Quebec comics ( or BDQ) are French language comics produced primarily in the Canadian province of Quebec, and read both within and outside Canada, particularly in French-speaking Europe.

In contrast to English language comics in Canada, which largely follow the American model, Quebec comics are influenced mainly by the trends in Franco-Belgian comics. There is little crossover between the French and English comics worlds in Canada.

Overview

The majority language of Quebec is French, and Quebec comics refers to those comics published in French—English-language comics are considered part of the English-language part of Canadian comics history. The two traditions have little crossover, with the English tradition following mainly American trends, and the French tradition following mainly European ones, especially the French language Franco-Belgian trends. However, newspaper comic strips have tended to be French translations of syndicated American strips.

In the early 2000s, most comics consumed within Quebec were of European or American origin, with local comics only making up 5% of the total market, An issue of the literary journal La Barre du Jour dedicated an entire 260-page issue to Quebec comics, and certain arts and sociological magazines ran articles on the subject, as well as some popular newspapers and periodicals. A fanzine called B.D.K., published by Michel Ouellette and dedicated exclusively to Quebec comics, ran for three years beginning in 1975. Increasingly over this period, comics became increasingly deeply analyzed, and began to be taken seriously and scholarly as an artform.

Notes

Works cited

  • Bell, John. Invaders from the North: How Canada Conquered the Comic Book Universe. Toronto: Dundurn Press, 2006.
  • Carpentier, André, et al., La Bande dessinée kébécoise, La barre du jour, 1975

Further reading

In French:

  • Tessier, Gérard. Face à l'imprimé obscène. Plaidoyer en faveur d'une littérature saine. Montréal: Éditions de la Feuille d'érable, 1955
  • Dubois, B. Bande dessinée québécoise : répertoire bibliographique à suivre. éditions D.B.K., Sillery, 1996
  • Falardeau Mira. La Bande dessinée au Québec. Boréal, 1994
  • Falardeau, Mira. Histoire de la bande dessinée au Québec. VLB éditeur, collection Études québécoises, Montréal, 2008
  • Giguère, M. La bande dessinée, populaire et méconnue, Cahier de référence du programme de perfectionnement professionnel ALQ, 2005
  • Viau, Michel. BDQ : Répertoire des publications de bandes dessinées au Québec des origines à nos jours. Milles Îles, 1999.
  • Viau, Michel. Grande presse et petits bonhommes, la naissance de la BDQ, in Formule Un, Mécanique Générale, 2007
  • Quebecois Comics, history at Collections Canada
  • La bande dessinée québécoise, history at Collections Canada
  • La BD au Québec
  • A long response to Marc Tessier's history of the Montreal comics since that appeared in The Comics Journals 2005 Special Edition

Comics festivals and conventions in Quebec

  • Montréal Comicon
  • Expozine (website of Expozine press fair)
  • Festival de la bande dessinée francophone de Québec
  • Otakuthon