French Comics for beginners: 13 classics to learn French
How French comics can help me ?
For French students, perusing a long book or a French tale can be unimaginably hard; it's a mass of words, causing you to feel overpowered. The way to learning is making premium, and French comics are the ideal medium. Comics ( Bande dessinée in French) can help you learning French since they are a visual medium. Seeing the demeanors of the characters' faces helps give meaning to the words you read, and it likewise helps with memory. Images and drawings aid you with expanding your lexicon through the association of words and pictures. In this post, let's explore 13 best French comics for beginners that will help you learn French!
Reading French comics offers you insight into the French culture, and it’s also a great way to learn slang and colloquial French phrases!
While the comics are in the French language, it’s important to note that not all of them come from France. Most of the comics mentioned below come from Belgium and some from Quebec (Canada). Franco-Belgian and Quebec comics are one of the most popular in the world, right after US and Japanese.
Bande Dessinée ( or BD for short)- as Francophones call them, are not only seen as just comic strips, but also as an art, that we often call the “Ninth Art.”
So, let's get startetd with this list of the best French comics to get you learning French and have fun at the same time!
1. Asterix
Level : Beginner - Intermediate
Synopsis: The comic is about a village of Gauls as they resist Roman occupation in 50 B.C. Asterix, a small, mustached warrior, is the hero of the village, who is accompanied in his adventures by Obelix, his overweight and simpleminded best friend. They avoid Roman occupation by drinking a magic potion prepared by a druid, called Panoramix, that give them superhuman strength.
Review: Beside being one of the most famous Franco-Belgian funnies on the planet, the funniness related with this comic is French-explicit, helping perusers and language students better comprehend French silliness, just as social analysis.
2. Gaston La Gaffe
level: Beginner - Intermediate
Synoposis: Unlike many comics that focus on heroes, this comic focuses on the everyday life of Gaston Lagaffe (whose last name means "the blunder"). He is a lazy and accident-prone office junior working at Spirou- the magazine in which the comic was originally published. Gaston never gets any work done and always avoids his responsibilities. He prefers to spend his workdays assembling together odd contraptions, playing music, and conducting chemical experiments that usually end with the explosion of his makeshift science lab.
Review: It's not your standard thing 'superhuman makes all the difference' comic, and it's certain to carry amusement and giggling to French language students everything being equal.
3. Far Out
Level: Intermediate
Synopsis: A robot runs aground on a strange desert planet populated by beings all as mechanical as him, but having adopted a rather ... western lifestyle. Our hero will try to adapt to his new welcoming land, and make a place for himself. Far Out is a science fiction epic that mixes genres with humor and intelligence.Review: Amazing. One of my favourites. The story and the pictures will amaze you.
4. Les Aventures de Tintin
Level: Beginner - Intermediate
Synopsis :The series is set during a very realistic 20th century, and is about a young Belgian reporter who goes on great adventures to solve crimes and get stories with the help of his trusty four-legged companion, Snowy, the white fox terrier dog.
Review: Like Asterix, Les Aventures de Tintin is an immortal great and a most loved among the French. It's likewise known for its wonderful drawings, amusingness, and its socio-political analysis.
5. L'esprit du camp
Level: Intermediate
Synopsis: A teenage girl is forcibly sent by her mother to a summer camp, where she will have to work as an animator all summer. Lost in the middle of the forest, surrounded by strangers with whom she does not seem to have any affinity, Élodie already considers that her holidays are ruined … but the Lac à l'Ours camp has several surprises in store for her; one day after another, a group of little redheads with an overflowing imagination, a mysterious camp director and an attentive colleague will transform her stay into a real adventure …
Review: In 13 best French comics list, this one is very special. Big favorite. Severak sweet moment of reading interspersed with giggles. I almost regret never having been a summer camp instructor. ;-) And it was only volume 1! Can't wait to read more!
6. Blake et Mortimer
Level: Intermediate
Synopsis: Captain France Blake is head of MI-5, and Philip Mortimer is a British Scientist. Their arch-enemy, who appears in almost every book, is Colonel Olrik. This comic mixes traditional mystery, Cold War espionage, and science fiction elements all in one, taking them from routine detective investigation to time travel.
Review: For readers who love sci-fi, action, and are looking to expand their reading comprehension, this is the comic for you.
7. XIII
Level: Intermediate - Advanced
Synopsis: XIII lost his memory and he doesn't remember who is he: an assassin, a mercenary, a soldier? The only thing he knows is that he has the number XIII tattooed on his neck. The comic chronicles XIII’s attempts at recovering his identity, while being consistently pursued by assassins and secret agents.
Review: Assassins, spies, and mystery, this comic will keep you on your toes. One of the few in the 13 best French comic list that was adapted in a movie and several tv shows.
8. Boule et Bill
Level: Beginner - Intermediate
Synopsis: Centered on a typical family: a man and his wife, their young son Boule, Bill the cocker spaniel, and even Caroline the turtle; the comic places comical adventures in a realistic setting of a normal family with normal lives.
Review: It’s an excellent french comics for beginners and a great look at what it means to be a ‘typical French family’, with a lot of jokes. Don't watch the movie!
9. Lucky Luke
Level: Beginner - Intermediate
Synopsis: Set in the Old American West, Lucky Luke is a lone Cowboy known to “shoot faster than his shadow.” Most of his encounters are with gangsters, but he also has run-ins with various historical fictional characters. His companions are Jolly Jumper, the brightest horse in the world, and Rantanplan, the stupidest dog in the world.
Review: The way that Lucky Luke has experiences with authentic anecdotal character like Abraham Lincoln, Mark Twain, and numerous scandalous criminals is energizing! And it brings back so many childhood memories. Bang! Bang! Lucky Luke!
10. Spirou et Fantasio
Level: Beginner - Intermediate
Synopsis: Spirou and Fantasio are two adventurous journalists who go on fantastic adventures around the world accompanied by Spip, their pet squirrel, fighting mad scientists, evil dictators, but also doing their fair share of actual reporting too!
Review: Another French exemplary and a most loved among youthful French young men, it's to some degree like Les Aventures de Tintin. It's stuffed with adventures and fascinating stories. I think it was my first comic.
11. Titeuf
Level: Beginner - Intermediate
Synopsis: Titeuf, a prankster with weird hair and an egg-shaped head, is fascinated but bewildered by the world of teenagers, which he knows he will enter soon. While he spends a lot of his time doing childish and mischievous things, his main characteristic is that he is curious. The world puzzles him, and while he tries to understand, he understands nothing.
Review: Titeuf carries on with a real existence that is in a split second recognizable to a great many grown-ups as they were growing up. This is a wonderful comic to get you to identify with the hero of the story and bring back beloved recollections.
12. Le Marsupilami
Level: Beginner - Intermediate
Synopsis: First appearing in Spirou et Fantasio, Marsupilami eventually got its own spin-off series. The comic is set in the Palombia jungle and follows the lives of marsupilamis- which are yellow creatures with black spots and enormously long tails- in their natural habitat.
Review: Like Tintin and Spirou, its stories are filled with action and adventure. Readers love this comic on the grounds that as opposed to Tintin and Spirou, the yellow, dark spotted animal is increasingly creative, making it all the more diverting.
13. Becassine
Level: Beginner - Intermediate
Synopsis: Becassine, the first female protagonist in the history of comics, is a young provincial housemaid from the French province of Bretagne. She wears traditional clothing and is clumsy, yet has a heart of gold. The story covers her daily life as a housemaid and nanny, as well as a number of adventures as she travels the world.
Review: Made in 1905 and thought about one of the principal BD in France, it's an incredible portrayal of France during this period for history fans. It additionally may intrigue readers to see the more established style of drawings in funny cartoons.
Where can I find French comics for beginners?
Most of these comics can be found online (library) or bought on online bookstore like Leslibraires or Amazon, bookstores and comic shops.
Publishers' offers
Since the start of the pandemic, some of the largest Franco-Belgian comic book publishers have offered free titles from their collection. This is the case for publishers Dargaud, Delcourt and Dupuis, in particular.
Dargaud offers 12 titles to read online, from Boule and Bill through Pico Bogue, the famous Blake and Mortimer or the historic series Murena.
At Delcourt and Éditions du Soleil, the selection of free albums is aimed at young readers (from 7 years old) with albums like Les Légendaires or Rose scarlet. This is mostly the first volume in a series. Albums are available on Apple Books, Google Play Books or Amazon Kindle platforms.
Dupuis, for its part, offers each day on its various social media a free album (or books) to read, games, virtual activities such as drawing workshops with cartoonists.
Conclusion
So, that was 13 best French Comics for beginners. Learning French shouldn't be a boring task, it ought to be fun and energizing. What preferable route over perusing well known French comics? They give incredible visuals and assist you with taking in more lexicon from context, all while giving you understanding into the French culture.
Want more awsome ways to improve your French? Check out this post on French songs and how it can help you become fluent.
