{"id":28492,"date":"2023-08-21T08:00:38","date_gmt":"2023-08-21T08:00:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/?p=28492"},"modified":"2023-08-18T17:48:29","modified_gmt":"2023-08-18T17:48:29","slug":"billy-buddy-volume-1-remember-this-buddy-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/2023\/08\/21\/billy-buddy-volume-1-remember-this-buddy-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Billy & Buddy volume 1: Remember This, Buddy?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"
\nBy Jean Roba<\/strong>, translated by Luke Spear<\/strong> (Cinebook)
\nISBN: 978-1-905460-91-5 (Album PB\/Digital edition)<\/p>\n

Known as Boule et Bill<\/em><\/strong> on the Continent (in the French speaking bits – Dutch and Flemish folk call them Bollie en Billie<\/em><\/strong>), this evergreen, immensely popular cartoon story of a boy and his dog debuted in the Christmas 1959 edition of multinational anthology Le Journal de<\/em><\/strong> Spirou<\/em><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

It came from Belgian writer-artist Jean Roba (Spirou et Fantasio<\/em><\/strong>, La Ribambelle<\/em>,<\/em> Gomer Goof<\/strong><\/em>) putting his head together with the magazine\u2019s Artistic Director\/Ideas Man Maurice Rosy – who had also ghosted art and\/or scripts on Jerry Spring<\/strong>, Tif et Tondu<\/em>, Bobo<\/strong> and Attila <\/strong>during a decades-long, astoundingly productive career with the legendary periodical.<\/p>\n

Intended as a European answer to Charles Schulz\u2019s Peanuts<\/strong>, Boule et Bill<\/strong><\/em> would quickly go its own way and carve out a unique personality all its own, becoming Rosa\u2019s main occupation for the next 45 years.<\/p>\n

He tirelessly crafted more than a thousand gag-strip pages of a beguiling idealised domestic comedy about a little lad and his rather clever Cocker Spaniel before – in 2003 – handing art-chores over to his long-term assistant Laurent Verron. The substitute subsequently took over writing too after Roba died in 2006.<\/p>\n

Born in Schaerbeek, Belgium on July 28th<\/sup> 1930 Jean Roba grew up reading mostly US reprint strips. He was particularly partial to Rudolph Dirks and Harold H. Knerr\u2019s Katzenjammer Kids<\/strong>. After the War, he began as a jobbing illustrator before adopting a loose, free-wheeling cartooning style known as the \u201cMarcinelle School\u201d and joining the Spirou crew.<\/p>\n

He followed Uderzo on Sa majest\u00e9 mon mari<\/em> and perfected his comics craft under Franquin on Spirou et Fantasio<\/strong><\/em> before launching Boule et Bill<\/strong><\/em> in a mini-r\u00e9cit<\/em> (32-page, half-sized freebie insert) in the December 24th<\/sup> 1959 LJdS<\/em><\/strong>. Like our own Dennis the Menace<\/strong> in The Beano<\/strong>, the strip was incredibly popular from the off and for 25 years held the coveted and prestigious back-cover spot. Older British fanboys might recognise the art as early episodes – retitled It\u2019s a Dog\u2019s Life<\/em> – ran in Fleetway\u2019s Valiant<\/strong> between 1961- 1965.<\/p>\n

A cornerstone of European life, the strip has sparked a live-action movie, animated TV series, computer games, permanent art gallery exhibitions, sculptures and even postage stamps. Like some select immortal Belgian comics stars, Bollie en Billie<\/em><\/strong> have a commemorative plaque and a street named after them in Brussels\u2026<\/p>\n

Large format album editions began immediately, totalling 21 volumes throughout the 1960s and 1970s. These were completely redesigned and re-released in the 1980s, supplemented by a range of early reader books for the very young. Comics collections have been translated into fourteen languages and sold in excess of 25 million copies of the 32 albums to date.<\/p>\n

Renamed Billy and Buddy<\/strong>, the strip debuted en Angleterre<\/em> in Cinebook compilations from 2009 on: introducing a standard sitcom nuclear family consisting of one bemused and long-suffering father, a warm, compassionate but painfully ditzy mother, a smart son and his genius dog which has a penchant for finding bones, puddles and trouble\u2026<\/p>\n

The majority of this book – Tu te rappelles, Bill?<\/em><\/strong> – was the sixth original collection before being cut down and reissued as volume 17 in Europe, but here acts as an ideal vehicle to set up the characters and settings for our delight and delectation. Inside you\u2019ll see a non-stop parade of quick-fire quips and jests as 7-year-old Billy enjoys carefree romps with 4-footed friend Buddy: digging up treasure on the beach, chasing cats, learning tricks to be useful around the house and generally baffling and annoying grown-ups.<\/p>\n

Buddy is the perfect pet for an imaginative boy, although he\u2019s overly fond of bones and rather protective of them. He also does not understand why everyone is so keen to constantly plunge him into foul-tasting soapy water, but it\u2019s just a sacrifice he\u2019s prepared to make to be with Billy.<\/p>\n

Gently-paced and packed with wry wit and potent sentiment, these captivating vignettes range from heart-warming to hilarious: a delightful tribute to and argument for a child for every pet and vice versa. This is a solid, family-oriented collection of comics no one trying to introduce youngsters to the medium should be without.
\nOriginal edition \u00a9 Studio Boule & Bill 2008 by Roba. English translation \u00a9 2009 Cinebook Ltd.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Jean Roba, translated by Luke Spear (Cinebook) ISBN: 978-1-905460-91-5 (Album PB\/Digital edition) Known as Boule et Bill on the Continent (in the French speaking bits – Dutch and Flemish folk call them Bollie en Billie), this evergreen, immensely popular cartoon story of a boy and his dog debuted in the Christmas 1959 edition of … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “Billy & Buddy volume 1: Remember This, Buddy?”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[113,63,125,97,296],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-28492","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-comedy","category-european-classics","category-humour","category-kids-all-ages","category-school-stories"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4AFj-7py","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28492","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28492"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28492\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28494,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28492\/revisions\/28494"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28492"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28492"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28492"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}