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August 17, 2012 5:33 PM

Alternatives to Tintin that are not Asterix for a 5 year old?

A young acquaintance of mine is a huge Tintin fan. He has read every book in the series and we are now looking to expand his library. Asterix has been tried and rejected. What makes Tintin a hit for this child is the BD panel comic style and Tintin's physical humour (as opposed to the more sophisticated wordplay humour of Asterix.)

Other books he enjoys are Mr Men and Miss Men (because he is 5) but he has also taken to Quick & Flupke, and expressed interest in the 1930s colour Sunday strips of Gasoline Alley.

He enjoys both reading on his own and being read to so we're looking for suggestions for both. Thank you!

posted by DarlingBri to writing & language (21 answers total)

I recommend Lucky Luke.
posted by thisclickableme at 5:43 PM on August 17, 2012 [6 favorites]

When I was a Tintin-and-Asterix-loving five year old, I also enjoyed Johan and Peewit and their spin-offs, The Smurfs.
posted by bettafish at 5:43 PM on August 17, 2012 [1 favorite]

When I liked Tintin, I also liked Herge's other, lesser, comics. Also good are some of the long form Donald Duck comics. Give the later Asterix comics a try as well - they got slapstickier (which, having written that word out, I must say does not sound good) over time.
posted by pmb at 5:47 PM on August 17, 2012 [1 favorite]

Have you looked at any of the classic Popeye comics done by Segar? (Note: Segar died in 1938.)
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 5:47 PM on August 17, 2012 [1 favorite]

Iznogood might be worth a try too. It has both abstract humour and physical gags, especially every time Iznogood's newest plan inevitably fails.
posted by ersatz at 5:50 PM on August 17, 2012 [1 favorite]

It would be hard to go wrong with checking out the all-ages material that Fantagraphics sells. Of particular interest, given the interest in the style, might be Gil Jordan.
posted by pmb at 5:55 PM on August 17, 2012 [1 favorite]

A collection of The Rainbow Orchid is about to come out- see what you think of the web preview.
posted by zamboni at 6:12 PM on August 17, 2012

If you're correctly located geographically, there's always the Beano, though it's not a book.

I have no idea if you can still get them, but I had some choose-your-own-adventure Rupert books that were comics. I tried looking on Amazon, but couldn't find them.
posted by hoyland at 6:12 PM on August 17, 2012

Petit Spirou springs to mind. If he's a Tintin fan, he might really like Bob and Bobette. They're a bit harder to track down as translations were few and spotty, and the series has been called Spike and Suzy, Willy and Wanda, and others, depending on the nation. They were serialized in the Tintin magazine, and are stylistically very similar, with closely related art, swashbuckling, and slapstick.

I'll also second the recommendation for Lucky Luke, as those are incredible.
posted by themadthinker at 6:27 PM on August 17, 2012

My 7yo Tintin fan also loves...
- Calvin and Hobbes!
- Mouseguard
- Captain Underpants (not my fave, but hey, he's reading)
- All of Arthur Geisert's stuff which is not comic-style, but heavily visual (etchings) with the added bonus of contraptions and simple machines as part of many story lines
- The Odyssey, illustrated, but not comic/BD style
posted by cocoagirl at 6:30 PM on August 17, 2012

Seconding the Carl Barks Donald Duck stuff, et Les Schtroumpfs. Perhaps Moomin?
posted by Merzbau at 6:39 PM on August 17, 2012

The Carl Barks Uncle Scrooge stuff is just awesome. Calvin and Hobbes should be considered, too.
posted by KokuRyu at 7:12 PM on August 17, 2012

Absolutely the Carl Barks Donald Duck books (the Don Rosa/Scrooge McDuck books may be a little too old for him, but also good).

The Moomin books can be kind of weird and dark for him at this point. Very different and a little more ... earthy, I guess ... but Michael Rex's Fangbone series is a lot fun and reminds me of books I read as a kid (there's only three of them so far). Some of the Toon Books may work, but those are more one-shots rather than ongoing series.

As he gets older, absolutely Jeff Smith's Bone and Kazu Kibushi's Amulet, but those may not be for a while.

The Phoenix is wonderful, although all of the stories may not be completely appropriate but still a lot of fun.

If my friend shows up online soon, I'll poke him to see if he has a few more recommendations.
posted by darksong at 7:18 PM on August 17, 2012

The Puceron series? Hugo, Benjamin and Petit Poillu are told entirely through images and have been poplar with my 4 & 6 year olds. The 6 year old loves Marsupilami, but it hasn't been translated into English.
posted by Cuke at 7:39 PM on August 17, 2012

I came in here to recommend Lucky Luke too. But OMG Marsupilami! I had totally forgotten that it existed...
posted by gemmy at 7:48 PM on August 17, 2012

Jooste Swarte draws in Tintin's ligne claire style, and I think his characters are even more enjoyably silly. Coton & Piston were created for a kid's section of a newspaper, and who doesn't like a dog in a coat and vest? The only problem is that I've never seen them in English (I just struggle through in French to read them). A quick search doesn't reveal anything either. Bummer.
posted by benito.strauss at 8:16 PM on August 17, 2012

Holy wow, I had no idea asking this question would unleash so many great answers, thanks so much! I will need to check in with the Consumer Goods Purchasing Units, who have taken the kids down to the coast for the weekend, but I will be back to mark best answers. Their dad is going to be delighted to be able to supply the boy wonder with more reading fuel. Thanks loads!
posted by DarlingBri at 6:10 AM on August 18, 2012

Little Nemo in Slumberland might be too much text for him at this age, but is worth keeping in mind.
posted by obliquicity at 11:28 AM on August 18, 2012

Yes, Segar's Popeye has masterful physical humor, as does, believe it or not, early Nancy. Krazy Kat for sure if the serial story isn't a requirement.
posted by cmoj at 11:38 AM on August 18, 2012

Oh wait! Bone! Duh! Bone is what he wants.
posted by cmoj at 11:41 AM on August 18, 2012 [1 favorite]

If Consumer Goods Purchasing Units are not fans of violence, are there any of these that should be avoided until Boy Reader is older? Thanks :)
posted by DarlingBri at 12:48 PM on August 18, 2012