The comic book publisher Le Lombard best known for publishing Hergé's world-famous Tintin celebrates its 77th anniversary this month.
The publishing house was founded in 1946, and the first serialised issue of the Adventures of Tintin appeared on 26 September of that same year. Tintin garnered so much popularity that it would outgrow its original format as a newspaper supplement and eventually became a magazine series before turning into graphic novels and later being adapted to television and film.
With the slogan "the comic book publisher that brings to life adventures in pictures, for the ages of 7 to 77!" the 77th anniversary of the publishing house is undoubtedly an important one, and will be celebrated through several special Tintin-themed events, including an exhibition at the Belgian Comic Strip Centre (CBBD), the publication of a giant anniversary-edition Tintin book and the largest stand in the history of the BD Comic Strip Festival this weekend.
A family affair
On the occasion of Le Lombard's 77th anniversary, the second floor of the CBBD will be transformed by an exhibit called "Le Lombard, une affaire de famille" starting 9 September and designed by journalist Thierry Bellefroid.
Flyer for the CBBD Le Lombard exhibit. Credit: Le Lombard
"Le Lombard is really the family publisher par excellence, so that's what I wanted to convey," Bellefroid told Belga. The exhibition, which traces the history of the comic book publishing company with some never-seen-before objects, will be inaugurated on Friday in the presence of King Philippe.
A second giant anniversary book
The Brussels publisher is also celebrating the event by publishing a giant 400-page anniversary book. The huge work features pages produced for the French readers of the original Tintin magazine and is the result of a collaboration of 80 authors who were asked to revisit the characters from the Tintin magazine.
"The most expensive comic book ever financed," Lombard's editorial director, Gauthier Van Meerbeeck, said jokingly. "This comes after the publication of a previous massive anniversary book—777 pages—called "La Grande Aventure du Journal Tintin," released on Le Lombard's 70th anniversary seven years ago.
Raymond Leblanc, co-founder of Le Lombard, in 2008. Credit: Belga
The second volume, "Journal Tintin - spécial 77 ans", was created with the spirit of the original Tintin publication format in mind – with a soft cover in honour of the original newspaper publication and at an accessible price to everyone at €30. Just like the original Tintin issues, 80,000 copies have been printed and will be available at newsstands starting from 8 September.
Le Lombard will also have a stand at the BD Comic Strip Festival this weekend, held at the Gare Maritime at Tour & Taxis in Brussels. Festival goers will have the opportunity to interact with more than fifty Le Lombard authors over the course of the three days at the largest stand ever recorded in the event's history.
77 years of history
Needless to say that Le Lombard has changed greatly in its 77 years of history. Today, the comic book publisher has opened up to more diverse styles while cutting back on the number of yearly releases to focus on higher quality editions, a move that Meerbeeck is very proud of.
"We've never had such high sales, we're more profitable and we have more authors than before who reach a sales threshold that allows them to receive royalties," he told Belga. With 2 million copies sold last year, it is hard to disagree with him.
