How the French value their comics

While on holiday in Corisca, I picked up a copy of the Le Monde newspaper. And there, on the top, were Blake & Mortimer. Who are they you ask?

Blake & Mortimer are a comic strip first written and drawn by Edgar P Jacobs, the long–time collaborator with Hergé on the Tintin comics. Since Jacobs’ death, the series has carried on with a series of different author/artist pairings.

Drawn in La Ligne Claire style first developed by Hergé, the Blake & Mortimer comics are a national treasure. So much so that they had a full page exclusive in this serious newspaper which is perhaps the equivalent to The Telegraph or The Times.

A few years back, the Banque Nationale de Paris used the Blake & Mortimer characters throughout a major marketing campaign.