L’Écho des Savanes is a French comics magazine

Franco-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,...

 founded in May 1972 by Claire Bretécher

Claire Bretécher

Claire Bretécher is a French cartoonist, known particularly for her portrayals of women and gender issues. Her creations include the Frustrés, and the unimpressed teenager Agrippine.-Biography:...

, Marcel Gotlib and Nikita Mandryka

Nikita Mandryka

Nikita Mandryka is a French cartoonist of Russian origin.He started drawing in the Pilote magazine, then created L'Écho des savanes along with Claire Bretécher and Marcel Gotlib in 1973...

. It featured the work of French and international authors and graphic artists in mature-oriented comics

Comics

Comics denotes a hybrid medium having verbal side of its vocabulary tightly tied to its visual side in order to convey narrative or information only, the latter in case of non-fiction comics, seeking synergy by using both visual and verbal side in...

 over the course of 34 years, but temporarily ended publication in December 2006. It was relaunched in 2008.

History

The first issue of L’Écho des Savanes was published on May 1, 1972, and was the only issue that year, although popular demand caused it to be reprinted in several editions. All its pages (except for the cover) were in black and white, and exclusively contained the work of its founders, Bretécher, Gotlib and Mandryka. Marked as a publication for adults, it staked a different course than Pilote

Pilote

thumb|Cover of the first Pilote teaser issue, #0.Pilote was a French comics periodical published from 1959 to 1989. Showcasing most of the major French or Belgian comics talents of its day the magazine introduced major series such as Astérix le Gaulois, Blueberry, Achille Talon, and Valérian et...

, the family friendly publication the founders had a long relationship with. Over the following two years, it served as a quarterly publication, and only near the end of this period, work by other creators began to appear, such as Alexis

Alexis (comics)

Alexis was the pseudonym of Dominique Vallet, a French comics artist, best known for his work on the series Al Crane and Superdupont.-Biography:...

, Harvey Kurtzman

Harvey Kurtzman

Harvey Kurtzman was an American cartoonist and the editor of several comic books and magazines. Kurtzman often signed his name H. Kurtz, followed by a stick figure Harvey Kurtzman (October 3, 1924, Brooklyn, New York – February 21, 1993) was an American cartoonist and the editor of several comic...

, Jean Solé, and Moebius

Jean Giraud

Jean Henri Gaston Giraud is a French comics artist. Giraud has earned worldwide fame, not only under his own name but also under the pseudonym Moebius, and to a lesser extent Gir, the latter appearing mostly in the form of a boxed signature at the bottom of the artist's paintings, for instance the...

.

In 1975, the magazine adapted a bi-monthly schedule, and from 1976 it became monthly. Although no longer labeled "for adults", the usual cover imagery suggested nothing about the contents of the magazine had changed. During this period, contributions began to arrive from a variety of creators such as Neal Adams

Neal Adams

Neal Adams is an American comic book and commercial artist known for helping to create some of the definitive modern imagery of the DC Comics characters Superman, Batman, and Green Arrow; as the co-founder of the graphic design studio Continuity Associates; and as a creators-rights advocate who...

, Richard Corben

Richard Corben

Richard Corben is an American illustrator and comic book artist best known for his comics featured in Heavy Metal magazine...

, Robert Crumb

Robert Crumb

Robert Dennis Crumb —known as Robert Crumb and R. Crumb—is an American artist, illustrator, and musician recognized for the distinctive style of his drawings and his critical, satirical, subversive view of the American mainstream.Crumb was a founder of the underground comix movement and is regarded...

, Dick Giordano

Dick Giordano

Richard Joseph "Dick" Giordano was an American comic book artist and editor best known for introducing Charlton Comics' "Action Heroes" stable of superheroes, and serving as executive editor of then–industry leader DC Comics...

, Alejandro Jodorowsky

Alejandro Jodorowsky

Alejandro Jodorowsky Prullansky, known as Alejandro Jodorowsky, is a Chilean filmmaker, playwright, actor, author, comic book writer and spiritual guru...

, Jeff Jones

Jeff Jones (artist)

Jeffrey Catherine Jones was an American artist whose work is best known from the late 1960s through 2000s. Jones provided over 150 covers for many different types of books through 1976, as well as venturing into fine art during and after this time...

, Gérard Lauzier

Gérard Lauzier

Gérard Lauzier was a French comics author and movie director, best known as one of the leading authors in the more adult-oriented French comics scene of the 1970s and 1980s.-Biography:...

, Jacques Lob

Jacques Lob

Jacques Lob was a French comic book creator, known for several Franco-Belgian comics creations, but most famously Superdupont.-Biography:...

, Georges Pichard

Georges Pichard

Georges Pichard was a French comics artist, known for numerous BD magazine covers, serial publications and albums, stereotypically featuring partially exposed voluptuous women.-Biography:...

, Jacques Tardi

Jacques Tardi

Jacques Tardi is a French comics artist, born 30 August 1946 in Valence, Drôme. He is often credited solely as Tardi.-Biography:After graduating from the École nationale des Beaux-Arts de Lyon and the École nationale supérieure des arts décoratifs in Paris, he started writing comics in 1969, at the...

, Martin Veyron, Wallace Wood and Berni Wrightson.

From the late 70s, leading to 1982's suspension of publication, L'Écho continued a successful run, including frequent editions of L'Écho special U.S.A, and a side publication entitled Virus (5 issues in 1980-1981). The work by Bretécher, Gotlib, and last, Mandryka, stopped appearing, but notable additions to the pool of contributors were Jean Michel Charlier, Guido Crepax

Guido Crepax

Guido Crepax was an Italian comics artist. He is most famous for his character Valentina, created in 1965 and very representative of the spirit of the sixties. The Valentina series of books and strips became noted for Crepax's sophisticated drawing, and for the psychedelic, dreamlike storylines,...

, Jean-Claude Forest

Jean-Claude Forest

Jean-Claude Forest was a writer and illustrator of comics and the creator of character Barbarella.-Biography:...

, Carlos Giménez, Tanino Liberatore

Tanino Liberatore

Gaetano Liberatore , better known as Tanino Liberatore, is an Italian comics author and illustrator. His best known fictional character is RanXerox.- Life and work :...

 and Art Spiegelman

Art Spiegelman

Art Spiegelman is an American comics artist, editor, and advocate for the medium of comics, best known for his Pulitzer Prize-winning comic book memoir, Maus. His works are published with his name in lowercase: art spiegelman.-Biography:Spiegelman was born in Stockholm, Sweden, to Polish Jews...

.

1982-2006

Purchased by publisher Albin Michel, L'Écho relaunched June 1 after a five month pause, making alterations to the image of the magazine. Among the new contributors were Baru

Baru

Baru was an extinct genus of Australian mekosuchine crocodilian. It was semi-aquatic, around 4 m in length. Being semi-aquatic its habitat was around fresh pools of water in wet forests, ambushing their prey, much like modern species...

, Will Eisner

Will Eisner

William Erwin "Will" Eisner was an American comics writer, artist and entrepreneur. He is considered one of the most important contributors to the development of the medium and is known for the cartooning studio he founded; for his highly influential series The Spirit; for his use of comics as an...

, Milo Manara

Milo Manara

Maurilio Manara – known professionally as Milo Manara – is an Italian comic book writer and artist, best known for his erotic approach to the medium.-Career:...

, Frank Miller

Frank Miller (comics)

Frank Miller is an American comic book artist, writer and film director best known for his dark, film noir-style comic book stories and graphic novels Ronin, Daredevil: Born Again, Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Sin City and 300...

, Jean-Marc Reiser

Jean-Marc Reiser

Jean-Marc Reiser, April 13, 1941 in Réhon was a French comics creator. He died November 5, 1983 in Paris, of bone cancer.-Biography:...

, Alex Toth

Alex Toth

Alexander Toth was an American professional cartoonist active from the 1940s through the 1980s. Toth's work began in the American comic book industry, but is known for his animation designs for Hanna-Barbera throughout the 1960s and 1970s. His work included Super Friends, Space Ghost, The...

, Jano

Jean Leguay (artist)

Jean Leguay , better known as Jano, is a French comics artist.Jano studied fine arts in Paris for three years. His first comic was Kebra in 1978, in collaboration with Bertrand Tramber. It was published in French comic magazines B.D., Métal Hurlant, Charlie Mensuel, Rigolo, L'Echo des Savannes and...

 and Alex Varenne. In addition to "adult" comic strips, issues contained articles featuring photographs of semi-naked women (imagery echoed on the covers).

A weekly version, initially named L’Hebdo Écho des Savanes, and later L’Ebdo was launched in 1984 in place of the monthly magazine for a few months.

The December 2006 issue was to be the final release of L'Écho, after a decision by Lagardère Active Media

Lagardère Media

Lagardère Active is the media activities arm of the French Lagardère Group. Its subsidiaries include Lagardère's radio operations and the magazine publisher Hachette Filipacchi Médias.-External links:* extensive profile...

to cease publication.

2008

Glénat publisher restarted the publication from March 28th, 2008 with issue number 267.

Didier Tronchet is currently the editor in chief.

External links

• La mémoire de L’Écho des Savanes issue descriptions on BDoubliées