Bande Dessinée
Bande dessinée (BD) is the French and Belgian comics tradition, usually published as large hardcover albums of around forty-eight to sixty-four pages in full colour.
Where the word comes from
French for "drawn strip". BD is the usual abbreviation, and comics are often called le neuvième art, the ninth art.
In depth
Bande dessinée names the comics of France, Belgium and the wider French-speaking world. Its classic format is the album: a large, hardcover, full-colour book, traditionally forty-eight pages, collecting a complete story or one installment of a series. Many series were first serialized in weekly magazines such as Spirou and Tintin before appearing as albums.
The canon
Hergé's The Adventures of Tintin, begun in 1929, and Asterix by René Goscinny and Albert Uderzo, begun in 1959, are the best-known series worldwide. The tradition also includes science fiction and fantasy from artists such as Moebius, and adult literary work. The Angoulême International Comics Festival, founded in 1974, is the largest comics festival in Europe.
In English
English translations follow the album format or collect several albums together. Bookshops usually shelve them with graphic novels.
Where it appears
The Adventures of Tintin by Hergé. the classic Belgian album series
Asterix by René Goscinny and Albert Uderzo. the best-selling French comics series
What it means today
Franco-Belgian albums reward slow reading: pages are dense, often with more panels than an American comic, and the art is drawn to be looked at.
