In France, comics are commonly referred to as the "ninth art". What does it mean to see comics as art? This book looks at the singular status of comics in the French cultural landscape. Bandes dessinées have long been published in French newspapers and magazines. In the early 1960s, a new standard format emerged: large hardback books, called albums. Albums played a key role in the emergence of the ninth art and its acceptance among other forms of literary narrative. From Barbarella in 1964 to La Ballade de la mer salée in 1975, from Astérix and its million copies to Tintin and its screen versions, within the space of just a few years the comics landscape underwent a deep transformation.
The album opened up new ways of creating, distributing, and reading bandes dessinées. This shift upended the market, transformed readership, initiated new transmedia adaptations, generated critical discourse, and gave birth to new kinds of comics fandom. These transformations are analysed through a series of case studies, each focusing on a noteworthy album. By retracing the publishing and critical history of these classic bandes dessinées, this book questions the blind spots of a canon based on the album format and uncovers the legitimisation processes that turned bande dessinée intothe ninth art.
Author(s): Sylvain Lesage
Series: Palgrave Studies in Comics and Graphic Novels
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
Year: 2023
Language: English
Pages: 209
City: Cham
Acknowledgements
Contents
About the Author
List of Figures
1 “Ninth Art”, and the Gentrification of Mass Culture
1964–1975: Eleven Decisive Years
Seven Albums Exemplifying Transformations to Bande Dessinée
References
2 Barbarella: Inventing Adult Comics Through the Book
Barbarella: bande dessinée Comes of Age?
Jean-Claude Forest and Barbarella
A Publishing Innovation: The Album for Adults
From Print to Screen and Back Again: Barbarella Goes to Hollywood
Bibliography
3 Flash Gordon and the Transatlantic Construction of Ninth Art Heritage
Flash Gordon and the De-Americanisation of French Bandes dessinées
A Flash of Nostalgia
Flash Gordon, an Object of Fascination
Bande dessinée Fandom as Papyrophilia
References
4 Astérix and the Transformation of the Comics Market René Goscinny, Albert Uderzo, Astérix et les Normands, 1966
The Colossal Success of Astérix
The Triumph of the 48-Page Colour Hardback Format
The Construction of a Media Phenomenon
Astérix and Bande dessinée for Adults
References
5 Sharks, Pirates, and Ghosts. Authorship and the Challenge of Transmedia Storytelling
A Tintin Album?
Novelisations: A Marketing Strategy
A Print Version of an Animated Film?
Authorship Conflicts
References
6 Futuropolis: A Hub for Independent Bande Dessinée and a Crucible for New Formats
From the Bookstore to Republications from the Back Catalogue
Bande Dessinée Past and Present
A Publishing House Run by a Graphic Designer
References
7 Author, Artist, Publisher: Claire Bretécher, Les Frustrés, 1975
Claire Bretécher, A Woman in bandes dessinées
Pilote, The Crucible for the Modern bande dessinée
Towards Self-Publication
Bretécher at Le Nouvel Observateur
References
8 La Ballade de la mer salée and the Emergence of the European Graphic Novel
From Serial Instalments to the Novel
Devising bande dessinée for Adults
“A novel may also be written as a bande dessinée”
References
9 And Afterwards? bande dessinée: Part Art, Part Industry
1975: The Birth of the “ninth art”
The bande dessinée as Part Art, Part Book
Where Does the Ninth Art Stand Today?
References
Author Index
Subject Index
