Once upon a time, the French and Belgian comics world's success rested mostly on its very popular illustrated magazines for children and youngsters. It was the golden age of weekly magazines such as PILOTE, LE JOURNAL TINTIN, PIF-GADGET, and LE JOURNAL DE SPIROU.
Nowadays, the only survivor is SPIROU - all the other magazines having gone the way of the buffalo. In the 50s and 60s, LE JOURNAL DE SPIROU always published special seasonal issues for Christmas. Comics luminaries like Franquin, Will, Peyo, would contribute to the season's spirit with short comics Christmas tales that hardly ever were picked for publication in book form.
Comics historians Christelle and Bertrand Pissavy Yvernault have gathered the very best of these Christmas comics tales of the 1955-1969 period in this brand new anthology.
The magnificent volume also features a very special guest : TOUPET LA TEMPÊTE, by Christian GODARD, makes his very first appearance in the aptly-named LE PREMIER NOËL DE TOUPET.
TOUPET - known as Danny in German, and Lokje in Dutch, is no ordinary baby.
The newborn unwittingly brings about all matters of catastrophes just by being there. His hapless parents are well-meaning but clearly overwhelmed by the Herculean task of coping with a very demanding and stubborn baby, whose only word so far is "NO !" and whose favorite toy is... a hammer. Yes, you read it right. A hammer.
TOUPET's first version was only published twice in Spirou in the 60s, written and drawn by Christian GODARD alone ; but the accident-prone hero in diapers would later resurface, in the 80s, his adventures, this time, drawn by Albert Blesteau but still written by Christian Godard, and the results enchanted and amused readers from 1988 till 2007, over the course of 18 very successful comic books.
It's time to rediscover TOUPET, and what a better moment than Christmas to enthuse about the first adventures of a much-loved newborn ?
Nowadays, the only survivor is SPIROU - all the other magazines having gone the way of the buffalo. In the 50s and 60s, LE JOURNAL DE SPIROU always published special seasonal issues for Christmas. Comics luminaries like Franquin, Will, Peyo, would contribute to the season's spirit with short comics Christmas tales that hardly ever were picked for publication in book form.
Comics historians Christelle and Bertrand Pissavy Yvernault have gathered the very best of these Christmas comics tales of the 1955-1969 period in this brand new anthology.
The magnificent volume also features a very special guest : TOUPET LA TEMPÊTE, by Christian GODARD, makes his very first appearance in the aptly-named LE PREMIER NOËL DE TOUPET.
TOUPET - known as Danny in German, and Lokje in Dutch, is no ordinary baby.
The newborn unwittingly brings about all matters of catastrophes just by being there. His hapless parents are well-meaning but clearly overwhelmed by the Herculean task of coping with a very demanding and stubborn baby, whose only word so far is "NO !" and whose favorite toy is... a hammer. Yes, you read it right. A hammer.
TOUPET's first version was only published twice in Spirou in the 60s, written and drawn by Christian GODARD alone ; but the accident-prone hero in diapers would later resurface, in the 80s, his adventures, this time, drawn by Albert Blesteau but still written by Christian Godard, and the results enchanted and amused readers from 1988 till 2007, over the course of 18 very successful comic books.
It's time to rediscover TOUPET, and what a better moment than Christmas to enthuse about the first adventures of a much-loved newborn ?