#Roger Leloup

[dirtyriver]

Some pencils from Yoko Tsuno 31: L'aigle des Highlands by Roger Leloup, album to be published in May 2024.

Born in 1933, Roger Leloup started his career in 1950 as an assistant to Jacques Martin and joined Hergé's studio in 1955 while still working for Martin. As Studio Hergé started producing less Leloup began working for Peyo, and created what would become Yoko Tsuno on Christmas 1968, as a secondary character for an aborted project of relaunching Peyo's Jacky et Célestin.

Yoko's first story was published in Spirou in 1970. Leloup celebrated his 90th birthday last November and still writes, pencils and inks Yoko's stories all by himself.

[thevaultofretroscifi]

[comicsart3]

Yoko Tsuno is an intriguing character, somewhat ahead of her time. She was a creation of the Belgian artist Roger Leloup and debuted in the Belgian magazine Spirou in 1970, eventually graduating to her own bande dessinee title. Arguably Yoko should be a progressive and feminist icon, being of Japanese descent, living in Belgium, skilled in aikido, archery and scuba diving, and also a qualified electrical engineer. Yoko’s stories had a strong “educational” element, being very concerned with technology and the potential and dangers of scientific advancement. In fact the stories can be classed as science fiction, as Yoko, in addition to dealing with the perils that technology puts her way, also indulges in time and space travel and has regular contact with a race of benign blue-skinned aliens named the Vineans, who are seeking to re-establish their own lost civilisation.

Despite superficially resembling the Natacha l’hotesse de l’air adventures, Yoko, unlike Natacha, rarely gets involved in combating and capturing criminals in the conventional sense, although in her 26 album run, she does encounter her fair share of villains, whether interplanetary, supernatural, or originating in the past. Yoko Tsuno is aided and abetted by two male sidekicks named Vic and Pol, who provide something of a comic aspect to the stories, but in truth, most of the adventures are densely, if realistically, plotted, with much explanation of the scientific basis of the adventures, meaning humour is in somewhat short supply.

The series ran until 2012. I am unaware if there are any more stories in the pipeline, but Yoko Tsuno remains a popular title, translated into many languages worldwide.

Source for both illustrations: Yoko Tsuno #19, L’Or Du Rhin (1993)

[balu8]

Yoko Tsuno: On the Edge of Life

by Roger Leloup

Cinebook

[oediex]

"What if we call it Akina?"

My parents bought a robotic vacuum cleaner. They're getting on in age, so it's a good addition to the household. It and I met last week, so I asked what its name was. Turned out they'd just named it after our family name. Boring. "It needs a name," I said.

Today my dad says unprompted, "I think we need to give it a different name. Our last name is a bit stupid." My mum says it's fine, but I agree. I'm drawing a blank, though, until my dad suggests the perfect name.

"What if we call it Akina?"

I like to think he's been pondering on this for two weeks.

In the early 2000s, my parents bought a GPS system for the car. I dubbed her 'Akina'. She was named for an AI system in a space ship in the Yoko Tsuno comic album series that I'm still obsessed with twenty years later.

It stuck. When my parents were going anywhere new, we'd say, "Don't forget Akina." "Akina will guide you." "Where is Akina?" I was sad when new cars with built-in GPS systems replaced the old ones. I always kind of felt like she was my baby.

I've missed Akina. I'm glad she's back.

[karavansara]

My summer with Yoko #3: Vulcan's Forge

This is where it gets personal.The third Yoko Tsuno adventure, La Forge de Vulcain was published in 1973, and it is also the first Yoko Tsuno story I ever read, when I was about 9 or 10 – therefore, in 1976 or ’77, when it was published in Italian. The book was later published as the ninth English-languge Yoko Tsuno volume, as Vulcan’s Forge. Re-reading this about 45 years after the first time,…

[pulpimpossible]

The Yoko Tsuno stories are pretty great.

Topix - Joko Zuno [Yoko Tsuno] - Die Fabrik der Vulkane

art: Roger Leloup

[unknown171204]

Starmania 1986

This version of Starmania was the first to have been performed at the Festival de Lanaudière in Canada, before finally moving in 1987 to the Théâtre Maisonneuve in Montreal for practical and budgetary reasons

DISTRIBUTION :

Norman Groulx : Johnny Rockfort

Anne Bisson : Cristal

Marie Carmen : Marie-Jeanne

Richard Groulx : Zéro Janvier

Marie Denise Pelletier : Stella Spotlight

Jean Leloup : Ziggy

Maude Grenier : Sadia

Marc Gabriel : Roger-Roger

The show was not well received by the public

The orchestration of the songs unnecessarily accelerates, a stage almost empty of sets and costumes considered ugly and too minimalist

This version is considered one of the worst of all attempts to adapt Starmania

( which I find unfair, the worst version for me is clearly 1993 )

the full album :

Video archives :

We can consider this version as an update of 1980 with the only real novelty being the return of the song "Un enfant de la pollution"

...

This is the only version where Roger Roger is also the alien

...

Richard and Norman Groulx (Zero and Johnny) are brothers in real life, which adds an very interesting side to the relationship of their respective characters

For more Starmania or to discover other French musicals I invite you to follow the path of my main masterlist to learn more about French musicals and their stories :

[reflet-de-la-lune]

Yoko Tsuno par Roger Leloup

[dirtyriver]

Prepublication of Yoko Tsuno 31: L'aigle des Highlands begins in Spirou 4483, March 13, 2024

[oediex]

I don't think I even remember my first ship...

Oh no, wait, it's Yoko and Ben (or Vic in French) from the Yoko Tsuno comic albums that I started reading when I was 10 or so, haha. The author actually purposely left the relationship ambiguous for a long time, because he thought that people (presumably boys in his mind) would (unconsciously) fall in love with Yoko and not like it if she had a boyfriend, so he was sort of relegated to best friend material, but there was obviously something more between them from the start. Like, there's another friend in the group, Paul (or Pol in French), who also clearly has a crush on Yoko from the start (and he's much more outspoken about it), but it's never taken seriously. It's obviously a 'joke' or just a way for us to recognise how special Yoko is, it's never even hinted at that it might turn into something. He later meets someone (in the past) and gets together with her and they're very cute together.

In the later albums, though, Yoko and Ben are obviously together, and I always look for it when a new album comes out and treasure any time when Ben shows particular care or concern for her. She trusts Ben with her adopted daughter and clearly goes to him when she needs support. He's the rational voice whenever her emotions pull her towards doing crazy things (usually out of friendship or compassion or love). They are so so cute together.

Here are my favourite panels of the two of them together, I believe it's from The Daughter of the Wind. (He, like, saves her at sea - they're windsurfing together - after she's done some big stunt in order to save a bunch of people. It's also an emotionally demanding adventure for Yoko, because she goes back to Japan where she grew up, meets her dad again, as well as an old childhood friend who she loses in the process of doing the saving. So she's exhausted at the end of it all and then he shows up to save her and show her comfort and aaaaaaah <3)

(Translation:

Yoko: "I believe I am "breaking down" a bit!" Ben: "The wise man said: 'Rely on your friends'!"

Yoko: "He also said: 'The ocean gets swallowed up in a drop of tenderness'!" Ben: "That wise man was a poet!")

Anyway, sorry for rambling on like that and basically dumping a bunch of Yoko Tsuno lore on your post, oops! I just love them so much, and I love that series so much, and your post got me wondering about my first ship and yeah, this is it. I think it's still my ultimate ship, my otp. Will probably be for the rest of my life!

I'm in a hotel and the episode of Criminal Minds where Eyebrows leaves the show cause he had a baby is on and he's having his emotional goodbye with Penelope and I am remembering how i first caught this show on TV one time as a teen and only started watching it because i thought it was so cool that those two were dating and i wanted to see how that started only to find out that all the flirty banter was billed as just a friend thing bc TV pairings were not nearly as enlightened as I wanted them to be.

[miss-starmania]

Starmania III “Quebec version”

Left to right

Bottom row : Norman Groulx (Johnny Rockfort), Isabelle Begin (Cristal), Pierre Landry (étoile noir), Lina Boudreau (étoile noir).

Middle row: Richard Groulx (Zero Janvier), Marie-Denise Pelletier (Stella Spotlight), Luc Plamondon (lyricist), Marie Carmen (Marie-Jeanne), Claude Girard (metteur en scene), Maude Grenier (Sadia), Robin Vaillant (étoile noir).

Last row: Jean Leloup (Ziggy), Louise Paradis (étoile noir), Marc Gabriel (Roger Roger), Carole Normand (étoile noir), Bruno Verdoni (étoile noir).

📸: Bernard Brault, 21/07/1986 Source: Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec (BAnQ)

[republique-francaise-officiel]

La BD francophone du jour est...

Date de parution en album : 1977

Numéro et série : n°7 des Yoko Tsuno.

Pourquoi c'est une excellente BD :

Une histoire qui commence comme du gothique - une jeune femme est alitée après une attaque de vampire ? - et finit comme de la science-fiction, avec une fausse alerte de voyage dans le temps et un passage par le coeur historique de Rothenburg.

Des enjeux très importants et une fin parfaite.

Roger Leloup dessine comme un dieu.

Explication complète, mais sans lourdeurs ni longueurs, de la souffrance des Allemands pendant et après la Seconde Guerre Mondiale.

Pol offre des glaces à tout le monde.

[oediex]

"Did you know," and I pause so my youngest sister can pause the video she's listening to while playing games on her iPad.

She has just arrived at my parents' and has brought the latest Yoko Tsuno comic album with her per my dad's request.

"Did you know that dad reads Yoko Tsuno?"

I immediately have her full attention. "No?! That came out of nowhere!"

"He messaged me yesterday," I say, "and I had to do a double take to check it was indeed him messaging me and not you."

"I practically fell off my couch when he messaged me," she laughs.

"Same," I reply. "So weird!"

[karavansara]

My summer with Yoko #2: The Devil's Organ

Roger Leloup’s second Yoko Tsuno adventure, L’Orgue du Diable, was published in 1973, and marks a big step forward in the series.The first episode was a fine pilot, but as most pilot episodes do, suffered from an excess of stuff crammed in the 46 pages of the volume: characters introductions, early incidents, first big adventure complete with subterranean world, space aliens and ultra-tech.A few…

[comicshopsaar]

Die belgische Comicserie Yoko Tsuno, geschaffen von Roger Leloup im Jahr 1970, gehört zu den Klassikern der europäischen Science-Fiction-Comics. Mit der titelgebenden Protagonistin Yoko Tsuno, einer japanischen Elektronikingenieurin, verbindet die Serie technische Faszination mit tiefgründigen menschlichen Themen. Die Geschichten reichen von außerirdischen Begegnungen über Zeitreisen bis hin zu spannenden Kriminalfällen – immer mit einer einzigartigen Mischung aus Wissenschaft, Abenteuer und Emotionen. Eine Heldin ihrer Zeit: Yoko Tsuno Yoko Tsuno ist eine der ersten weiblichen Hauptfiguren in der europäischen Comicwelt und zeichnet sich durch Intelligenz, Mut und Mitgefühl aus. Sie steht im Zentrum zahlreicher technologischer und ethischer Herausforderungen, die sie mit Verstand und Empathie löst. Begleitet wird sie von ihren Freunden Vic Van Steen und Knut Knolle, die ihr bei ihren Abenteuern zur Seite stehen. Ein besonderes Merkmal der Serie ist die Begegnung mit den Vineanern, einer hochentwickelten außerirdischen Zivilisation, die tief unter der Erdoberfläche lebt. Die Freundschaft zwischen Yoko und der vineanischen Wissenschaftlerin Khany eröffnet faszinierende Einblicke in eine fremde Welt voller technologischer Wunder, aber auch moralischer Dilemmata. Science-Fiction trifft auf menschliche Werte Neben den Geschichten über die Vineaner erkundet Yoko Tsuno auch andere wissenschaftlich-fantastische Themen. Zeitreisen sind ein wiederkehrendes Motiv, bei denen Yoko historische Epochen erlebt und dabei oft komplexe ethische Fragestellungen bewältigt. Die Geschichten thematisieren Verantwortung, Freundschaft und die Auswirkungen von Technologie auf das menschliche Leben. Roger Leloup legt großen Wert auf wissenschaftliche Genauigkeit. Seine Erfahrung als Zeichner für Tim und Struppi zeigt sich in den detailgetreuen Darstellungen von Maschinen, Raumschiffen und architektonischen Strukturen. Gleichzeitig gelingt ihm eine emotionale Tiefe, die seine Charaktere lebendig macht und die Leserinnen und Leser mitfühlen lässt. Visuelle Brillanz und erzählerische Tiefe Leloups Zeichenstil ist geprägt von klaren Linien und einer hohen Detailgenauigkeit. Besonders beeindruckend sind die futuristischen Landschaften, komplexen technischen Geräte und die sorgfältige Darstellung der Charaktere. Während viele Science-Fiction-Comics eher actionbetont sind, setzt Yoko Tsuno auf eine Mischung aus Spannung, Wissenschaft und zwischenmenschlichen Beziehungen. Eine Serie für alle Generationen Yoko Tsuno richtet sich an Leserinnen und Leser aller Altersgruppen, die sich für intelligente Science-Fiction-Abenteuer interessieren. Die Serie zeigt, dass Technologie und Wissenschaft nicht nur Herausforderungen, sondern auch Chancen für Verständnis und Zusammenarbeit zwischen Kulturen – und Spezies – bieten. Mit einer starken weiblichen Hauptfigur, wissenschaftlich fundierten Geschichten und einer einzigartigen Mischung aus Abenteuer und Philosophie ist Yoko Tsuno ein zeitloser Klassiker, der auch heute noch begeistert.