The drawings / illustrations in Asterix and Tintin comics are just great. I like them almost more than the stories or characters, especially for the Asterix ones. The drawings of scenery are very evocative, and expressions on the faces of the people in the comics seem very realistic, despite being drawn with just a few lines, relatively speaking.

Another great point about Asterix comics (so I read), is that they were initially written in French, and later translated into English (I've only read them in English) - and still there are many puns and word plays in the English versions. I don't know how they managed to do it, or whether they created different puns for the English versions. Likely the latter, because I guess the puns would not translate well across languages.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asterix

I've never seen Asterix in English and just checked the Wikipedia page you linked.

I was wondering how they translated the characters' names. Since the chief is Vitalstatistix, then it must be good. Nothing to do with the French name but still funny.

Right :) Some other names I like are Bacteria (wife of the fishmonger, Unhygienix), Cacophonix, the bard, Getafix, the druid.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Asterix_characters

Idefix to Dogmatix is a gem.

Ha ha, just googled that. A gem indeed. Idée fixe (fixed idea, obsession) to Dogmatix (Dog / Dogmatic).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dogmatix

I grew up on Tin Tin comics. They were available in my school library in Nairobi. That stuff was crack. Such adventures! Really made it fun to read.

Yes, crazy kinds of adventures. Things or issues that seem impossible to solve, yet they (Tintin, Captain Haddock and Professor Calculus) come out of them successfully most of the time, not to mention Thomson and Thompson :)

Most of Moebius's work is relatively unknown as well, although his designs are very recognizable in film.

>Moebius

You mean the Moebius of the Moebius strip?

No, Moebius as in Jean Giraud

Great primer

http://www.tcj.com/jean-moebius-giraud-1938-2012/

Great collection of his awe inspiring art and a short film

https://www.rabbleboy.com/the-amazing-art-of-moebius-jean-gi...

And if you're looking for something outrageously creative and courageously insane go buy a copy of "the incal" which is his graphic novel collaboration with Alejandro Jodorowsky

Thanks, will check those out.

It's not just those two. Most French/Belgian comics [1] are unknown in the US. There have been tons of talented newcomers since the 1990s, and some cursory Googling suggests me that most are not translated to English yet. (Some are available in German.)

[1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franco-Belgian_comics

I really enjoyed as a kid the Gaston Lagaffe and Spirou written and drawn by Andren Franquin https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andr%C3%A9_Franquin

He also authored a black humor series for adults really worth reading.

I would say European and south American comics are mostly unknown in the US. L'incal, Corto Maltese, Mafalda, El Eternauta... There is a whole world which is distinctly different from the mainstream American style and manga/manwa, and very interesting.

The recently released film Valerian is based on a 70's french comics Valerian & Laureline that is/was totally unknown in the US.

Even more interesting is how much inspiration a certain George Lucas seem to have drawn from them:

http://www.ign.com/articles/2017/07/30/are-the-valrian-and-l...

There was magazine, called Heavy Metal, that published in the US european comics from the french Metal Hurlant magazine (Moebius, Enki Bilal, Corben, Milo Manara...).

I personally enjoyed Pif et Hercule when I was a kid. The comics were fun and each magazine came with a toy.

https://www.google.com/search?q=pif+and+hercule