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Éditions Lug

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Éditions Lug
Founded1950; 74 years ago (1950)
FoundersMarcel Navarro and Auguste Vistel
DefunctJan 1989; acquired by Semic Group / Semic Press
SuccessorSemic Comics
Country of originFrance
Headquarters location(1950–1956) 10, rue Bellecordière, Lyon
(from 1956) 6, Rue Émile-Zola, Lyon
Key peopleClaude Vistel, Luciano Bernasconi, Roger Médina
Publication typesComic books (reprints, translations, original stories)
Fiction genresAdventure, war, superheroes

Éditions Lug (French: [lyg]) was a French comic book publisher based in Lyon, operating from 1950 to 1989. Originally known for publishing digest-sized reprints of old French and Italian comics, it then created its own characters and titles, such as the Tarzanesque Zembla. Later, Lug began licensing and publishing translated versions of Marvel Comics superhero comics with titles such as Fantask, Marvel, and most notably, Strange.

In 1989, the company was acquired by the Semic Group, a Scandinavian comic book publisher, and later became a French company, Semic Comics.

History

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Origins

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Éditions Lug was created in 1950 by writer/editor Marcel Navarro and businessman Auguste Vistel. The name of the company came from Lugdunum, the Gallo-Roman name for the city of Lyon.

When it started, Éditions Lug only reprinted old French and Italian comics in digest-sized magazines.

Among its most popular Italian imports were:

The latter three are from Studio EsseGesse.

Another notable non-French comic book series published by Éditions Lug at the time was Dan Dare (in 1962).

Original characters

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Early on, however, Navarro decided that his company needed some original characters. He enlisted a number of French and Italian studios to script and draw original series and began experimenting with a wide variety of genres.[1] The look of these series was often evocative of 1960s DC Comics.

Éditions Lug's first major original success was a Tarzanesque jungle lord named Zembla (1963); its eponymous title was an immediate hit.[2] Among other notable characters created at the times were Rakar, a masked Lakota chief; Tanka, another jungle lord; Gun Gallon, a John Carter of Mars-type hero lost on a parallel world with three moons; World War II hero Rick Ross, aka Baroud; kung-fu cowboy Jed Puma; Barbary Coast corsair Dragut; and superhero Pilote Noir.

Marvel Comics / superheroes

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In 1968, Claude Vistel, Auguste Vistel's daughter, returned from a trip to New York and convinced Navarro to publish the first translations of Marvel Comics in France, in a magazine titled Fantask (1969), which featured Fantastic Four, Spider-Man and the Silver Surfer.[3]

Sensing that he was on to something, Navarro followed suit with his own creations. Wampus was launched the same year; it featured the eponymous alien monster sent by an evil cosmic intelligence to destroy the Earth, and the exploits of a S.H.I.E.L.D.-like organization named C.L.A.S.H.. Unfortunately, Éditions Lug had run-ins with French censorship,[3] and both Fantask and Wampus were canceled after only six issues.

The following year, Navarro re-launched the Marvel characters, first in a magazine called Strange, then in Marvel (which also fell victim to censorship a year later).[3] At the same time, he continued to introduce more new French characters in magazines such as:

Throughout this period, Luciano Bernasconi became one of Éditions Lug's major artists, co-creating a number of major characters, such as Wampus, Kabur and Phenix.[4]

1970s/1980s success

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The late 1970s and early 1980s were arguably the best years of the company. Its line of French-language Marvel editions thrived with titles such as Titans (1976), Nova (1978), Spidey (1979), and graphic novels of The Fantastic Four (1973), Conan the Barbarian (1976), etc.

A number of original titles were added, including a revamped version of Mustang (1980), which published Photonik, Mikros and Ozark. Other characters introduced during this period included Phenix (1978) and Starlock (1980). It even licensed its own creations to Spanish and Italian companies, where they sold with great success.[1]

Around this time, a shared universe began to emerge.[1] It wasn't nearly as tightly integrated as the Marvel Universe. While the titles made references to each other, characters from different titles never interacted directly.[citation needed]

Acquisition by Semic Press

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In the mid-80's, Auguste Vistel died. This was the beginning of the end for Éditions Lug. Eventually, Marcel Navarro chose to retire. In 1989, the company was sold to the Semic Group, a Scandinavian comic book publisher, which renamed it Semic France.[5] It later became a French company, Semic Comics.[6][1]

Hexagon Comics

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Main article: Hexagon Comics

In 2004, after Semic Comics decided to cancel the Éditions Lug lines of comic books, a syndicate of French, Italian, and Spanish former Lug writers and artists reclaimed the rights to their characters and reorganized under the banner of Hexagon Comics.[7]

Selected titles

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Selected characters

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d "History". Hexagon Comics. Retrieved 6 March 2024.
  2. ^ "Hexagon Comics". BDbase.fr. Retrieved 6 March 2024.
  3. ^ a b c Lofficier, Jean-Marc. "French Silver Surfer: Vive le Silver Surfer!". Alter Ego. No. 1. TwoMorrows Publishing.
  4. ^ "Luciano Bernasconi: Lube, Saint Germain, Italo Bernasconi (b. 1939, Italy)". Lambiek Comiclopedia. Retrieved 4 March 2024.
  5. ^ Jennequin, Jean-Paul (June 1990). "Semic France" [Semic France is taking the place of Lug Editeur, as of January 1989, as publisher of American comics in translation]. Les Cahiers de la Bande Dessinée (in French). No. 89. p. 57.
  6. ^ Mélikian, Laurent (February 2000). "Lug est Mort, Vive Semic". Bo Doï (in French). No. 27. p. 83.
  7. ^ Johnston, Rich (1 December 2022). "Hexagon Comics Puts Out Luciano Bernasconi's Kit Kappa in December". Bleeding Cool. In 2004, Luciano Bernasconi teamed up with other writers and artists to reclaim the rights to his characters under the banner of Hexagon Comics.

Sources

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