4Spirou et Fantasio
This is another very popular Belgian comic. Since the comic started in 1938, there have been many writers and illustrators that have fueled these stories. The two main characters, Spirou and Fantasio are journalists who find themselves in various adventures. Spirou’s pet squirrel, Spip, and their friend, the inventor Count of Champignac follow them in their adventures. There are more than 50 albums, so you really get to see the evolution of the characters through the different authors. If you want to read them, you should buy some box set.
The Belgium people love Spirou and Fantasio so much that there is a Spirou mural in Brussels.
5Paul
Paul is a comic series from Quebec and was created by Michel Rabagliati. The 8 album comic series chronicles the life of Paul Rifiorati from his childhood to his life as a father. Even if there are serious issues that are explored, like death and mourning, the author always uses light humour in his albums to keep the reader optimistic about life. Since it is a Quebec comic, the French is all little bit different from French of Belgian comics.
6Gaston La Gaffe
This Franco-Belgian comic illustrates the daily woes of this office junior. Gaston first appeared in the Spirou magazine, and even appears a few times in the Spirou et Fantasio comic books. He is a very lazy worker and always gets himself into accidents (gaffe means blunder in French). This antihero lives a normal, pretty boring life but his daily adventures are entertaining and quite funny. If you read both Gaston and Spirou, it’s fun to have a parallel between the two stories.
