpg|right|thumb|"Pour un dîner de Noël" (Raoul Barré, 1902), the first [comic strip](/source/comic_strip) to appear in a daily Quebec newspaper.  Barré demonstrates an interest in movement, which he would develop later as a pioneer in [animation](/source/animation) ]]
Caricatures have appeared in newspapers in Quebec since at least the 18th century.  A political poster using [speech balloon](/source/speech_balloon)s from 1792 has been attested.<ref name="MensuHell45" />  Most were anonymous, but one, titled ''"La Ménagerie annexionniste"'', by [William Augustus Leggo](/source/William_Augustus_Leggo) was another early francophone use of speech balloons. Later, speech balloons became more common in caricatures and advertising, and humorous and satirical publications proliferated.<ref name="BTF-QC-19thC" />

By the end of the century, one could buy compilations of these cartoons and illustrations—the roots of [comic album](/source/comic_album)s in Quebec.  Between 1878 and 1884, [Henri Julien](/source/Henri_Julien) published two books of political caricatures, ''L’album drolatique du journal Le Farceur''.<ref name="BTF-QC-19thC" />  In 1900, Morissette published ''Petit chien sauvage et savant'',<ref name="CanEncFrenchComicStrips" /> and in 1901 [Raoul Barré](/source/Raoul_Barr%C3%A9) put out ''En roulant ma boule''.<ref name="BTF-QC-19thC" />  Following this, the number of cartoonists in newspapers in [Quebec City](/source/Quebec_City) and Montreal increased.<ref name="CanEncFrenchComicStrips" />

What has been called the first comic strip in Quebec appeared in 1866.  The woodcut serial strip was called ''Baptiste Pacôt'' and has been attributed to the sculptor [Jean-Baptiste Côté](/source/Jean-Baptiste_C%C3%B4t%C3%A9).  A number of other pantomime or captioned strips appeared throughout the rest of the century.  In 1902, [Raoul Barré](/source/Raoul_Barr%C3%A9) drew the captioned eight-panel strip, "Pour un dîner de Noël", which was the first known strip to appear in a daily Quebec newspaper.<ref name="BTF-QC-19thC" /> Barré created a strip called ''Noah's Ark'' in 1912 for the [New York](/source/New_York_City)-based [McClure Syndicate](/source/McClure_Syndicate), which he brought to ''[La Patrie](/source/La_Patrie_(Canadian_newspaper))'' the next year in French.<ref name="Invaders27" />  Soon after he moved into [animation](/source/animation) and became an innovative pioneer in the field.<ref name="BTF-QC-19thC" /><ref name="Invaders27" />

[Hector Berthelot](/source/Hector_Berthelot) was a cartoonist and the publisher of ''Le Canard'', where Berthelot started running satirical material signed [Père Ladébauche](/source/P%C3%A8re_Lad%C3%A9bauche) ("Father Debauchery") starting in 1878.<ref name="BTF-QC-19thC" />  Berthelot would bring Ladébauche with him from newspaper to newspaper,<ref name="BTF-QC-19thC" /> and in 1904, [Joseph Charlebois](/source/Joseph_Charlebois)'s comic strip version of ''[Le Père Ladébauche](/source/Le_P%C3%A8re_Lad%C3%A9bauche)'' debuted in ''[La Presse](/source/La_Presse_(Canadian_newspaper))'', a popular strip that would last until 1957.<ref name="CanEncFrenchComicStrips" />  ''Le Canard'' published the works of a number of other notable cartoonists, such as Henri Julien, and it was there that the oldest known comic strip<!-- as opposed to caricature --> using a speech balloon appeared, an unsigned strip printed on 22 September 1883.<ref name="BTF-QC-19thC" />

===Early 20th century comic strips===
[[File:Albert Chartier - Onesime - December 1950, two panels.jpg|thumb|[Albert Chartier](/source/Albert_Chartier)'s ''[Onésime](/source/On%C3%A9sime)'' was the longest-running comic strip in Quebec.  It replaced the popular American strip ''[The Captain and the Kids](/source/The_Katzenjammer_Kids)'' when it first appeared ]]
The popular press began to flourish at the turn of the century, and, as photographic reproduction was still in its infancy, the papers hired cartoonists and illustrators to liven up their pages, with the ''[Montreal Star](/source/Montreal_Star)'' employing up to eight artists.  ''[La Patrie](/source/La_Patrie_(Canadian_newspaper))'' had convinced [Albéric Bourgeois](/source/Alb%C3%A9ric_Bourgeois) to give up his job at the ''[Boston Globe](/source/Boston_Globe)'' and create comic strips for them back in Quebec.  1904 saw, in ''La Patrie'', the publication of his ''[Les Aventures de Timothée](/source/Les_Aventures_de_Timoth%C3%A9e)'' (''The Adventures of Timothée''), said to be the first French-language comic to feature [speech balloons](/source/speech_balloons) consistently.  This began what historian Michel Viau calls "The Golden Age of the BDQ".<ref name="BTF-QC-NSo20thC" />

''La Presse'', in response to ''La Patrie'''s success with ''Timothée'', added a weekly children's section, "''La Ruche enfantine''", which included comic strips.  Charlebois's ''[Père Ladébauche](/source/P%C3%A8re_Lad%C3%A9bauche)'' had begun, and after 43 instalments was taken over by Bourgeois, who continued to create other strips as well for ''La Presse'', to which he soon moved and stayed with until his 1955 retirement.  [Théophile Busnel](/source/Th%C3%A9ophile_Busnel) took over ''Timothée'' and continued it until his sudden death in 1908.  It was replaced with a translation of American [Richard F. Outcault](/source/Richard_F._Outcault)'s ''[Buster Brown](/source/Buster_Brown)''.  Soon, other native strips were being replaced with translations of popular American strips, and by 1909, the "Golden Age" that had started in 1904 had come to an end.  Native strips didn't disappear entirely, but those that remained lost the distinct flavour of contemporary life in Quebec, and began to imitate the silent films and vaudeville that were inundating popular culture in the province.<ref name="BTF-QC-NSo20thC" />

Québécois cartoonists would unsuccessfully propose a number of strips to compete with the American strips that dominated the Sundays and dailies.  The native Quebec presence on those pages would become more dominant after 1940, however, with the introduction of the [War Exchange Conservation Act](/source/War_Exchange_Conservation_Act), which restricted the import of foreign strips.<ref name="CanEncFrenchComicStrips" />  Comic strips disappeared more-or-less from the dailies during [World War I](/source/World_War_I), and didn't really return until [Arthur Lemay](/source/Arthur_Lemay) revived ''Timothée'' for a number of years starting in 1920.  Weekend supplements grew, some to as many as 40 pages, but were filled with translations of American strips, which were well-distributed by the growing syndicates, as well as some strips from France.  Some native strips continued to appear, however, and in 1935 [Albert Chartier](/source/Albert_Chartier) made his cartooning debut with a strip called ''Bouboule''.<ref name="BTF-QC-NSo20thC" />  In 1943, he created the comical character ''[Onésime](/source/On%C3%A9sime)'', a strip that would have the longest run of any in Quebec, and which replaced ''[The Captain and the Kids](/source/The_Katzenjammer_Kids)'' when it first appeared.  It starred a naïve and clumsy country person and his plump and authoritarian wife.<ref name="CanEncFrenchComicStrips" />

While the adventure strip flourished in the 1930s, papers in Quebec were unwilling to pay local artists more than what they would pay for a syndicated American strip, which made it hard for local artists to survive, due to the [economies of scale](/source/economies_of_scale) that made it cheaper for them to buy the American strips.  A few commissioned propaganda works and adaptations of "novels of the homeland" appeared.  Rodolphe and Odette Vincent, under the banner of Éditions Vincent, produced some adaptations of adventure novels that they managed to sell to some papers, and were collected into albums by Quebec Éditions de l'A. B.  After the end of [World War II](/source/World_War_II), however, Éditions Vincent found themselves unable to compete with the flood of American comics that returned after trade restrictions were loosened.  The longest-running of the adventure strips was ''Les Aventures de Robert et Roland'' by [Roberto Wilson](/source/Roberto_Wilson), which debuted in 1956 and lasted until 1965.<ref name="BTF-QC-NSo20thC" />

[Paulin Lessard](/source/Paulin_Lessard), at the age of sixteen, had his ''Les Deux Petits Nains'' published in ''[Le Progrès du Saguenay](/source/Le_Progr%C3%A8s_du_Saguenay)'' in 1947 and 1948.  This was the first [science fiction](/source/science_fiction) BDQ, about two brothers who were only a few centimetres tall, but were endowed with enormous strength, and met with people of other minuscule races.<ref name="BTF-QC-NSo20thC" />

===Post-war era===
The end of [World War II](/source/World_War_II) brought with it a loosening in trade restrictions with the US, and American comics came flooding into the province.  Whereas in English Canada this had meant the death toll for the local industry, in Quebec local production was paradoxically stimulated by the influx of foreign material.  At the height of the "[Great Darkness](/source/Grande_Noirceur)", a time of conservative government policies mixed with close government ties with the Catholic Church, the violence in many American comics at the time led to a belief that they promoted [juvenile delinquency](/source/juvenile_delinquency), and as it had in English Canada and the US, the belief prompted the authorities and concerned parents to crack down on comics. [Gérard Tessier](/source/G%C3%A9rard_Tessier), with the support of Cardinal [Paul-Émile Léger](/source/Paul-%C3%89mile_L%C3%A9ger), published ''Face à l'imprimé obscène'' in 1955, in the vein of [Fredric Wertham](/source/Fredric_Wertham)'s ''[Seduction of the Innocent](/source/Seduction_of_the_Innocent)''.<ref name="BTF-QC-GreatDarkness" />

Catholic comics reached their highest point at this time.  The ''Centrale de la Jeunesse étudiante catholique'' ("The Centre for Young Catholic Students") put out the biweekly ''François'' beginning in 1943, printing mostly humorous strips.  It was joined by ''Claire'' in 1957, the girls' version of ''François'', which was almost identical in content.  ''[Hérauts](/source/H%C3%A9rauts)'' began in 1944, at first printing translations of American strips from the religious ''[Timeless Topix](/source/Timeless_Topix)''.  The publication, which had a circulation of 100,000, had a mission to battle the "bad" American comics, and was distributed in schools starting in 1947, which resulted in fewer comics being included in its pages.  ''Hérauts'' was also the first BDQ to be exported to the European market, although only briefly.  By the mid-1950s, ''Hérauts'' was publishing local comics by the likes of [Gabriel de Beney](/source/Gabriel_de_Beney) and [Maurice Petitdidier](/source/Maurice_Petitdidier).  Almost all the strips from ''Hérauts'', Québécois and American, were reprinted in comics albums during this time, and they also launched a younger version called ''[Le Petit Hérauts](/source/Le_Petit_H%C3%A9rauts)'' in 1958, in which Petitdidier's ''[Fanchon et Jean-Lou](/source/Fanchon_et_Jean-Lou)'' was particularly popular.<ref name="BTF-QC-GreatDarkness" /><ref name="DictionnaireCensureQuebec249-251" />

BDQ of this period flourished only between 1955 and 1960.  After this time, the Catholic magazines once again took to reprinting American comics, and the market was flooded with glossy, full-colour [Franco-Belgian comics](/source/Franco-Belgian_comics) magazines like ''[Tintin](/source/Tintin_(magazine))'', ''[Spirou](/source/Spirou_(magazine))'', ''Vaillant'', ''[Pif](/source/Pif_gadget)'', and ''[Pilote](/source/Pilote)''.  By the mid-1960s, the Catholic publications were gone.<ref name="BTF-QC-GreatDarkness" />

===Spring of BDQ===
The revolutionary 1960s and the [Quiet Revolution](/source/Quiet_Revolution) in Quebec saw new vigour in BDQ.  The so-called ''printemps de la BD québécoise'' ("Spring of Quebec comics") is said to have begun in 1968 with the creation of the group Chiendent, who published in ''[La Presse](/source/La_Presse_(Canadian_newspaper))'' and ''[Dimanche-Magazine](/source/Dimanche-Magazine)''.  Jacques Hurtubise ([Zyx](/source/Zyx_(cartoonist))), [Réal Godbout](/source/R%C3%A9al_Godbout), [Gilles Thibault](/source/Gilles_Thibault) ("Tibo"), and [Jacques Boivin](/source/Jacques_Boivin) were particularly notable cartoonists, and publications appeared with names like ''Ma®de in Québec''<!-- this is correct -->, ''[L'Hydrocéphale illustré](/source/L'Hydroc%C3%A9phale_illustr%C3%A9)'', ''[La Pulpe](/source/La_Pulpe)'', ''[B.D.](/source/B.D._(comics))'', and ''[L'Écran](/source/L'%C3%89cran)''. The comics no longer focused on younger audiences, instead seeking confrontation or experimenting with graphics.<ref name="CanEncFrenchComicStrips" />  The first modern Quebec comic book is said to be ''Oror 70 (Celle qui en a marre tire)'' by [André Philibert](/source/Andr%C3%A9_Philibert), which dealt with countercultural topics like what were being seen in the [underground comix](/source/underground_comix) of [Robert Crumb](/source/Robert_Crumb) and [Gilbert Shelton](/source/Gilbert_Shelton).<ref name="BTF-QC-Springtime" /> During the 1970s, BDQ were sometimes called "BDK", ''bande dessinée kébécoise''.<ref name="Carpentier" />

Numerous short-lived, small press titles popped up here and there throughout the province. The artists who made them set out to challenge society, and the comics abounded in taboos, like sex and drugs. Lack of distribution, irregular publishing scales, and a relatively small market led eventually to the demise of these publications. [Albums](/source/Comics_album), on the other hand, had become incredibly popular, and large European publishers began to open Quebec divisions to deal with the demand for titles like ''[The Adventures of Tintin](/source/The_Adventures_of_Tintin)'', ''[Asterix](/source/Asterix)'' and ''[Blueberry](/source/Blueberry_(comics))''. Quebec publishers scrambled to get in on the boom, and published a number of albums, many based on TV characters, some aimed at adults.<ref name="BTF-QC-Springtime" />

This period saw an increased interest in Quebec of local comics, and a number of events were first held: the [Salon international de la caricature de Montréal](/source/Salon_international_de_la_caricature_de_Montr%C3%A9al) added a comic strip section to their annual exhibit in 1971; ''Festival de la bande dessinée de Montréal'' ("Festival of Comics of Montreal") was held for four years starting in 1975 at the [University of Montreal](/source/University_of_Montreal); and the [Musée d'art contemporain de Montréal](/source/Mus%C3%A9e_d'art_contemporain_de_Montr%C3%A9al) mounted its first major retrospective of Quebec comics, presented at the [Angoulême International Comics Festival](/source/Angoul%C3%AAme_International_Comics_Festival) in France. Richard Langlois developed a course called "Bande dessinée et figuration narrative" in Sherbrooke that was offered in post-secondary schools throughout the province, which sparked a number of other practical and theoretical courses to be offered in colleges and universities.<ref group="note">In Canada, the words "university" and "college" have different meanings—both are post-secondary institutions, but, in general, a "university" is a school which grant degrees, while a "college" is a vocational school.  See [Education in Canada#Post-secondary education](/source/Education_in_Canada).</ref>  An issue of the literary journal ''La Barre du Jour'' dedicated an entire 260-page issue to Quebec comics, and certain arts and sociological magazines ran articles on the subject, as well as some popular newspapers and periodicals. A fanzine called ''B.D.K.'', published by Michel Ouellette and dedicated exclusively to Quebec comics, ran for three years beginning in 1975. Increasingly over this period, comics became increasingly deeply analyzed, and began to be taken seriously and scholarly as an artform.{{#tag:ref|"Little by little, the original fans gave way to a new generation of more scholarly researchers. Historians, sociologists and semiologists took an interest in the comic strip, as being typical of the 20th century. Encyclopaedic, historical and pedagogic works appeared. The visual grammar and syntax of the comics were scrutinized, analyzed and examined in all their forms."—[Michel Viau](/source/Michel_Viau), 2002, writing about the period of 1971–1978<ref name="BTF-QC-Springtime" />|group="note"}}<ref name="BTF-QC-Springtime" />

In 1979, with the help of an $80,000 grant from the ''ministère des Affaires culturelles du Québec'' ("Quebec Ministry of Cultural Affairs"<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |title=Ministère des Affaires culturelles du Québec |first=Gilles |last=Potvin |encyclopedia=[The Canadian Encyclopedia](/source/The_Canadian_Encyclopedia) |date=15 December 2013 |publisher=[Historica Canada](/source/Historica_Canada) |url=https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/ministere-des-affaires-culturelles-du-quebec-emc}}</ref>),<ref name="BTF-QC-QuebecMarket" /> Jacques Hurtubise, [Pierre Huet](/source/Pierre_Huet_(cartoonist)) and [Hélène Fleury](/source/H%C3%A9l%C3%A8ne_Fleury) would establish the long-lived, satirical ''[Croc](/source/Croc_(magazine))'' ("Fang" in French<ref name="CJC-Spalding" />), which published many leading talents of the era, many of whom were able to launch their careers through the magazine's help.<ref name="CanEncFrenchComicStrips" />    ''Croc'' begat another magazine, ''Titanic'', dedicated entirely to comics, and in 1987, ''[Safarir](/source/Safarir)'' (a pun, which combines "safari" with ''ça fait rire''—"it makes you laugh"<ref name="CJC-Spalding" />), a ''[Mad](/source/Mad_(magazine))''-like publication patterned after the French ''[Hara-Kiri](/source/Hara-Kiri_(magazine))'', rose in competition with ''Croc'',<ref name="CanEncFrenchComicStrips" /> eventually putting the older magazine out of business.<ref name="BTF-QC-QuebecMarket" />  By the mid-1980s, a number of professional comics publishers began to flourish.<ref name="CanEncFrenchComicStrips" />

Adult and Underground comics of the time began to multiply, with notable titles including ''Cocktail'', ''Tchiize! présente'', ''Tchiize! bis'', and the fanzine ''Iceberg'' appearing in the early 1980s, giving an outlet to young cartoonists like [Henriette Valium](/source/Henriette_Valium) and [Julie Doucet](/source/Julie_Doucet).  Fanzines, which had earlier focused on [superhero](/source/superhero)es, now began to feature [science fiction](/source/science_fiction) instead.<ref name="BTF-QC-QuebecMarket" />

===Since the 1990s===
{{Expand section|date=January 2012}}
In Montreal in the 1980s and 1990s, in parallel to mainstream humour magazines, a healthy underground scene developed, and self-published fanzines proliferated.<ref name="CanEncFrenchComicStrips" />  [Julie Doucet](/source/Julie_Doucet), [Henriette Valium](/source/Henriette_Valium), [Luc Giard](/source/Luc_Giard), [Éric Thériault](/source/Eric_Theriault), [Gavin McInnes](/source/Gavin_McInnes) and Siris were among the names that were discovered in the small press publications.

In the 21st century, some Québécois cartoonists who have seen success in Canada and abroad are [Michel Rabagliati](/source/Michel_Rabagliati) and his semi-[autobiographical](/source/Autobiography) ''Paul'' series, [Maryse Dubuc](/source/Maryse_Dubuc) and [Delaf](/source/Delaf)'s ''Les Nombrils'' (''[The Bellybuttons](/source/The_Bellybuttons)''), aimed at teenaged girls, and [Guy Delisle](/source/Guy_Delisle) with various [travelogue](/source/Travel_literature) comics. All of these series have seen English translations. An increasing number of cartoonists also took to online [webcomics](/source/webcomics).

Around the turn of the century, the government of Quebec mandated ''La Fondation du 9e art'' ("The [9th Art](/source/Ninth_art) Foundation") to promote francophone cartoonists in North America.  There have also emerged events such as the ''Festival de la bande dessinée francophone de Québec'' in [Quebec City](/source/Quebec_City) and la Zone internationale du neuvième art (ZINA).<ref name="CanEncFrenchComicStrips" />

==Publication, promotion and distribution==
Comics publications tend to follow the [Franco-Belgian](/source/Franco-Belgian_comics) model, with books printed as [albums](/source/Comics_album) with either soft- or hardcovers.  When aimed at children, they are usually in full-colour, while comics aimed at adults are often in [black-and-white](/source/black-and-white) and have softcovers.<ref name="BTF-QC-PublishingComics" />

Traditionally, comics publishing in Quebec has centred in Montreal, Quebec City, [Sherbrooke](/source/Sherbrooke) and, since the 1990s, in [Gatineau](/source/Gatineau).  Fanzines are also produced throughout the province.<ref name="BTF-QC" />  There are a number of French-language comics publishers based in Quebec, such as [Éditions Mille-Îles](/source/%C3%89ditions_Mille-%C3%8Eles), [La Pastèque](/source/La_Past%C3%A8que), [Les 400 coups](/source/Les_400_coups_(publisher)), [Mécanique Générale](/source/M%C3%A9canique_G%C3%A9n%C3%A9rale), and Glénat Québec, the Quebec arm of the [France](/source/France)-based publisher [Glénat](/source/Gl%C3%A9nat_(publisher)).  Translations into English of Québécois comics such as [Michel Rabagliati](/source/Michel_Rabagliati)'s ''Paul'' series have been published by the English-language, Montreal-based [Drawn & Quarterly](/source/Drawn_%26_Quarterly), and [Conundrum Press](/source/Conundrum_Press_(Canada)), also based in Montreal, has put much of its focus on publishing translations of Quebec comics.<ref name="G+M20110819" />

The ''Prix Bédélys'' ("Bédélys Prize")  has been awarded to French language comics since 2000.  It comes with [bursaries](/source/Bursary) for the ''Prix Bédélys Québec'' for Best Book from Quebec and the ''Prix Bédélys Fanzine''.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://joeshusterawards.com/2010/04/20/les-prix-bedelys-winners-announced-paul-06-x-2-rapport-de-stage-pico-bogue-03/|title=Les Prix Bédélys: Winners Announced – Paul 06 x 2, Rapport de Stage, Pico Bogue 03|access-date=2012-01-09|date=2010-04-20|publisher=The [Joe Shuster Award](/source/Joe_Shuster_Award)s}}</ref>  The [Joe Shuster Award](/source/Joe_Shuster_Award)s are open to all Canadian comics in any language, not limited to either French or English, and a number of francophone comics and publishers have won the awards.

The [government of Quebec](/source/government_of_Quebec) mandated ''La Fondation du 9e art'' ("The [9th Art](/source/Ninth_art) Foundation") to promote francophone cartoonists in [North America](/source/North_America).  Events such as the ''[Festival de la bande dessinée francophone de Québec](/source/Festival_de_la_bande_dessin%C3%A9e_francophone_de_Qu%C3%A9bec)'' in Quebec City and ''[la Zone internationale du neuvième art](/source/la_Zone_internationale_du_neuvi%C3%A8me_art)'' (''ZINA'') celebrate francophone comics in Quebec.<ref name="CanEncFrenchComicStrips" />

==See also==
{{Portal|Canada|Comics}}
*[List of Canadian comics creators](/source/List_of_Canadian_comics_creators)
*[Culture of Quebec](/source/Culture_of_Quebec)
*[Montreal Comiccon](/source/Montreal_Comiccon)

==References==
{{Reflist|refs=

<ref name="CanEncFrenchComicStrips">{{Cite encyclopedia
|url        = https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/french-comic-strips
|title      = French Comic Strips
|first      = William
|last       = Swift
|encyclopedia       = The Canadian Encyclopedia
|publisher  = Historica Canada
|date       = 8 July 2015}}</ref>

<ref name="Carpentier">{{in lang|fr}} Carpentier, André, et al., ''La Bande dessinée kébécoise'', La barre du jour, 1975</ref>

<ref name="Invaders27">Bell, ''Invaders'', page 27</ref>

<ref name="BTF-QC">{{Cite web
|url        = http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/comics/027002-7000-e.html
|title      = Quebecois Comics
|author     = Viau, Michel
|publisher  = [Library and Archives Canada](/source/Library_and_Archives_Canada)
|date       = 2002-06-24
|access-date = 2012-01-10|author-link = Michel Viau
}}</ref>

<ref name="BTF-QC-19thC">{{Cite web
|url        = http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/comics/027002-7100-e.html
|title      = Satirical Newspapers of the 19th Century
|author     = Viau, Michel
|publisher  = [Library and Archives Canada](/source/Library_and_Archives_Canada)
|date       = 2002-06-24
|access-date = 2012-01-10|author-link = Michel Viau
}}</ref>

<ref name="BTF-QC-NSo20thC">{{Cite web
|url        = http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/comics/027002-7200-e.html
|title      = Newspaper Strips of the 20th Century
|author     = Viau, Michel
|publisher  = [Library and Archives Canada](/source/Library_and_Archives_Canada)
|date       = 2002-06-24
|access-date = 2012-01-11|author-link = Michel Viau
}}</ref>

<ref name="BTF-QC-GreatDarkness">{{Cite web
|url        = http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/comics/027002-7300-e.html
|title      = Comics During the "Great Darkness"
|author     = Viau, Michel
|publisher  = [Library and Archives Canada](/source/Library_and_Archives_Canada)
|date       = 2002-06-24
|access-date = 2012-01-11|author-link = Michel Viau
}}</ref>

<ref name="BTF-QC-PublishingComics">{{Cite web
|url        = http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/comics/027002-7700-e.html
|title      = Publishing Comics
|author     = Viau, Michel
|publisher  = [Library and Archives Canada](/source/Library_and_Archives_Canada)
|date       = 2002-06-24
|access-date = 2012-01-12|author-link = Michel Viau
}}</ref>

<ref name="BTF-QC-Springtime">{{Cite web
|url        = http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/comics/027002-7400-e.html
|title      = Springtime of the Quebecois Comic Strip
|author     = Viau, Michel
|publisher  = [Library and Archives Canada](/source/Library_and_Archives_Canada)
|date       = 2002-06-24
|access-date = 2012-01-12|author-link = Michel Viau
}}</ref>

<ref name="BTF-QC-QuebecMarket">{{Cite web
|url        = http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/comics/027002-7500-e.html
|title      = Breaking into the Quebec Market
|author     = Viau, Michel
|publisher  = [Library and Archives Canada](/source/Library_and_Archives_Canada)
|date       = 2002-06-24
|access-date = 2012-01-13|author-link = Michel Viau
}}</ref>

<ref name="DictionnaireCensureQuebec249-251">{{in lang|fr}} Salaün, Élise. ''Dictionnaire de la Censure au Québec: Littérature et Cinéma'', pages 249–251. Les Editions Fides, 2006. {{ISBN|978-2-7621-2636-5}}</ref>

<ref name="CJC-Spalding">{{cite journal
 |last1        = Spalding
 |first1       = Eric
 |editor-last  = Lorimer
 |editor-first = Rowland
 |year         = 1995
 |title        = La bande dessinée au Québec
 |journal      = Canadian Journal of Communication
 |volume       = 20
 |issue        = 4
 |issn         = 1499-6642
 |access-date  = 2012-01-16
 |url          = http://www.cjc-online.ca/index.php/journal/article/viewArticle/899/805
 |doi          = 10.22230/cjc.1995v20n4a899
 |doi-access   = 
 |archive-date = 2013-04-15
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20130415010439/http://www.cjc-online.ca/index.php/journal/article/viewArticle/899/805
 |url-status   = dead
}}</ref>

<ref name="MensuHell45">{{in lang|fr}} [Viau, Michel](/source/Michel_Viau), ''[MensuHell](/source/MensuHell)'' #45, August 2003</ref>

<ref name="G+M20110819">{{cite news
|url        = https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/arts/books/not-your-ordinary-comic-books/article2134969/print/
|title      = Not just your ordinary cartoons
|first      = Kenton
|last       = Smith
|access-date = 2011-01-16
|date       = 2011-08-19
|newspaper  = [The Globe and Mail](/source/The_Globe_and_Mail)}}</ref>

<!-- end of Reflist -->|colwidth=25em}}

===Notes===
{{Reflist|group="note"}}

===Works cited===
{{Refbegin}}
*{{Cite web
|url        = http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/comics/index-e.html
|title      = Beyond the Funnies
|author     = [Bell, John](/source/John_Bell_(historian)) and [Viau, Michel](/source/Michel_Viau)
|publisher  = [Library and Archives Canada](/source/Library_and_Archives_Canada)
|date       = 2002-06-24
|access-date = 2012-01-13}}
*[Bell, John](/source/John_Bell_(historian)). ''[Invaders from the North](/source/Invaders_from_the_North): How Canada Conquered the Comic Book Universe''. Toronto: [Dundurn Press](/source/Dundurn_Press), 2006. {{ISBN|978-1-55002-659-7}}
*{{in lang|fr}} Carpentier, André, et al., ''La Bande dessinée kébécoise'', La barre du jour, 1975
{{Refend}}

==Further reading==
In French:
*{{in lang|fr}} [Tessier, Gérard](/source/G%C3%A9rard_Tessier). ''[Face à l'imprimé obscène](/source/Face_%C3%A0_l'imprim%C3%A9_obsc%C3%A8ne). Plaidoyer en faveur d'une littérature saine''. Montréal: Éditions de la Feuille d'érable, 1955
*{{in lang|fr}} Dubois, B. ''Bande dessinée québécoise : répertoire bibliographique à suivre''. éditions D.B.K., Sillery, 1996
*{{in lang|fr}} [Falardeau Mira](/source/Mira_Falardeau). ''[La Bande dessinée au Québec](/source/La_Bande_dessin%C3%A9e_au_Qu%C3%A9bec)''. Boréal, 1994
*{{in lang|fr}} Falardeau, Mira. ''[Histoire de la bande dessinée au Québec](/source/Histoire_de_la_bande_dessin%C3%A9e_au_Qu%C3%A9bec)''. [VLB éditeur](/source/VLB_%C3%A9diteur), collection Études québécoises, Montréal, 2008
*{{in lang|fr}} Giguère, M. ''La bande dessinée, populaire et méconnue'', Cahier de référence du programme de perfectionnement professionnel ALQ, 2005
*{{in lang|fr}} [Viau, Michel](/source/Michel_Viau). ''BDQ : Répertoire des publications de bandes dessinées au Québec des origines à nos jours''. Milles Îles, 1999. {{ISBN|2-920993-38-0}}
*{{in lang|fr}} {{cite book
|editor-last  = Lepage
|editor-first = Françoise
|first        = Sylvain
|last         = Lemay
|title        = La littérature pour la jeunesse, 1970-2000
|chapter-url          = https://books.google.com/books?id=zEE2IvQTvusC&pg=PA99
|access-date   = 2012-09-04
|year         = 2003
|publisher    = Les Editions Fides
|language     = fr
|isbn         = 978-2-7621-2404-0
|pages        = 99–118
|chapter      = Panorama de la bande dessinée québécoise pour la jeunesse (1970–2000))}}
*{{in lang|fr}} Viau, Michel. ''Grande presse et petits bonhommes, la naissance de la BDQ'', in ''Formule Un'', [Mécanique Générale](/source/M%C3%A9canique_G%C3%A9n%C3%A9rale), 2007

==External links==
*[http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/comics/027002-7000-e.html Quebecois Comics], history at Collections Canada
*{{in lang|fr}} [http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/comics/027002-7000-f.html La bande dessinée québécoise], history at Collections Canada
*{{in lang|fr}} [http://www.republiquelibre.org/cousture/bd/QCBD.HTM La BD au Québec]
*[http://pages.videotron.com/veena/francais/Montreal%20Comic%20Scene%20_%20Reply%20_%20B.html A long response] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120415192049/http://pages.videotron.com/veena/francais/Montreal%20Comic%20Scene%20_%20Reply%20_%20B.html |date=2012-04-15 }} to Marc Tessier's history of the Montreal comics since that appeared in ''[The Comics Journal](/source/The_Comics_Journal)'''s 2005 Special Edition

'''Comics festivals and conventions in Quebec'''
* {{in lang|en|fr}} [https://web.archive.org/web/20081218133633/http://www.montrealcomicon.com/ Montréal Comicon]
* {{in lang|en|fr}} [http://www.expozine.ca/ Expozine] (website of [Expozine](/source/Expozine) press fair)
* {{in lang|fr}} [http://www.fbdfq.com Festival de la bande dessinée francophone de Québec]
* {{in lang|fr}} [http://www.otakuthon.com Otakuthon]

{{Comics}}
{{Canadian cartoonists}} 
{{Canadian comics}}
{{Animation industry in Canada}}

Quebec comics
Category:Culture of Quebec
Category:Canadian comics
Category:History of Canadian comics
comics

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Quebec comics](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quebec_comics) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quebec_comics?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.
