Alix
Encyclopedia
Alix, or The Adventures of Alix, is a popular Franco-Belgian comics
series drawn in the ligne claire
style by one its masters, Jacques Martin. The stories revolve around a young Gallo-Roman man named Alix in the late Roman Republic
. Although the series is renowned for its historical accuracy and stunning set detail, the hero has been known to wander into anachronistic situations up to two centuries out of his era. The stories unfold throughout the reaches of the Roman world
, including the city of Rome, Gaul
, the German frontier, Mesopotamia
, Africa and Asia Minor
. One voyage goes as far as China.
. This mixed background provides Alix with an identity crisis and divided loyalties, especially in the context of the founding myth
s of French nationalism revolving around Vercingetorix
.
In the second adventure Alix is joined by Enak, a slightly younger Egyptian orphan, who remains his constant companion and sounding board. Originally forbidden to have a female companion by the 1949 law governing children's literature, Alix later finds himself entangled with amorous women, but he always hesitates to commit. The pursuit of social justice provides a pretext for moving on.
Tintin
, on 16 September 1948. Three more adventures appeared before Les Editions du Lombard
(the publishing house responsible for Tintin
) began reissuing them in hardcover book form. Lapsing in 1959, Lombard turned over rights to Casterman
(publisher of the Tintin
books) in 1965. After going out of print for several years, the earlier Lombard volumes were also reintroduced to new readers in 1969–1973. As Tintin
declined in sales and popularity, L'enfant grec (1979) was the last Alix story to appear in its pages. Thereafter Alix was only published in book form.
issued two titles, The Sacred Helmet (La tiare d'Oribal), and The Black Claw (La griffe noire). These books are now considered relatively rare. Two more titles, The Lost Legions (Les légions perdues), and The Altar of Fire (Le dernier Spartiate) were also projected for publication that year, but never appeared. A reviewer for the Times Literary Supplement found Alix singularly lacking in humour compared to Asterix
, effectively killing prospects for continued publication in a market not yet accustomed to the wider Franco-Belgian tradition.
, German
, Dutch
, Spanish
, etc. Le fils de Spartacus has been published in Latin
.
Footnotes
Franco-Belgian comics
Franco-Belgian comics are comics that are created in Belgium and France. These countries have a long tradition in comics and comic books, where they are known as BDs, an abbreviation of bande dessinée in French and stripverhalen in Dutch...
series drawn in the ligne claire
Ligne claire
Ligne claire is a style of drawing pioneered by Hergé, the Belgian creator of The Adventures of Tintin. It uses clear strong lines of uniform importance. Artists working in it do not use hatching, while contrast is downplayed as well...
style by one its masters, Jacques Martin. The stories revolve around a young Gallo-Roman man named Alix in the late Roman Republic
Roman Republic
The Roman Republic was the period of the ancient Roman civilization where the government operated as a republic. It began with the overthrow of the Roman monarchy, traditionally dated around 508 BC, and its replacement by a government headed by two consuls, elected annually by the citizens and...
. Although the series is renowned for its historical accuracy and stunning set detail, the hero has been known to wander into anachronistic situations up to two centuries out of his era. The stories unfold throughout the reaches of the Roman world
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
, including the city of Rome, Gaul
Gaul
Gaul was a region of Western Europe during the Iron Age and Roman era, encompassing present day France, Luxembourg and Belgium, most of Switzerland, the western part of Northern Italy, as well as the parts of the Netherlands and Germany on the left bank of the Rhine. The Gauls were the speakers of...
, the German frontier, Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia is a toponym for the area of the Tigris–Euphrates river system, largely corresponding to modern-day Iraq, northeastern Syria, southeastern Turkey and southwestern Iran.Widely considered to be the cradle of civilization, Bronze Age Mesopotamia included Sumer and the...
, Africa and Asia Minor
Asia Minor
Asia Minor is a geographical location at the westernmost protrusion of Asia, also called Anatolia, and corresponds to the western two thirds of the Asian part of Turkey...
. One voyage goes as far as China.
Characters and story
Alix is stunning, fearless, generous and devoted to just causes. Born in Gaul, separated from his parents and sold into slavery, he is later adopted by a Roman noble contemporary to Julius CaesarJulius Caesar
Gaius Julius Caesar was a Roman general and statesman and a distinguished writer of Latin prose. He played a critical role in the gradual transformation of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire....
. This mixed background provides Alix with an identity crisis and divided loyalties, especially in the context of the founding myth
Founding myth
A national myth is an inspiring narrative or anecdote about a nation's past. Such myths often serve as an important national symbol and affirm a set of national values. A national myth may sometimes take the form of a national epic...
s of French nationalism revolving around Vercingetorix
Vercingetorix
Vercingetorix was the chieftain of the Arverni tribe, who united the Gauls in an ultimately unsuccessful revolt against Roman forces during the last phase of Julius Caesar's Gallic Wars....
.
In the second adventure Alix is joined by Enak, a slightly younger Egyptian orphan, who remains his constant companion and sounding board. Originally forbidden to have a female companion by the 1949 law governing children's literature, Alix later finds himself entangled with amorous women, but he always hesitates to commit. The pursuit of social justice provides a pretext for moving on.
The authors
Jacques Martin created the Alix series as one of his earliest heroes, and he continued solo conception, plot, dialogue and illustration for 50 years, even while developing other series such as Lefranc. Due to failing eyesight and advancing age, Martin has, since 1998, gradually retired from the series, turning over tasks to various assistants. Rafael Morales became his first assistant, taking charge of the final illustrations with some assistance by Marc Henniquiau, while Martin continued writing the stories and performing the first sketches and layouts.. In 2006, Martin turned over the final writing task to François Maingoval, while still conceiving the main storyline in rough draft form. In 2008, Maingoval shifted his attention to a spin-off series (see Alix raconte below), while Patrick Weber assumed the mantle of writing the main Alix series.Characters
- Alix: the hero of the series in the title role, pure of heart, perpetually 25 and wise for his years.
- Enak: a boy of fourteen, who meets Alix in Le sphinx d'or. Not originally intended as a principal character, he becomes Alix's constant and faithful companion.
- Arbacès: sworn enemy of the heroes, this crafty and cruel Greek keeps turning up in their path.
- Julius CaesarJulius CaesarGaius Julius Caesar was a Roman general and statesman and a distinguished writer of Latin prose. He played a critical role in the gradual transformation of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire....
: friend and protector of Alix, the latter nevertheless finds himself sometimes torn between just causes and the interests of the great man. - PompeyPompeyGnaeus Pompeius Magnus, also known as Pompey or Pompey the Great , was a military and political leader of the late Roman Republic...
: Caesar's rival, he repeatedly seeks to eliminate Alix, obviously without succeeding to end the series. - Vanik: cousin of Alix.
- Astorix: Gallic chieftain, and father of Alix, not to be confused with AsterixAsterixAsterix or The Adventures of Asterix is a series of French comic books written by René Goscinny and illustrated by Albert Uderzo . The series first appeared in French in the magazine Pilote on October 29, 1959...
, his burlesque counterpart who entered the world stage a little more than a decade later. - Honorus Galla: Roman governor, friend and loyal lieutenant of Julius Caesar, who adopted Alix as his son.
The canon of Alix titles
The series first appeared as a serial in the comics magazineFranco-Belgian comics magazines
Belgium and France have a long tradition in comics. They have a common history for comics and magazines.In the early years of its history, magazines had a large place on the comics market and were often the only place where comics were published. Most of them were kids-targeted.In the 1970s,...
Tintin
Tintin (magazine)
Le journal de Tintin or Kuifje , was a weekly Belgian comics magazine of the second half of the 20th century...
, on 16 September 1948. Three more adventures appeared before Les Editions du Lombard
Le Lombard
Le Lombard or Lombard Editions is a Belgian comic book publisher established in 1946 when the Tintin magazine was launched. In 1986 the company was acquired by Média-Participations.-Titles:Lombard's more famous series include:*Clifton...
(the publishing house responsible for Tintin
Tintin (magazine)
Le journal de Tintin or Kuifje , was a weekly Belgian comics magazine of the second half of the 20th century...
) began reissuing them in hardcover book form. Lapsing in 1959, Lombard turned over rights to Casterman
Casterman
Casterman is a publisher of Franco-Belgian comics, specializing in comic books and children's literature. The company is based in Tournai, Belgium.Founded in 1780, Casterman was originally a printing company and publishing house...
(publisher of the Tintin
The Adventures of Tintin
The Adventures of Tintin is a series of classic comic books created by Belgian artist , who wrote under the pen name of Hergé...
books) in 1965. After going out of print for several years, the earlier Lombard volumes were also reintroduced to new readers in 1969–1973. As Tintin
Tintin (magazine)
Le journal de Tintin or Kuifje , was a weekly Belgian comics magazine of the second half of the 20th century...
declined in sales and popularity, L'enfant grec (1979) was the last Alix story to appear in its pages. Thereafter Alix was only published in book form.
The Adventures of Alix by Jacques Martin as sole creator
| Title | Tintin | Lombard | Casterman |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Alix l'intrépide | 1948–1949 | 1956 | 1973 |
| 2. Le sphinx d'or | 1949–1950 | 1956 | 1971 |
| 3. L'île maudite | 1951–1952 | 1957 | 1969 |
| 4. La tiare d'Oribal | 1955–1956 | 1958 | 1969 |
| 5. La griffe noire | 1958–1959 | 1959 | 1965 |
| 6. Les légions perdues | 1962–1963 | 1965 | |
| 7. Le dernier Spartiate | 1966–1967 | 1967 | |
| 8. Le tombeau étrusque | 1967–1968 | 1968 | |
| 9. Le dieu sauvage | 1969 | 1970 | |
| 10. Iorix le grand | 1971–1972 | 1972 | |
| 11. Le prince du Nil | 1973 | 1974 | |
| 12. Le fils de Spartacus | 1974 | 1975 | |
| 13. Le spectre de Carthage | 1976 | 1977 | |
| 14. Les proies du volcan | 1977 | 1978 | |
| 15. L'enfant grec | 1979 | 1980 | |
| 16. La tour de Babel | 1981 | ||
| 17. L'empereur de Chine | 1983 | ||
| 18. Vercingétorix | 1985 | ||
| 19. Le cheval de Troie | 1988 | ||
| 20. Ô Alexandrie | 1996 |
The adventures of Alix by Jacques Martin with collaborators
| Title | Date | Creation | Text | Illustration |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 21. Les barbares | 1998 | Jacques Martin | Jacques Martin | Rafael Moralès Marc Henniquiau |
| 22. La chute d'Icare | 2001 | Jacques Martin | Jacques Martin | Rafael Moralès Marc Henniquiau |
| 23. Le fleuve de jade | 2003 | Jacques Martin | Jacques Martin | Rafael Moralès Marc Henniquiau |
| 24. Roma, Roma... | 2005 | Jacques Martin | Jacques Martin | Rafael Moralès Marc Henniquiau |
| 25. C'était à Khorsabad | 2006 | Jacques Martin | François Maingoval | Cédric Hervan Christophe Simon |
| 26. L'Ibère | 2007 | Jacques Martin | François Maingoval Patrick Weber |
Christophe Simon |
| 27. Le démon de Pharos | 2008 | Jacques Martin | Patrick Weber | Christophe Simon |
| 28. La Cité engloutie | 2009 | Jacques Martin | Patrick Weber | Ferry Ferry A ferry is a form of transportation, usually a boat, but sometimes a ship, used to carry primarily passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo as well, across a body of water. Most ferries operate on regular, frequent, return services... |
The adventures of Alix without Jacques Martin
| Title | Date | Creation | Text | Illustration |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 29. Le testament de César | 2010 | Jacques Martin | Marco Venanzi | Marco Venanzi |
| 30. La Conjuration de Baal | 2011 | Jacques Martin | Michel Lafon | Christophe Simon |
Alix in English
Alix has seen little translation into English. In 1971 the London publisher Ward Lock & CoWard Lock & Co
Ward Lock & Co was a publishing house in the United Kingdom that started as a partnership and developed until it was eventually absorbed into the publishing combine of Orion Publishing Group.-History:...
issued two titles, The Sacred Helmet (La tiare d'Oribal), and The Black Claw (La griffe noire). These books are now considered relatively rare. Two more titles, The Lost Legions (Les légions perdues), and The Altar of Fire (Le dernier Spartiate) were also projected for publication that year, but never appeared. A reviewer for the Times Literary Supplement found Alix singularly lacking in humour compared to Asterix
Asterix
Asterix or The Adventures of Asterix is a series of French comic books written by René Goscinny and illustrated by Albert Uderzo . The series first appeared in French in the magazine Pilote on October 29, 1959...
, effectively killing prospects for continued publication in a market not yet accustomed to the wider Franco-Belgian tradition.
Alix in other languages
The strip has been translated into several other European languages, such as PortuguesePortuguese language
Portuguese is a Romance language that arose in the medieval Kingdom of Galicia, nowadays Galicia and Northern Portugal. The southern part of the Kingdom of Galicia became independent as the County of Portugal in 1095...
, German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
, Dutch
Dutch language
Dutch is a West Germanic language and the native language of the majority of the population of the Netherlands, Belgium, and Suriname, the three member states of the Dutch Language Union. Most speakers live in the European Union, where it is a first language for about 23 million and a second...
, Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
, etc. Le fils de Spartacus has been published in Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
.
Les Voyages d'Alix
This series depicts the culture and geography of antiquity with illustrations inspired by the adventures of Alix. Printed in full colour on higher quality stock than the comics series, these books aim to educate in a style identical to Jacques Martin's. Alix and Enak can frequently be seen in various settings. The series is not available in English.- Rome 1 (illustrated by Gilles Chaillet) (1996)
- L'Égypte 1 (illustrated by Rafael Moralès) (1996)
- La marine antique 1 (illustrated by Marc Henniquiau) (1997)
- La Grèce 1 (illustrated by Pierre de Broche) (1997)
- La Grèce 2 (illustrated by Pierre de Broche) (1998)
- Rome 2 (illustrated by Gilles Chaillet) (1999)
- La marine antique 2 (illustrated by Marc Henniquiau) (1999)
- Le costume antique 1 (illustrated by Jacques Denoël) (1999)
- L'Égypte 2 (illustrated by Rafael Moralès) (2000)
- Le costume antique 2 (illustrated by Jacques Denoël) (2000)
- Carthage (illustrated by Vincent Hénin) (2000)
- Athènes (illustrated by Laurent Bouhy) (2001)
- Le costume antique 3 (illustrated by Jacques Denoël) (2002)
- Jérusalem (illustrated by Vincent Hénin) (2002)
- Pompéi 1 (illustrated by Marc Henniquiau) (2002)
- Persépolis (illustrated by Cédric Hevan) (2003)
- Pétra (illustrated by Vincent Hénin) (2003)
- Les Mayas (illustrated by Jean Torton) (2004)
- Les Étrusques (illustrated by Jean Torton) (2004)
- Les Jeux Olympiques (illustrated by Cédric Hervan and Yves Plateau) (2004)
- Les Mayas 2 (illustrated by Jean Torton) (2005)
- Les Aztèques (illustrated by Jean Torton) (2005)
- Lutèce (illustrated by Vincent Hénin) (2006)
- Les Vikings (illustrated by Eric Lenaerts) (2006)
- Les Incas (illustrated by Jean Torton) (2006)
- Les Étrusques 2 (illustrated by Jacques Denoël) (2007)
Alix raconte
Each book in this series presents a somewhat fictionalized biography of a famous person of Antiquity in comic strip form. When Alix is a contemporary of the subject, he occasionally appears as a secondary character. Texts are by François Maingoval. The series is not available in English.- Alexandre le Grand (illustrated by Jean Torton) (2008)
- Cléopâtre (illustrated by Eric Leenaerts) (2008)
- Néron (illustrated by Yves Plateau) (forthcoming, 2008)
Works not in series
- L'odyssée d'Alix, by Jacques Martin (Casterman, 1987). ISBN 2203349026
Parodies
- Alex l'Intrépide, by DupaDupaLuc Dupanloup, more famous under his pen name Dupa, was a Belgian comics artist best known as the creator of Cubitus which later was turned into an animated series called Wowser...
, in: Journal de TintinTintin (magazine)Le journal de Tintin or Kuifje , was a weekly Belgian comics magazine of the second half of the 20th century...
(29 Sept. 1981) - Axile, by Roger Brunel, in: Pastiches tome 1, 1980 (GlénatGlénatGlénat can refer to:* Glénat, Cantal, a commune in the Cantal département in France.* Glénat , a French publisher, specialising in comics and manga....
)
Awards
- 1978: AngoulêmeAngoulême International Comics FestivalThe Angoulême International Comics Festival is the largest comics festival in Europe. It has occurred every year since 1974 in Angoulême, France, in the month of January.The four-day festival is notable for awarding several prestigious prizes in cartooning...
Best French Realistic WorkAngoulême International Comics Festival Prize for Best Comic BookThe Prize for Best Album , also known as the Golden Wildcat , is awarded to comics authors at the Angoulême International Comics Festival....
, for Le spectre de Carthage - 1979: Prix Saint-Michel Prize (Brussels) for the three series Alix, Lefranc and Jhen
- 1989: BD d'Or at 1st Salon Européen de la BD (Grenoble), for Le Cheval de Troie
Sources
- Alix publications in Belgian Tintin and French Tintin BDoubliées
- Alix albums Bedetheque
- Thierry Groensteen, Jacques Martin. Avec Alix. Casterman, 1984.
- Schtroumpf: les cahiers de la bande dessinée, no. 20, Spécial Jacques Martin (mars-avril 1973)
Footnotes
External links
- Alix official site on Casterman
- Alix l'Intrépide unofficial site