By Christophe Cazenove & Jean Bastide, in the style of Roba, coloured by Luc Perdriset & Bastide: translated by Jerome Saincantin (Cinebook)
ISBN: 978-1-80044-129-3 (Album PB/Digital)
Known as Boule et Bill in Europe (at least the French speaking bits – the Dutch and Flemish call them Bollie en Billie or perhaps Bas et Boef if readers first glimpsed them in legendary weekly Sjors), this evergreen, immensely popular cartoon saga of a dog and his boy first debuted at Christmas in 1959. Bon anniversaire 65th, mes braves!
The perennial family favourite resulted from Belgian writer-artist Jean Roba (Spirou et Fantasio, La Ribambelle) putting his head together with Maurice Rosy: the magazine’s Artistic Director/Ideas Man, who had also ghosted art and/or scripts on Jerry Spring, Tif et Tondu, Bobo and Attila during an astoundingly productive decades-long career at the periodical. Intended as an Old World answer to Charles Schulz’s Peanuts, Boule et Bill quickly went its own way, developing a unique style and personality to become Roba’s main occupation for the next 45 years. He had launched the feature as a mini-récit (32-page, half-sized freebie inserts) in the December 24th edition of Le Journal de Spirou.
Like Dennis the Menace in The Beano, the strip was a monster hit from the start, and for 25 years held the coveted and prestigious back-cover spot. It was even syndicated to competitor publishers and a popular feature in Le Journal de Mickey, rubbing shoulders with Walt Disney’s top stars. Older Brits might recognise the art as early episodes – retitled It’s a Dog’s Life – ran in Fleetway’s Valiant weekly from 1961 to 1965…
A cornerstone of European life, B&B has generated a live-action movie, four animated TV series, computer games, permanent art exhibitions, sculptures and even postage stamps. As with a select few immortalized Belgian comics creations, Bollie en Billie were awarded a commemorative plaque and have a street named after them in Brussels…
Large format album compilations began immediately, totalling 21 volumes throughout the 1960s & 1970s from publisher Dupuis. These were completely redesigned and re-released in 1985 when Roba moved to Dargaud and became his own editor. The standard albums (44 to date) are supplemented by a range of early-reader books for toddlers. Assorted collections are available in 15 languages, selling well in excess of 25 million copies.
Roba crafted over a thousand pages of gag-strips in his beguiling, idealised domestic comedy setting, all about a little lad and the exceedingly smart Cocker Spaniel he shared his endless days with. Long before his death in 2006, the auteur wisely appointed successors for the strip, which has thus continued to this day. He began by surrendering the art chores to his long-term assistant Laurent Verron in 2003, and the successor subsequently took on the scripting upon Roba’s passing. Verron was soon joined by gag-writers Veys, Corbeyran, Chric & Cucuel whilst this relatively recent tome (2017’s volume 38, Symphonie en Bill majeur) comes courtesy of Christophe Cazenove & Jean Bastide. In this collection Verron is again present as illustrator of the “cabochons”: illustrated icons at the top of each strip. They’re what old folks like us employed before emoticons…
Redesignated Billy and Buddy, the strip returned to British eyes in 2009: stars of enticing Cinebook compilations introducing 21st century readers to an endearingly bucolic sitcom-styled nuclear family set-up consisting of one bemused, long-suffering dad, a warmly compassionate but constantly wearied and distracted mum, a smart, mischievous son and a genius dog with a penchant for finding bones, puddles and trouble.
Primarily a selection of musically themed single gags, Symphony in Buddy Major opens preceded by a handy character catch-up chart offering briefings on Billy, Buddy, their close human associate Pat and sultry mysterious tortoise Caroline. Thereafter the old magic resumes in the approved manner, further exploring the evergreen relationship of a dog and his boy (and tortoise) via the usual mix of events comprising school, home, pals, play, parties and chores, each packed with visual puns, quips, slapstick and jolly jests and japes. These affirm the gradual socialisation and behaviour of little Billy measured in carefree romps with four-footed friends in an even split between parental judgements and getting away with murder…
Buddy is the perfect pet for our imaginative boy, although the manipulative mutt is overly fond of purloined or “found” food, buried bones (ownership frequently disputed), and – as seen often in this volume – sleeping where he really shouldn’t in a war that can only end one way. When not being the problem, Buddy’s ferociously protective of his boy, tortoise and ball but simply cannot understand why everyone wants to constantly plunge him into foul-tasting soapy water, but it’s just a sacrifice he’s prepared to make to be with Billy…
Buddy’s propensity for burying and digging up stuff remains paramount, as does his relationship with canine cohort Scamp, Brice and Chips. The mutt’s fondly platonic relationship with Caroline is refined and extended here but when Billy learns how dogs express affection that goes badly wrong…
Principally these episodes focus on Billy getting his first musical instrument (called a “flute” here but I’m not fooled – I know a thrice-bedamned recorder when I see one!) and early lessons in how to make pleasant sounds. Of course, Dad prides himself on his own musical youth and when he’s not frantically whittling instruments he’s regaling Billy with tales of his expertise on the provincial bagpipes of horror called a “bodèga”.
Nobody appreciates Buddy’s attempts to join the family chorus – even though he’s proficient (at least on his own terms) on drums, cymbals, maracas. the flute and vocals…
Happily, the pooch is adept at clearing off whenever Dad has one of his explosive emotional meltdowns, generally to coach Billy and Pat on how to talk to human girls like Celia and Hazel, but he draws the line at intervening whenever hostile neighbour Madame Stick and her evil cat Corporal are on the warpath. Buddy’s a pretty good life coach, and his grooming tips quickly make his human the most popular boy in school, but strangely, not on St Valentine’s day…
The revels end for the meanwhile with an extended vacation yarn that sees the family on a hiking tour where the biggest bone of contention is exactly what the definition of Hiking entails…
Roba was a master of this cartoon art form and under his successors the feature remains genially paced, packed with wry wit and potent sentiment: enchantingly funny episodes running the gamut from heart-warming to hilarious, silly to surreal and thrilling to just plain daft.
This collection is exactly what fans would expect and deserve: another charming tribute to and lasting argument for a child for every pet and vice versa. This is a supremely engaging family-oriented compendium of cool and clever comics no one keen on introducing youngsters to the medium should be without.
Original edition © Dargaud, 2017 by Cazenove & Bastide in the style of Roba. © Studio Boule & Bill 2017. English translation © 2023 Cinebook Ltd.