What comes after Tintin?
March 2, 2010 12:15 PM   Subscribe

Tintin, but not. What are some similar cartoon/bédé that might appeal to a ten-year old boy? I know about Asterix and Lucky Luke, are there any other particularly notable ones that have cropped up in the thirty years since I was ten?
posted by From Bklyn to Media & Arts (25 answers total) 4 users marked this as a favorite
 
You probably already know about Calvin and Hobbes, I'd assume.
posted by emilyd22222 at 12:25 PM on March 2, 2010


He might like The Rainbow Orchid.
posted by zamboni at 12:25 PM on March 2, 2010


This is an old one: Little Nemo in Slumberland
posted by mattbucher at 12:32 PM on March 2, 2010 [1 favorite]


Jo, Zette and Jocko
posted by Paragon at 12:32 PM on March 2, 2010 [1 favorite]


Bloom County?
posted by Hanuman1960 at 12:32 PM on March 2, 2010 [1 favorite]


Case Closed ?

That's the source material for the long-running anime. (573 eps and counting, plus about 20 movies and specials.)
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 12:34 PM on March 2, 2010


I thoroughly enjoyed the following although they are roughly from the same time:

Iznogoud, also by Goscinny
Spirou and Fantasio, by Franquin
Gaston Lagaffe also by Franquin

And maybe for later as they are less cartoony. But I simply have to include them as these are awesome Sci-Fi comics that imprinted me with a love for the genre:

Valérian by Jean-Claude Mézières and Pierre Christin
Yoko Tsuno by Roger Leloup
The Survivors: Betelgeuse and The Creature: Aldebaran by Leo

a bit wordy yet awesome pulp, Blake and Mortimer by Edgar-P Jacobs
posted by Glow Bucket at 12:35 PM on March 2, 2010


Lil' Abner, especially the Schmoo's
posted by Confess, Fletch at 12:39 PM on March 2, 2010


Monster Allergy looks fun; I picked it up for my brother who likes to draw monsters (he's 37, but still). It is in French, despite the title. It's about a boy and his father who have special powers to see/help/cotnrol the mostly-cute monsters who live in a parallel, secret world alongside and above the human world, and the liaison-monster who looks like a cat most of the time.

There are a large number of BD in this series.

description of the TV cartoon of the same name, via French Wikipedia.

Oh, hey! There's a Monster Allergy web site with descriptions of the characters etc. in Italian, English, and Dutch - focused on the TV show, but it's the same concept.
posted by amtho at 12:40 PM on March 2, 2010


Uncle Scrooge Adventures, by Carl Barks are well-written and well-drawn (and well out of print). I read those as a teen in the 1980s and as a university student in the 1990s, and was never disappointed.

Now-defunct Gladstone Publishing released a series of collections during the 1990s. Your local comic book shop might have a couple.
posted by KokuRyu at 12:43 PM on March 2, 2010 [2 favorites]


Trondheim and Sfar's Dungeon series is a lot of fun in a sort-of Lord of the Rings meets Duck Tales vein, and there are enough books in the series to keep him busy for a while.

And if funny-meets-fantasy is his cup of tea, Jeff Smith's Bone is extremely popular with kids.
posted by Robot Johnny at 12:44 PM on March 2, 2010


Boule et Bill or Marsupilami? Though both are not new (bonus, there are tons of BDs).
Les Tuniques Bleues, in the same spirit as Lucky Luke, could also be a hit.
posted by tweemy at 12:46 PM on March 2, 2010


My nephew *loved* this one shot Shazam: Monster Society of Evil, by creator of Bone, Jeff Smith. Also, Bone is terrific.

I think Beanworld would also be perfect for a ten year old, but may be a bit too odd for some kids.

These are more fantasy than Tintin, but I think they'll work. Jonny Quest comics may also fit the bill (adventures abroad by normal-ish looking people), though I have not read many of them myself.
posted by artlung at 12:57 PM on March 2, 2010


Not from the last 30 years, but Gaston might be good if he likes Asterix.
posted by usonian at 1:15 PM on March 2, 2010


Robot Johnny has it: Dungeon is how I get my current Tintin fix.

I also remember loving the original longform Smurf comics by Peyo when I was a kid. The French, they know how to do the graphic novel thing.
posted by roger ackroyd at 1:18 PM on March 2, 2010


Stan Sakai's samurai rabbit Usagi Yojimbo or Sergio Aragones clumsy barbarian Groo The Wanderer.
posted by JDC8 at 1:29 PM on March 2, 2010 [1 favorite]


Bone is a great recent comic for all ages.
posted by jb at 2:02 PM on March 2, 2010


Captain Underpants

Diary of a Wimpy Kid

Captain Underpants is my personal favorite.
posted by fifilaru at 2:35 PM on March 2, 2010


This list of notable bédés is pretty unassailable. I was gonna recommend XIII, Blake and Mortimer, Spirou and Valérian and Laureline. The others listed are topnotch as well. The only one's that aren't on this list that I thought of are Jacques Martin's Alix and Lefranc series, 421 by Eric Maltaite and Stephen Desberg and Peyo's other series, Johan and Peewit (Johan et Pirlouit in French).
posted by Kattullus at 4:57 PM on March 2, 2010


You *might* want to give Dungeon/Donjon a parental once-over, but it's really good. Sfar's Little Vampire (Petit Vampire, I think?) is a lot of fun, as well.

Not BD, but: Groo by Sergio Aragones!
posted by Bigfoot Mandala at 6:45 PM on March 2, 2010


I will ditto the folks recommending Bone and Usagi Yojimbo. I work in a comics shop with lots of family/kid customers, and these are our 2 top sellers for boys who are good readers (which I infer from his enjoyment of Tintin). They're not similar to Tintin in terms of subject, but they tend to appeal to the same kids.

Captain Underpants is also super-awesome & popular, but if he's a very good reader he may find them "babyish." Some kids care about that kind of stuff and some don't. Hooray!
posted by Fui Non Sum at 10:32 PM on March 2, 2010


Response by poster: Thanks for the suggestions - these are great! I'll confess to thinking "The Rainbow Orchid" looks like the ticket, and maybe "Jo, Zette and Zocko" as they are obviously most similar to Tintin. I'm not near any English language book-stores, so it's hard/impossible to check out the others that look interesting, "Bone" and "Groo" coming up the most. I'll look at the local book-store, see what I can find.
posted by From Bklyn at 1:53 AM on March 3, 2010


I should also mention Jonny Crossbones, another ligne claire adventure romp. It hasn't been published yet, but it should be.
posted by zamboni at 10:43 AM on March 3, 2010


Response by poster: "Johnny Crossbones" is terrific. I'll never understand why it hasn't automatically been turned into a book.
posted by From Bklyn at 6:21 AM on March 5, 2010


I just read this review and thought of this question.

City of Spies will be released on April 27th according to Amazon.
posted by rabbitrabbit at 3:19 PM on March 10, 2010


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