thumb|right|upright=1.25|<div style="text-align:center">Corporal Blutch.</div>
Les Tuniques Bleues (Dutch: De Blauwbloezen) is a Belgian series of bandes dessinées (comic books in the Franco-Belgian tradition), first published in Spirou magazine and later collected in albums by Dupuis. Created by artist Louis Salvérius and writer Raoul Cauvin, the series was taken up by artist Lambil after Salverius' death. It follows two United States Army cavalrymen through a series of battles and adventures. The first album of the series was published in 1970. The series' name, Les Tuniques Bleues, literally "the bluecoats", refers to the uniforms of the Union Army during the American Civil War. Cinebook has started to print the comics in English as "The Bluecoats", releasing Robertsonville Prison in 2008. It is one of the best-selling series in French-language comics.
History
Cauvin has written the stories for the first 64 volumes.
Six of the first ten volumes were illustrated by Louis Salverius, with Lambil taking over after Salverius' death.
The first book, ' (French for “A Wagon in the West”), was published in 1972. Cauvin retired from writing the series in 2020, with the reins being taken over by Jose Luis Munuera and the . Their first album ' (“The Special Correspondent”) is published out of sequence in 2020, as volume 65, while the final album by Cauvin and Lambil is released the following year as volume 64, titled ' (“Where is Arabesque?”).
The stories appear first in Spirou, before being published as an album. The French editions are published by Dupuis. New albums are among the top ten best selling comics in French each year, with 184,800 copies for the 50th album alone in 2006. ' spawned a 1989 computer game called North and South.
Plot
thumb|A scene showing the two main characters.
The original setting was the frontier of the Old West, where the main characters were American cavalrymen. Those stories, rarely longer than a single page, were comedic adventures about popular Western stereotypes and the absurdity of military life. One recurring feature was the blunder that led to the Cavalry fort being besieged by outraged Native Americans, or in one case, the cavalry having to besiege their own fort after the Indians have tricked them into leaving it and taken over. As the series progressed, the stories became longer and more involved, retaining their humorous highlights. The drawing style also changed, after the death of the original artist Salverius, from overtly cartoonish to semi-realistic.
In the second album, Du Nord au Sud, the main characters, Blutch and Chesterfield, travel east to join Ulysses S. Grant's army and fight in the American Civil War. It was published for the first time at No. 1904 and No. 1917 in Spirou magazine, afterwards as an album in 1975. The plot is based around the Battle of Hampton Roads in 1862.
Plot
After a battle between the Confederate and Union Army's goes awry for the Northerners, even with a near suicidal cavalry charge from the 22nd cavalry regiment. Corporal Blutch and Sergeant Chesterfield are dismissed by Captain Stark for cowardice and insubordination respectively. Afterwards, both men are first reassigned to the infantry regiment where they attack a Confederate barrier too early, which gets them dismissed again. Next, they are reassigned to the artillery regiment, where they operate their own cannon. They end up getting dismissed from this regiment as well when they fire upon their own trenches. After that, they become stretch-bearers and are warned if they fail again, there would not be any place anymore for them in the army. They end up being dismissed a final time when they bring back a wounded Confederate soldier from the battlefield to the field hospital. As a final solution, Corporal Blutch and Sergeant Chesterfield are reassigned to the Navy as sailors on a sailing ship, which ends up sinking in battle with the Confederates. Following the sinking, both men are transferred to the USS Monitor and see action during the Battle of Hampton Roads against the Confederate ironclad CSS Virginia. The battle ends in a draw, bringing back glory to Corporal Blutch and Sergeant Chesterfield. As a reward, they are reassigned back to the 22nd Cavalry regiment, although a lack of manpower following one of Stark's infamous suicide charges could've also been the reason for the transfer, as both men are experienced cavalrymen.
Albums
thumb|<nowiki>Les Tuniques bleues</nowiki> comic collection, numbers 1 to 56.
- Un chariot dans l'Ouest
- Du Nord au Sud
- Et pour 1500 dollars en plus
- Outlaw
- Les déserteurs
- La prison de Robertsonville
- Les Bleus de la marine
- Les cavaliers du ciel
- La grande patrouille
- Des Bleus et des tuniques
- Des Bleus en Noir et Blanc
- Les Bleus tournent cosaques
- Les Bleus dans la gadoue
- Le blanc-bec
- Rumberley
- Bronco Benny
- El Padre
- Blue rétro
- Le David
- Black Face
- Les cinq salopards
- Des Bleus et des dentelles
- Les cousins d'en face
- Baby blue
- Des Bleus et des bosses
- L'or du Quebec
- Bull Run
- Les Bleus de la balle
- En avant l'amnésique!
- La Rose de Bantry
- Drummer boy
- Les Bleus en folie
- Grumbler et fils
- Vertes années
- Captain Nepel
- Quantrill
- Duel dans la manche
- Les planqués
- Puppet Blues
- Les hommes de paille
- Les Bleus en cavale
- Qui veut la peau du Général?
- Des Bleus et du Blues
- L'oreille de Lincoln
- Emeutes à New York
- Requiem pour un Bleu
- Les nancy hart
- Arabesque
- Marriage à fort Bow
- La traque
- Stark sous toutes les coutures
- Des bleus dans le brouillard
- Sang bleu chez les Bleus
- Miss Walker
- Indien, mon frère
- Dent pour dent
- Colorado Story
- Les bleues se mettes au vert
- Les quatre évangélistes
- Carte blanche pour un Bleu
- L'étrange soldat Franklin
- Sallie
- La bataille du Cratère
- Où est Arabesque ?
- L'envoyé spécial
- Irish Melody
- Du Feu sur la glace
Historical correlations
Several albums highlight historical facts of the American Civil War, other adventures are set in a place or anonymous battle. Some accounts tell of an encounter with a Native American tribe without any relation to the American Civil War. However, the chronology of the albums does not follow that of the war, but several albums are in flashback, tracing the past of the two protagonists, possibly narrated by one of them (Bull Run) or another character (Vertes Années).
{| class="wikitable centre" style="text-align:left;"
! scope="col" |Album
!Historical reference
|-
|1. Un chariot dans l'Ouest
|
|-
|2. Du Nord au Sud
|
|-
|3. Et pour quinze cents dollars en plus
|
|-
|4. Outlaw
|
|-
|5. Les Déserteurs
|
|-
|6. La Prison de Robertsonville
|Andersonville Prison
|-
|7. Les Bleus de la marine
|Battle of Hampton Roads
|-
|8. Les Cavaliers du ciel
|Union Army Balloon Corps
|-
|9. La Grande Patrouille
|
|-
|10. Des Bleus et des tuniques
|
|-
|11. Des Bleus en noir et blanc
|Mathew Brady
|-
|12. Les Bleus tournent cosaques
|
|-
|13. Les Bleus dans la gadoue
|The Mud March
|-
|14. Le Blanc-bec
|
|-
|15. Rumberley
|
|-
|16. Bronco Benny
|
|-
|17. El Padre
|
|-
|18. Blue rétro
|
|-
|19. Le David
|Anaconda Plan; CSS David
|-
|20. Black Face
|
|-
|21. Les Cinq Salopards
|
|-
|22. Des Bleus et des dentelles
|
|-
|23. Les cousins d'en face
|
|-
|24. Baby blue
|
|-
|25. Des Bleus et des bosses
|
|-
|26. L'Or du Québec
|
|-
|27. Bull Run
|First Battle of Bull Run
|-
|28. Les Bleus de la balle
|
|-
|29. En avant l'amnésique
|
|-
|30. La Rose de Bantry
|Trent Affair
|-
|31. Drummer boy
|
|-
|32. Les Bleus en folie
|
|-
|33. Grumbler et fils
|
|-
|34. Vertes Années
|
|-
|35. Captain Nepel
|
|-
|36. Quantrill
|William Quantrill
|-
|37. Duel dans la Manche
|Battle of Cherbourg
|-
|38. Les Planqués
|
|-
|39. Puppet Blues
|
|-
|40. Les Hommes de paille
|
|-
|41. Les Bleus en cavale
|
|-
|42. Qui veut la peau du général ?
|Ulysses S. Grant
|-
|43. Des Bleus et du blues
|
|-
|44. L'Oreille de Lincoln
|Siege of Vicksburg
|-
|45. Émeutes à New York
|Draft Riots
|-
|46. Requiem pour un Bleu
|
|-
|47. Les Nancy Hart
|Nancy Harts
|-
|48. Arabesque
|
|-
|49. Mariage à Fort Bow
|
|-
|50. La Traque
|
|-
|51. Stark sous toutes les coutures
|
|-
|52. Des Bleus dans le brouillard
|Joseph Hooker, Battle of Lookout Mountain
|-
|53. Sang bleu chez les Bleus
|François d'Orléans
|-
|54. Miss Walker
|Mary Edwards Walker
|-
|55. Indien, mon frère
|
|-
|56. Dent pour dent
|
|-
|57. Colorado Story
|
|-
|58. Les Bleus se mettent au vert
|
|-
|59. Les Quatre Évangélistes
|William Nelson Pendleton
|-
|60. Carte blanche pour un bleu
|
|-
|61. L'Étrange Soldat Franklin
|Sarah Emma Edmonds
|-
|62. Sallie
|Sallie Ann Jarret
|-
|63. La bataille du Cratère
|Battle of the Crater
|-
|64. Où est Arabesque ?
|
|-
|65. L'envoyé spécial
|William Howard Russell
|-
|66. Irish Melody
|Irish Brigade (Union Army)
|-
|67. Du Feu sur la glace
|Stand Watie
|}
English translations
Cinebook Ltd has started publishing English translations from 2008, as "The Bluecoats". Sixteen books have been published to date.
- Robertsonville Prison (French #6), 2008,
- The Navy Blues (French #7), 2009,
- The Skyriders (French #8), 2010,
- The Greenhorn (French #14), 2011,
- Rumberley (French #15), 2012,
- Bronco Benny (French #16), 2013,
- The Blues in the Mud (French #13), 2014,
- Auld Lang Blue (French #18), 2015,
- El Padre (French #17), 2016,
- The Blues in Black and White (French #11), 2017,
- Cossack Circus (French #12), 2018,
- The David (French #19), 2019,
- Something Borrowed, Something Blue
- The Dirty Five
- Bull Run
- Sallie
Video games
Les Tuniques Bleues was made into a video game named North & South in 1989 by Infogrames. In 2012, this game was adapted by Anuman Interactive as a multiplayer game.
In popular culture
thumb|Rue des comédiens (and the Tuniques bleues) - Brussels.
Les Tuniques Bleues are among the many Belgian comic characters to jokingly have a Brussels street named after them. The Rue des Comédiens/ Komediantenstraat has a commemorative plaque with the name Rue des Tuniques Bleues/ Blauwbloezenstraat placed under the actual street sign.
References
External links
- Les Tuniques Bleues
- English publisher of The Bluecoats – Cinebook Ltd
- Official Dupuis site