Grow up, Dargaud!

The release of another brand-new 44 pages book of Boule & Bill appear in recent times with lots of things saying like "How then this series keep to exists?", "Is the cartoonists are getting exhausted to this?" or "Why wasting paper for pages about fillers?". But let me tell you how that it do happening.

In the late-1980s, from the time Jean Roba eventually left Dupuis after the buyout of the book publishing by Media Productions, he have seen a right opportunity to launching his own studio for producing newer gags of these and also illustrations and artworks for a change of that. The orange-hair school-boy and his loyal sidekick, the cocker Bill became Best-Sellers at that time and went with an united fanbase, when Roba was still able to crafted well-planned artworks and gags frames, with a little more detailled touch that didn't happening before. To that alone, Roba was a true artist even if he needed some fresh blood for keep the series in life.

Laurent Verron has begun his career of comic illustrator by be assistant to him; by do the lettering, inking and executed the pages to him. I still own a love-hate bond with Verron, by be among, responsible of the sour decline of the series when his mentor passed away in 2006. But things will be more jerky and uncomfortable when we reach 2011 and the 33th book by featuring the first gag with many "50" references in the background, at a 50th celebration of the franchise. Verron also created a separated entry like Terra or something like that, but it didn't take it long. Only dark days on the French-Belgium artform will come much sooner than later...

Penetrated by the useless need of not one, but two ridiculous live-action movies of Boule & Bill, a newer CGI animated series and then, a shift of artists later in 2016, it is remarkable that Dargaud keep this series in life, even with our criticisms that this series has no longer anything new to offer.

I am a fan of the series since Day 1. I used to enjoy the gags-pages formula by reading these. Now, it's just an excuse to cash-in with a old property due to the rightful claimants. It's not a Best-Seller anymore, but a kiddie fodder. The only Europpean series that still make real money today is Asterix and perhaps, The Smurfs, when it was always compared to it on the Dupuis' era, both for widespread creativity and talented skills from their original creators.

But in 2026, we are stuck with the overlap of bland gags that don't make a laugh, even not a chuckle. Like Nickelodeon keep to milking on the Spongebob Squarepants franchise (Despite the Stephen Hillenburg's wishes before to passed away of an AVC in 2018), Dargaud agressively push too hard with a creation that have took over two-three decades before gotten the respect it deserving. 

Nowadays, this is the Asian makers who are the most hottest things ever and not so the straight French-Belgian artists of old, whom, they have pushed back the Saturday Morning-storytelling of yore since the 2012 year by also praise everything like a bland Paid Infomercial. Is only these book editors known this?

By seeing another book with these characters finally tell me that made me quit with My Bunch and Me and the gags-pages format was the greatest thing I ever done. Why that costs $23 on our nearest Renaud-Bray bookstore just for getting 48 pages of kiddie fodder?